2018 Cannock Chase District Council election

Elections to Cannock Chase District Council took place on 3 May 2018 on the same day as other local elections in England.[1] A third of the council was up for election, meaning a total of 13 councillors were elected from all but two of the council's wards.

Map of the results of the 2018 Cannock Chase District Council election. Labour in red, Conservatives in blue, Greens in green and the Liberal Democrats in yellow. White areas indicate wards where no seat was up for election.

The Labour Party held control of the council by maintaining its slim majority of one. Labour held the six seats they previously won at the 2014 election but did not gain any seats from other parties. Unlike previous years, several Labour candidates stood as joint Labour and Co-operative candidates and three were elected, giving the Co-operative Party its first representation on the council.

The Conservatives strengthened their position as the largest opposition group on the council by increasing their number to 15 councillors. They were the main beneficiaries from the collapse in the UKIP vote, increasing their share by just over 20% which reversed the ground they had lost to UKIP at the 2014 election. Their numbers were previously boosted by the defection of two sitting UKIP councillors whose four-year terms were coming to an end; they held onto their seats in these areas whilst also gaining a seat from UKIP and another from an independent in Rugeley, leaving them with four gains. The Conservatives received the highest number of votes but won one seat less than Labour due to their large majorities compared with most Labour-held seats.

Meanwhile, the Green Party were the only other party to gain a seat at this election after winning the Rawnsley ward which had previously been held by UKIP; this was the only direct Green gain from UKIP in the whole country and increased the size of the Green group on the council to three. The Greens stood candidates in all but two wards and gained a higher share of the vote than in 2015 and 2016.

The Liberal Democrats fielded three candidates in their former stronghold of Rugeley. They held onto their last remaining seat in Brereton & Ravenhill but their vote continued to decline in other areas. UKIP stood candidates in seven wards but were not successful in maintaining their seat in Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury or regaining the other three seats they won in 2014. UKIP's share of the vote plummeted by 30%, dropping by as much as 37% in some wards where they stood a candidate. There were two independent candidates, including the sitting councillor for the Western Springs ward who lost his seat to Conservatives.

Results

edit
Cannock Chase District Council election, 2018
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 6 0 0  0 46.1 38.0 7,112  3.0
  Conservative 5 4 0  4 38.5 44.0 8,235  20.2
  Green 1 1 0  1 7.7 8.4 1,569 N/A
  Liberal Democrats 1 0 0  0 7.7 4.3 817  1.3
  UKIP 0 0 4  4 0.0 3.2 608  30.1
  Independent 0 0 1  1 0.0 2.1 391  0.2

Council Composition

edit

Prior to the election, the composition of the council was:

21 13 3 2 1 1
Labour Conservative Ind Green UKIP LD

After the election, the composition of the council was:

21 15 3 1 1
Labour Conservative Green LD Ind

Ward results

edit

Vote share changes are based on the results achieved by parties in 2014 when these seats were last contested.

Brereton and Ravenhill

edit
Brereton and Ravenhill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Paul Fisher 614 39.7  0.2
Labour Jacquie Prestwood 449 29.0  2.3
Conservative Lorraine Northway 404 26.1 N/A
UKIP Sarah Thomas-Dean 80 5.2  24.0
Majority 169 10.7  2.5
Turnout 1,547 29.8  0.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing  1.3

Cannock East

edit
Cannock East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Muriel Davis 680 49.9  3.9
Conservative Johnny McMahon 505 37.1  20.1
UKIP Mick Howes 109 8.0  29.0
Green Arlette Carmichael 68 5.0 N/A
Majority 175 12.8  3.8
Turnout 1,362 25.7  4.1
Labour Co-op hold Swing  8.1

Cannock North

edit
Cannock North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frank Allen 791 62.1  11.2
Conservative Petar Kruskonjic 364 28.6  15.7
Green Jodie Winter 118 9.3 N/A
Majority 427 33.5  5.7
Turnout 1,273 25.7  2.1
Labour hold Swing  2.3

