Labour tighten strong control of Halton Council with election win

Labour cemented their majority on Halton Council by holding onto all of their council seats and winning one from the Conservatives.

With Halton usually among the first councils in England to declare, it was no surprise that volunteers had counted and verified the votes from across the borough (made up of Runcorn and Widnes) in less than an hour on Friday, May 3. The area has been a long-term fixture in Labour's red wall across the north west so candidates were hopeful to maintain their stronghold in the two towns.

Labour hung onto every seat they already held in the borough and managed to swipe one from the Tories in the Daresbury, Moore and Sandymoor area. Conservative Sandra Myndiuk-Davidson had hoped to take control of the ward after John Bradshaw, a former Mayor of Halton and leader of the council's Conservative group, retired from local politics.

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In a tense room, Ms Myndiuk-Davidson lost control of the seat to Labour's Neil Connolly. Former Cllr Bradshaw had held his seat on the council since 2004, claiming comfortable wins at previous elections.

Cllr Mike Wharton, the leader of Halton Labour group and of the leader of Halton Council has cruised to re-election in his seat of Ditton, Hale Village and Halebank. The full list of results can be found in our LIVE blog covering results from Sefton, Knowsley and across the UK.

The Daresbury, Moore and Sandymoor seat has traditionally been one of the borough's most hotly-contested seats, with the gap between Labour and the Conservatives getting tighter and tighter each election year. At the last poll, in 2022, the candidates were tied at the end of the night, resulting in the decisive vote having to be drawn from an envelope by the returning officer.

Today's result means that just one Conservative councillor clings to their seat in Halton. Margaret Ratcliffe held onto the contested seat in Beechwood and Heath keeping three Liberal Democrats in power across the borough.

After the results were announced, Weaver Vale's Labour MP Mike Amesbury said: "Congratulations to all newly-elected or returned Labour councillors at Halton Borough Council following yesterday’s local elections when a third of seats were contested. Big thank you to the public for backing Team Labour.

"Special mention for Neil Connolly elected to represent Daresbury, Moore and Sandymoor alongside Councillor Mike Ryan, who became the first ever Labour councillor for the ward last year. This is a great set of results and augurs well for the general election to come when I will stand for the new Runcorn & Helsby seat."

The DCBL Stadium, in Widnes, remained set up for volunteers to return this weekend as Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner will be decided.

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