Blackburn with Darwen Council election, 2004
Encyclopedia
Elections to Blackburn with Darwen Council in June 2004 heralded a shock result as Labour
council leader Sir Bill Taylor lost his seat to Liberal Democrat
Zamir Khan. "This morning as I was shaving I thought I could get beat and that is what happened", commented Taylor after the result. "I canvassed more for this election than for any other. I spoke to more than a thousand people on their doorsteps and was not given any suggestion there were any difficulties." Liberal Democrat leader Paul Browne blamed the defeat on dissatisfaction with British foreign policy, particularly in areas with high numbers of Muslim voters: "Sir Bill has gone because of what has happened in Iraq. Simple." Only 63 of the 64 seats on the council were filled as the Earcroft ward bye-election took place a month after due to the death of Mayor Mike Barratt. Yusuf Sidat was elected as an independent in Queen's Park Ward.
for Blackburn with Darwen Council
|-
!colspan=2|Parties
!Seats
!Previous
!Net
Gain/Loss
|-
|33||35||-2
|-
|17||15||+2
|-
|12||8||+4
|-
|
|align=left|Independent
|1||2||-1
|-
!colspan=2|Total!!63!!60
|}
Source: http://www.blackburn.gov.uk/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.15165 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2004/locals/html/3658.stm
Electorate 4617
Ballot Papers 2781
% Poll 60.23
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...
council leader Sir Bill Taylor lost his seat to Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Zamir Khan. "This morning as I was shaving I thought I could get beat and that is what happened", commented Taylor after the result. "I canvassed more for this election than for any other. I spoke to more than a thousand people on their doorsteps and was not given any suggestion there were any difficulties." Liberal Democrat leader Paul Browne blamed the defeat on dissatisfaction with British foreign policy, particularly in areas with high numbers of Muslim voters: "Sir Bill has gone because of what has happened in Iraq. Simple." Only 63 of the 64 seats on the council were filled as the Earcroft ward bye-election took place a month after due to the death of Mayor Mike Barratt. Yusuf Sidat was elected as an independent in Queen's Park Ward.
Election result
Summary of the 10 June 2004 local election resultsUnited Kingdom local elections, 2004
The United Kingdom local elections of 2004 were held on 10 June, as part of the 2004 set of elections along with the European elections and the London mayoral and Assembly elections.-About the elections:...
for Blackburn with Darwen Council
|-
!colspan=2|Parties
!Seats
!Previous
!Net
Gain/Loss
|-
|33||35||-2
|-
|17||15||+2
|-
|12||8||+4
|-
|
|align=left|Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
|1||2||-1
|-
!colspan=2|Total!!63!!60
|}
Source: http://www.blackburn.gov.uk/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.15165 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2004/locals/html/3658.stm
Corporation Park
Elected- Arshid Mahmood (Lab) 790
- Paul James McGurty (Con) 734
- Abdul Rehman (LD) 884
Electorate 4617
Ballot Papers 2781
% Poll 60.23