Cannock South

edit
Cannock South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Witton 679 46.3  4.1
Conservative John Dawkins 575 39.2  16.7
UKIP Kev Whittaker 123 8.4  27.0
Green Scarlett Ward 89 6.1 N/A
Majority 104 7.1  0.3
Turnout 1,466 24.6  2.0
Labour hold Swing  6.3

Cannock West

edit
Cannock West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hyra Sutton 1,335 69.4  24.1
Labour Edmund Frondigoun 462 24.0  1.5
Green Marie Smith 128 6.6 N/A
Majority 873 45.4  29.3
Turnout 1,925 33.8  1.4
Conservative hold Swing  12.8

Etching Hill and the Heath

edit
Etching Hill and the Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Startin 797 55.4  23.8
Labour Jeff Winter 379 26.3  4.1
Liberal Democrats Pat Ansell 153 10.6  2.7
Green Michael Sheridan 110 7.6 N/A
Majority 418 29.1 N/A
Turnout 1,439 27.8  0.6
Conservative gain from UKIP Swing  9.9

Hawks Green

edit
Hawks Green
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Phil Hewitt 727 59.1  27.5
Labour Co-op Josh Mills 344 27.9  2.5
Green Eloise Cropp 86 7.0 N/A
UKIP Dave Percox 74 6.0  37.0
Majority 383 31.2 N/A
Turnout 1,231 22.7  3.6
Conservative gain from UKIP Swing  9.9

Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury

edit
Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Martyn Buttery 512 43.9  22.9
Labour Co-op Les Bullock 445 38.2  4.7
UKIP Dave Morris 132 11.3  30.8
Green Kenny Beardmore 76 6.5 N/A
Majority 67 5.7 N/A
Turnout 1,165 24.5  5.2
Conservative gain from UKIP Swing  26.9

Hednesford Green Heath

edit
Hednesford Green Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op George Adamson 591 47.7  4.7
Conservative Bryan Jones 519 41.9  18.7
Green Andrea Muckley 68 5.5 N/A
UKIP Marg Dean 31 2.5  25.0
Independent Ron Turville 29 2.3  4.0
Majority 72 5.8  9.7
Turnout 1,238 28.1  3.1
Labour Co-op hold Swing  7.0

Hednesford North

edit
Hednesford North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sheila Cartwright 635 46.0  5.5
Conservative Wendy Yates 472 34.2  9.6
Green Mandy Dunnett 274 19.8 N/A
Majority 163 11.8  6.2
Turnout 1,381 26.2  3.8
Labour hold Swing  2.1

Norton Canes

edit
Norton Canes
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op John Preece 960 54.0  12.9
Conservative Adrienne Fitzgerald 747 42.0  16.6
Green Glen Tapper 72 4.0 N/A
Majority 213 12.0  2.9
Turnout 1,779 30.8  0.7
Labour Co-op hold Swing  1.9

Rawnsley

edit
Rawnsley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Claire Wilkinson 480 36.7 N/A
Conservative Val Jones 439 33.6  6.7
Labour Aaron Bate 329 25.2  8.3
UKIP Mick Jackson 59 4.5  31.2
Majority 41 3.1 N/A
Turnout 1,307 35.3  2.7
Green gain from UKIP Swing  34.0

Western Springs

edit
Western Springs
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Olivia Lyons 839 51.8  29.9
Labour Kieran Green 368 22.7  0.6
Independent Mick Grocott 362 22.4  2.2
Liberal Democrats Ken Ansell 50 3.1  8.7
Majority 471 29.1 N/A
Turnout 1,619 31.8  3.2
Conservative gain from Independent Swing  16.1

References

edit
  1. ^ "Cannock Chase District Council election, 2018 results". Cannock Chase District Council. Retrieved 5 May 2018.