St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council elections

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council elections are held every four years. St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council, which styles itself St Helens Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of St Helens in Merseyside, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2022, 48 councillors have been elected from 18 wards. Prior to the 2022 boundary changes, elections were held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time.[1]

Map showing the composition of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council as of the 2021 election. Labour in red, Liberal Democrats in amber, Conservatives in blue, Greens in green and independents in grey.

Political control

From 1889 to 1974 St Helens was a county borough, independent of any county council.[2] Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory enlarged and became a metropolitan borough, with Merseyside County Council providing county-level services. The first election to the reconstituted borough council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. Merseyside County Council was abolished in 1986 and St Helens became a unitary authority. Political control of the council since 1973 has been held by the following parties:[3][4]

Party in controlYears
Labour1973–2004
No overall control2004–2010
Labour2010–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:[5]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Len Williams Labour1974May 1978
Gerald Baxter[6] LabourMay 19781983
Brian Green[7][8] LabourMay 19831985
Marie Rimmer[9][10] Labour198521 Apr 1993
Dave Watts[11][12] LabourMay 1993May 1997
Mike Doyle[13][14] Labour19971999
Marie Rimmer Labour19992006
Brian Spencer Liberal Democrats200619 May 2010
Marie Rimmer Labour19 May 201015 May 2013
Barrie Grunewald Labour15 May 201318 Apr 2018
Derek Long Labour18 Apr 201822 May 2019
David Baines Labour22 May 2019

Council elections

Summary of the council composition after each council election, click on the year for full details of each election.

Year Labour Liberal Democrats‡ Conservative Green Party Independent Others Notes
1973 36 0 8 0 1 0
1975 30 1 13 0 1 0
1976 26 1 17 0 1 0
1978 24 1 20 0 0 0
1979 27 0 18 0 0 0
1980 43 0 11 0 0 0 New ward boundaries increased seats from 45 to 54.[15]
1982 41 2 11 0 0 0
1983 41 2 11 0 0 0
1984 41 2 11 0 0 0
1986 45 0 9 0 0 0
1987 44 2 8 0 0 0
1988[16] 40 6 8 0 0 0
1990[17] 38 10 6 0 0 0
1991[18] 34 15 5 0 0 0
1992[19] 33 15 6 0 0 0
1994[20] 33 14 5 0 0 2
1995[21] 40 10 3 0 0 1 Liberal (1989)
1996[22] 44 9 1 0 0 0
1998[23] 42 10 2 0 0 0
1999[24] 37 14 3 0 0 0
2000[25] 35 15 4 0 0 0
2002[26] 33 15 5 0 0 1 Socialist Labour
2003[27] 33 15 6 0 0 0
2004[28] 24 18 6 0 0 0 New ward boundaries reduced seats from 54 to 48.[29]
2006[30] 23 19 6 0 0 0
2007[31] 21 20 6 0 1 0
2008[32] 23 19 6 0 0 0
2010[33] 28 15 5 0 0 0
2011[34] 35 9 4 0 0 0
2012[35] 40 5 3 0 0 0
2014[36] 42 3 3 0 0 0
2015 42 3 3 0 0 0
2016 42 3 3 0 0 0
2018[37] 41 3 3 0 1 0
2019[37] 37 4 3 2 2 0
2021 35 4 3 3 3 0
2022 29 4 2 6 7 0 New ward boundaries and change to elections every four years.[1]

‡Includes Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party pre-1988.

Borough result maps
  • 2002 results map
    2002 results map
  • 2004 results map
    2004 results map
  • 2006 results map
    2006 results map
  • 2008 results map
    2008 results map
  • 2010 results map
    2010 results map
  • 2011 results map
    2011 results map
  • 2021 results map
    2021 results map

By-election results

By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections;[38] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.

By-electionDateIncumbent partyWinning party
Marshalls Cross by-election 21 January 1999 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Newton West by-election 21 January 1999 Labour Liberal Democrats
Thatto Heath by-election 21 January 1999 Labour Labour
Marshalls Cross by-election 19 September 2002 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Rainford by-election 23 November 2006 Conservative Conservative
Parr by-election 12 March 2009 Labour Labour
Rainhill by-election 12 March 2009 Labour Labour
Moss Bank by-election 16 July 2009 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Billinge and Seneley Green by-election 14 October 2010 Labour Labour
Haydock by-election 2 December 2010 Labour Labour
Windle by-election 2 May 2013 Labour Labour
Billinge and Seneley Green by-election 28 November 2013 Labour Labour

References
  1. "The St Helens (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/1424, retrieved 28 August 2022
  2. "St Helens Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  3. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. "St Helens". BBC News Online. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  5. "Council minutes". St Helens Borough Council. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  6. "Surprise new team". Liverpool Echo. 10 May 1978. p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  7. "Council chief calls in minders". Liverpool Echo. 26 May 1983. p. 1. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  8. "Labour probe to end feud". Liverpool Echo. 13 June 1985. p. 18. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  9. "Chief denies Labour rift". Liverpool Echo. 5 July 1985. p. 2. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  10. "'Why I had to quit as leader'". Liverpool Echo. 22 April 1993. p. 8. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  11. "St Helens bids to lure investors". Liverpool Echo. 17 May 1993. p. 12. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  12. "A sober supremo". Liverpool Echo. 2 May 1997. p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  13. "Home help". Liverpool Echo. 17 May 1997. p. 11. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  14. "Hundreds mourn Mike Doyle". St Helens Star. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  15. The Borough of St Helens (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979, SI 1979/1348
  16. "The gains and losses: Council election results in full". The Times. NewsBank. 7 May 1988.
  17. "Local election results". The Times. NewsBank. 5 May 1990.
  18. "Complete round-up of results from Thursday's local council elections". The Times. NewsBank. 4 May 1991.
  19. "Local election results 1992". The Times. NewsBank. 9 May 1992.
  20. "Metropolitan Districts - Local elections". The Times. NewsBank. 7 May 1994. p. 9.
  21. "Complete list of results from thursday's council elections". The Times. NewsBank. 6 May 1995.
  22. "Complete list of results - Elections". The Times. NewsBank. 4 May 1996. p. 8.
  23. "Local Elections results". The Times. NewsBank. 9 May 1998. p. 46.
  24. "How the nations voted - Election". The Times. NewsBank. 8 May 1999. p. 48.
  25. "St Helens". BBC News Online. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  26. "Local Elections: Town keeps it in the family". Liverpool Echo. NewsBank. 3 May 2002.
  27. "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  28. "St Helens council". BBC News Online. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  29. "The Borough of St Helens (Electoral Changes) Order 2003", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2003/1979, retrieved 28 August 2022
  30. "Local elections: St Helens". BBC News Online. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  31. "Results - Election 2007". The Times. NewsBank. 5 May 2007. p. 83.
  32. "St Helens". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  33. "St Helens". BBC News Online. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  34. "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  35. "Vote 2012". BBC News Online. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  36. Hughes, Lorna (24 May 2014). "Labour increases majority as UKIP fails to make major inroads - St Helens". Liverpool Echo. NewsBank.
  37. "St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council". BBC News.
  38. "Local Authority Byelection Results". Retrieved 21 February 2015.
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