The 2019 Cheshire West and Chester Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of
Cheshire West and Chester Council in England. This was on the same day as other
local elections. Five fewer seats were contested because of boundary changes. No party gained overall control. The
Labour Party gained a seat but lost control of the council; the
Conservatives lost 8 seats, while the Independents gained 4, the
Liberal Democrats gained 2, and the
Green Party gained one.[1]
Background
At the
2015 election, Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC) was the only council to be won by Labour from the Conservatives. The
Liberal Democrats had lost their last seat on the council, while both
UKIP and the
Green Party had increased their vote share but failed to win seats. With only a narrow Labour majority, the Conservatives were hopeful of regaining the council. However, the aftermath of the
Brexit referendum had significantly reshaped British party politics and BBC journalist Phil McCann noted that CWaC was the most evenly divided borough in the North West in terms of Leave/Remain, making the effect of Brexit on the election difficult to predict.[2]
Between the 2015 and 2019 elections, a boundary review was carried out. The number of councillors was reduced from 75 to 70, with some wards merged and others split. In total, there were 219 candidates – 70 Conservative, 66 Labour, 49 Liberal Democrat, 18 Green, 11 independents (including Eveleigh Moore-Dutton, elected in 2015 as a Conservative), 4 UKIP and 1
For Britain Movement. 24 existing councillors stood down.[3]
Results
Councillor changes
New councillors
Paul Bowers (Green, Helsby)
Kate Cernik, (Labour, Northwich Winnington and Castle)
Robert Cernik, (Labour, Northwich Winnington and Castle)
Mandy Clare (Labour, Winsford Dene)
Steve Collings (Labour Great Boughton)
Andrew Cooper (Labour, Northwich Leftwich)
Lisa Denson (Labour, Westminster)
Simon Eardley (Conservative, Saughall and Mollington)
Gillian Edwards (Independent, Weaver and Cuddington)
Mal Gaskill (Liberal Democrats, Winsford Swanlow)
Gareth Gould (Labour, Strawberry)
Graham Heatley (Conservative, Gowy Rural)
Phil Herbert (Independent, Hartford and Greenbank)
Adam Langan (Labour, Newton and Hoole)
Gina Lewis (Labour, Winsford Over and Verdin)
Sheila Little (Labour, Blacon)
Phil Marshall (Conservative, Marbury)
Joanne Moorcroft (Labour, Winsford Gravel)
Nathan Pardoe (Labour, Winsford Wharton)
Trish Richards (Labour, Blacon)
Paul Roberts (Liberal Democrats, Farndon)
Helen Treeby (Conservative, Rudheath)
Christine Warner (Labour, Ledsham and Manor)
Elton Watson (Conservative, Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead)
The election saw Labour narrowly lose its majority, winning 35 seats of the 70 available – a result local election analyst Andrew Teale attributed chiefly to the boundary changes – but remain the largest party.[4] The Conservatives fell back considerably, with just 28 seats, but still won the largest share of the vote. The Liberal Democrats returned to the council, winning 2 seats in Winsford Swanlow (formerly Labour) and Farndon (formerly Conservative), and the Greens won their first ever seat on CWaC, taking Helsby from the Conservatives.
Independents also surged – incumbents Martin Barker in Parkgate and Eveleigh Moore-Dutton in Tarporley held their seats, and two further independents won a seat from the Conservatives in the multi-member wards of Weaver and Cuddington, and Hartford and Greenbank.[5] In April 2020, Hartford and Greenbank Independent Cllr Phil Herbert joined the Conservative Group.[6]