The 2002 Leeds City Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of

City of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...

Metropolitan Borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

Council in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Prior to the election, there had been several by-elections held with no change to the council composition. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.

Campaign

33 seats were contested in the election with Labour defending 23 seats, the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

5, Liberal Democrats 4 and 1

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. Among the candidates who stood in the election was,

Mark Collett Mark Adrian Collett (; born October 1980) is a British neo-Nazi political activist. He was formerly chairman of the Young BNP, the youth division of the British National Party (BNP), and was director of publicity for the party. Collett first ...

, the leader of the youth wing of the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...

, who stood in

Harehills Harehills is an inner-city area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is about northeast of Leeds city centre. Harehills is between the A58 road, A58 (towards Wetherby) and the A64 road, A64 (towards York). It sits in the Gipton and Ha ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. Among the issued raised in the election were disaffection with the national Labour government, a recent reversed decision by the council to close day car centres for the elderly,

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of services, investment levels in schools and council tax levels. Labour defended their record in control of the council, which they had run for the previous 22 years, in what was expected to be a hard-fought contest.

Election result

The results saw Labour maintain a majority on the council despite losing some seats to other parties. They lost 2 seats to the Conservatives in

Aireborough Aireborough was a local government district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1937 to 1974. It was formed through the abolition of the urban districts of Guiseley, Yeadon and Rawdon and enlarged by the addition of parts of Otl ...

and

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

and

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...

, 2 to the Liberal Democrats in

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

and Rothwell, and one each to an Independent in Morley North and the Greens in Wortley. However Labour did gain one seat from the Liberal Democrats in Harehills and one in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

from an Independent Socialist. As a result, they won 19 of the 33 seats contested meaning they had 57 of the 99

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s on Leeds council. Overall turnout in the election was 30.64%. This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:

Ward results

, - style="background-color:#F6F6F6" ! style="background-color: " , , colspan="2" , Labour gain from Independent Socialist , align="right" , Swing , align="right" , +3.8 , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds Council Election, 2002 2002 English local elections

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2000s in Leeds