Sandwell Council election, 2004
Encyclopedia
The 2004 Sandwell Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Sandwell
Metropolitan
Council in the West Midlands
, England
. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003
. The Labour
party stayed in overall control of the council.
, 6 Liberal Democrats and 2 British National Party
.
During the campaign the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Gordon Brown
visited Sandwell and called on voters to reject the British National Party.
, meaning that the Conservatives made a gain of 4 seats. The Liberal Democrats stayed on 6 seats, while the British National Party dropped to just 1 seat. The only successful BNP candidate was in Princes End
ward, where James Lloyd was elected, while in the same ward his party colleague John Salvage lost his seat on the council.
Sandwell
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...
Metropolitan
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
Council in the West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003
Sandwell Council election, 2003
The 2003 Sandwell Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Sandwell Metropolitan Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council....
. The Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
party stayed in overall control of the council.
Campaign
Before the election the council was controlled by Labour with 55 seats, compared to 9 for the ConservativesConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, 6 Liberal Democrats and 2 British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
.
During the campaign the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
visited Sandwell and called on voters to reject the British National Party.
Election result
The results saw Labour easily hold onto control of the council after dropping just 3 seats. The leader of the council, Bill Thomas, described the results as "remarkable" considering it was a mid term election and called it a "vote of confidence". However Labour did lose seats to the Conservatives, including 2 in St Paul's wardWards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
, meaning that the Conservatives made a gain of 4 seats. The Liberal Democrats stayed on 6 seats, while the British National Party dropped to just 1 seat. The only successful BNP candidate was in Princes End
Princes End
Princes End is an area of Tipton, West Midlands, England, near the border with Coseley , which was heavily developed during the 19th century with the construction of factories. Several hundred terraced houses were built around the same time to accommodate the factory workers...
ward, where James Lloyd was elected, while in the same ward his party colleague John Salvage lost his seat on the council.