The 2004 Worcester City Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of

Worcester City Council Worcester City Council is the local authority for Worcester, a non-metropolitan district with city status in Worcestershire, England. The council consists of 35 councillors, elected from 15 wards. History The city of Worcester was an ancient bo ...

in Worcestershire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003 reducing the number of seats by one. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

stayed in overall control of the council.

Campaign

Before the election the council was composed of 18 Conservatives, 10

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, 4 independents, 2 Liberal Democrats, 1 independent Conservative and 1 vacant seat. Boundary changes saw the number of seats reduced from 36 to 35 for the 2004 election, meaning that the whole council would be up for election for the first time since 1976. This also meant that the number of

wards 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 priso ...

was increased from 12 to 15, with new wards including Cathedral and Rainbow Hill. All parties were hoping to make gains with the Conservatives defending their record in control of the council, which they said included having a balanced budget and keeping the

council tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge, which in turn re ...

rise down to 2.5%. Other issues raised in the election included

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...

, improving public transport, dealing with traffic congestion and keeping the streets clean.

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives achieve a majority on the council after winning 18 of the 35 seats. Labour remained on 10 seats while the Liberal Democrats gained 1 to hold 3 seats.

Ward results

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2004 2004 English local elections Worcester City Council elections, 2004 2000s in Worcestershire