2004 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election
2004 UK local government election
The 2004 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council in West Yorkshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003. The Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.
Campaign
Before the election Labour held 50 of the 63 seats on the council and this was seen as being an insurmountable majority for the other parties. However the Conservatives stood a full slate of 63 candidates and were hopeful of making gains due to dissatisfaction among Labour supporters. The British National Party stood 12 candidates in the election, a substantial increase on the 2 they had stood in the 2003 election but not the 20 candidates the party had been hoping to stand. Other candidates included 19 Liberal Democrats, 18 independents, 5 Socialist Alternative, 3 from the United Kingdom Independence Party and 1 Green Party. All postal voting in the election was expected to increase turnout, which was seen by analysts as making the results difficult to predict.
Election results
The results saw Labour lose 7 seats but remained firmly in control of the council with 43 of the 63 seats. The Conservatives gained 4 and the independents 3, with the gains for the independents in Featherstone being put down to the closure of a local swimming pool.
The public source identifies “2004 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election” as 2004 UK local government election. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Wakefield, Metropolitan and District.
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