The 2021 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Wirral Council, or Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council with borough status, thus providing the majority of local governm ...

in England. This election was held on the same day as other

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. This delay meant those elected (excluding the by-election) would serve only a three-year term. After the election, the composition of the council was:

Election results

Overall election result

Overall result compared with

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Changes in council composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was: After the election the composition of the council was:

Parties and candidates

Contesting political parties

2020 Candidate selection

In August 2019, incumbent Labour councillor for

Prenton Prenton is a suburb of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is also a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, withi ...

Tony Norbury was not approved for candidacy by the Local campaign forum thus was unable to seek re-selection. Former Prenton councillor Angie Davies, who lost her seat in

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May in the Southern Hemisphere is the ...

to the

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's Chris Cooke, was selected as the new Labour candidate in October. The Greens are fielding Harry Gorman who was selected in June. Tom Usher, then youngest member of council and cabinet member for Children and Families, lost a selection contest in his

Liscard Liscard is an area of the town of Wallasey, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The most centrally located of Wallasey's townships, it is the main shopping area of the town, with many shops located in the Cherry Tree Sh ...

Labour branch in October to Dave Brennan by 21 votes to 30. This was criticised by

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 ...

group leader, and former Labour councillor, Moira McLaughlin who perceived Usher as having been "booted out by the hard-left". Liscard labour chair Edwina Doyle dismissed this notion putting the result down to Usher being "a bit younger and less experienced han Brennan. In January 2020, he was selected to contest the neighboring,

Conservative 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 civiliza ...

held, ward of

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

. Conservative councillor Chris Blakeley died of cancer on 15 January. A

casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...

was announced on 6 February with the seat to be filled at the upcoming election when Blakeley's term was due to end. Simon Mountney, who had served alongside Blakeley as a fellow ward councillor from 2004 to 2014, was selected as the Conservative candidate in March. Though he was replaced by Max Booth the following January after the elections had been rescheduled. Mountney was later selected to contest the West Kirby and Thurstaston ward. The Conservatives posted an appeal for candidates on

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on 17 February for wards in the

and

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

constituencies.

2021 Candidate selection

Chase Newton was selected as the Lib Dem candidate for

Bromborough Bromborough ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England, on the Wirral Peninsula south-east of Bebington and north of Eastham. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, and became part of Merseysi ...

on 23 July 2020 succeeding Vicky Downie who stood down for personal reasons. Downie had been the party's candidate in the ward for the previous three elections. Former Labour Councillor Bill Davies resigned his seat in September with a casual vacancy announced on the 7th.

councillor Geoffrey Watt died on 24 September 2020 after a short illness.

Campaign

On 24 February, Leader of the Council

Pat Hackett Patrick Joseph Hackett (born 9 June 1954), is a British Labour politician and former Leader of Wirral Council. He was elected leader of the Labour group on Wirral Council on 5 May, becoming Leader of the Council at the annual meeting on 14 ...

announced he was standing down as both leader and councillor for New Brighton later in the year. This was, however, to be in July after the election was scheduled. Hackett was succeeded as Leader of the Labour Group by his deputy

Janette Williamson Janette Williamson (born 1965), is a British Labour politician and former Leader of Wirral Council Wirral Council, or Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, is the Local government in England, local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of ...

on 29 June 2020. She was voted in as Leader of the Council in a virtual meeting on 28 September. Hackett later resigned his seat in September. A leaked internal Labour report released on 3 March 2020 predicted severe losses for the party at the upcoming local elections across the country. Wirral, however, was one of only two authorities (the other being

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

) seen as a possible gain for Labour with Wirral being the only positive prediction under all models used within the report. On 13 March it was announced that all elections due to be held in May would be suspended until the following year due to the

. An e-newsletter created by the Oxton Labour Party revealed that it and the rest of the

constituency party were not delivering leaflets due to the ongoing

. Leader of the

group Ian Lewis resigned on 15 December 2020 citing internal party problems. Lewis's predecessor Jeff Green was elected leader on 22 December beating controversial Greasby, Frankby and Irby councillor David Burgess-Joyce.

Retiring councillors

Ward results

Results compared directly with the last local election in

Bebington

Bidston and St James

Birkenhead and Tranmere

Bromborough

Clatterbridge

Claughton

Eastham

Greasby, Frankby and Irby

Heswall

Hoylake and Meols

Leasowe and Moreton East

Liscard

Moreton West and Saughall Massie

New Brighton

Oxton

Pensby and Thingwall

Prenton

Rock Ferry

Seacombe

Upton

Wallasey

West Kirby and Thurstaston

Changes between 2021 and 2022

Liscard by-election 2021

Cllr Sarah Spoor, first elected in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, announced her resignation on 4 June 2021. A casual vacancy was announced on the 7th.

Oxton by-election 2021

Cllr Andy Corkhill, first elected in

, died of cancer at the age of 36 on 4 October 2021. A casual vacancy was announced on the 20th.

Other changes

Notes

• ''italics'' denote the sitting councillor • bold denotes the winning candidate

References

{{Merseyside elections Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2020s in Merseyside