2019 Cheshire West and Chester Council election

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.

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.

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.

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)
 * Peter Wheeler (Labour, Ledsham and Manor)
 * Rachel Williams (Conservative, Malpas)

Outgoing councillors

 * Gareth Anderson (Conservative)
 * David Armstrong (Labour)
 * Don Beckett (Labour)
 * Alex Black (Labour)
 * Pamela Booher (Labour)
 * Stephen Burns (Labour)
 * Angie Chidley (Labour)
 * Brian Clarke (Labour)
 * Angela Claydon (Labour)
 * Jess Crook (Labour)
 * Brian Crowe (Conservative)
 * Paul Dolan (Labour)
 * Howard Greenwood (Conservative)
 * Pamela Hall (Conservative)
 * Don Hammond (Conservative)
 * Eleanor Johnson (Conservative)
 * Nigel Jones (Conservative)
 * Susan Kaur (Conservative)
 * Tony Lawrenson (Labour)
 * Alan McKie (Conservative)
 * Jane Mercer (Labour)
 * Pat Merrick (Labour)
 * Marie Nelson (Labour)
 * Ralph Oultram (Conservative)
 * James Pearson (Conservative)
 * Tony Sherlock (Labour)
 * Gaynor Sinar (Conservative)
 * Stephen Smith (Labour)
 * Chris Whitehurst (Conservative)

Re-elected councillors

 * Val Armstrong (Labour, Lache)
 * Martin Barker (Independent, Parkgate)
 * Mike Baynham (Conservative, Winsford Over and Verdin)
 * Richard Beacham (Labour, Newton and Hoole)
 * Robert Bisset (Labour, Central and Grange)
 * Tommy Blackmore (Labour, Winsford Over and Verdin)
 * Keith Board (Conservative, Great Boughton)
 * Matt Bryan (Labour, Upton)
 * Razia Daniels (Conservative, Handbridge Park)
 * Andrew Dawson (Conservative, Frodsham)
 * Martyn Delaney (Labour, Chester City and The Garden Quarter)
 * Hugo Deynem (Conservative, Sandstone)
 * Samantha Dixon (Labour, Chester City and The Garden Quarter)
 * Paul Donovan (Labour, Sutton Villages)
 * Michael Edwardson (Labour, Wolverham)
 * Charles Fifield (Conservative, Weaver and Cuddington)
 * Carol Gahan (Labour, Blacon)
 * Lynn Gibbon (Conservative, Marbury)
 * Louise Gittins (Labour, Little Neston)
 * Myles Hogg (Conservative, Willaston and Thornton)
 * Jill Houlbrook (Conservative, Upton)
 * Brian Jones (Labour, Whitby Groves)
 * Mike Jones (Conservative, Tattenhall)
 * John Leather (Conservative, Tarvin and Kelsall)
 * Nicole Meardon (Labour, Sutton Villages)
 * Eveleigh Moore Dutton (Independent, Tarporley)
 * Sam Naylor (Labour, Northwich Witton)
 * Margaret Parker (Conservative, Gowy Rural)
 * Stuart Parker (Conservative, Christleton and Huntington)
 * Patricia Parkes (Conservative, Hartford and Greenbank)
 * Lynn Riley (Conservative, Frodsham)
 * Diane Roberts (Labour, Netherpool)
 * Peter Rooney (Labour, Whitby Park)
 * Bob Rudd (Labour, Chester City and The Garden Quarter)
 * Karen Shore (Labour, Central and Grange)
 * Mark Stocks (Conservative, Shakerley)
 * Neil Sullivan (Conservative, Handbridge Park)
 * Harry Tonge (Conservative, Tarvin and Kelsall)
 * Gill Watson (Labour, Newton and Hoole)
 * Helen Weltman (Conservative, Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead)
 * Andy Williams (Labour, Neston)
 * Mark Williams (Conservative, Christleton and Huntington)
 * Paul Williams (Conservative, Weaver and Cuddington)
 * Norman Wright (Conservative, Marbury)

Overall election result


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. 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. In April 2020, Hartford and Greenbank Independent Cllr Phil Herbert joined the Conservative Group.