Elections were held on 10th June 2004 to the European Parliament, the Greater London Assembly, all metropolitan boroughs, some unitary authorities and shire districts in England, and all local councils in Wales. The day of polling was moved from the usual date in the first week of May so that the local elections coincided with the European elections.
This election was notable for the fact that, under a pilot scheme, in four regions of England (the North East, Yorkshire, the North West and the East Midlands) all the votes were cast as postal votes. The scheme resulted in a significant increase in turnout in those areas.
The 78 British members of the European Parliament were elected in twelve regions. The number of British MEPs had been reduced from 87 due to the expansion of the European Union, which admitted 10 new members earlier in the year. England was divided into nine regions, with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland forming the other three regions. The MEPs in England, Wales and Scotland were elected using the list system of proportional representation, while the three MEPs representing Northern Ireland were elected using the Single Transferable Vote system of proportional representation. In a move to enfranchise Gibraltar, which despite being part of the EU had not previously voted in a European election, the territory was included in the South West region. The results of the European elections are contained in Part I.
The Greater London Authority uses a range of voting systems. The Mayor of London is elected using the Supplementary Vote system of voting, in which voters give a first and second preference and, if no candidate receives an absolute majority of first preferences, all candidates except the top two are eliminated and their second preferences redistributed between the two remaining candidates. The Assembly, by contrast, is elected using a form of the Additional Member system of proportional representation, with fourteen single-member constituencies plus eleven “London-wide” members allocated to restore a proportional balance of seats across Greater London. The results of these elections are contained in Part II, with the three sections of the contest forming separate chapters.
The voting system used for all other local government elections was first-past-the-post, with multi-member FPTP being used where more than one seat was up for election.
This year new ward boundaries were introduced in the 36 metropolitan boroughs, and so, unusually, elections were held to all the seats on these councils. Each ward has three councillors. Results of these elections are contained in Part III, which each of the former metropolitan counties constituting a separate chapter.
The English unitary authorities and shire districts may have up to three councillors in each ward, and may hold elections either all at once or by thirds. Only those councils which elect by thirds held elections this year; those councils which elect all at once were last elected in 2003 and will next be elected in 2007. A few districts elect by halves every two years; all of these districts held an election this year. Where districts elect by thirds generally not all of the wards in the district hold an election every year. Some of the shire districts and unitary authorities were using new ward boundaries, and so unusually elections were held to all the seats on these councils. A full explanation of the electoral arrangements is given at the head of each council's entry.
Unitary election results are shown in Part IV, with shire district results in Part V. Part IV is divided into eight chapters based on region, while Part V has one chapter for each county.
The Welsh local councils hold elections all at once every four years, although these elections had been delayed from 2003 so that the local elections did not coincide with Welsh Assembly elections. Up to five councillors can be elected from each ward. Elections to these authorities are shown in Part VI.
Finally, at the back you will find an Index of Wards.
Where a candidate in an election dies, the election in that ward is cancelled and rearranged for a later date. This happened in the following wards at this election:
Here is a list of abbreviations used in this book for major parties and selected other parties which fought several councils. This list is not exhaustive; parties which put up only a few candidates will generally have their abbreviation listed at the head of the entry for the relevant council. Please note that the “Lab” label includes candidates who were jointly sponsored by the Labour and Co-operative Parties.
BNP - British National Party C - Conservative Party Grn - Green Party Ind - Independent Lab - Labour Party LD - Liberal Democrat Lib - Liberal Party Loony - Monster Raving Loony Party PC - Plaid Cymru Respect - Respect, the Unity Coalition Soc All - Socialist Alliance Soc Lab - Socialist Labour Party UKIP - UK Independence Party
I would like to close this section by thanking all those who have supplied me with results, and particularly those hundreds of council webpages without which this work would not have been possible.