Elections since 2019 to Lancaster City Council, Wyre Council, Lancashire County Council, and (formerly) to the European Union North West Region.
2024 Lancaster City Council By-elections
A by-election was called for 4th July in University Ward, for the same day as the General Election, due to a Labour Councillor standing down. This is a 2 seat ward, and the other seat was already Green since the 2023 elections, with Councillor Tom Fish. Maria Deery was elected, bring our total on Lancaster City Council to 22.
Then another by-election was called – again with a Labour Councillor standing down – in Scotforth East ward, in October. Andrew Otway was elected.
The composition of the council is now: Greens 23, Labour 21, Liberal Democrats 7, Conservatives 5, Morecambe Bay Independents 3 and non-aligned Independents 2.
2023: Local Councils
Lancaster City Council
We were the only political party with a full slate – ie standing a candidate in every seat. After these elections, we held 21 out of the 61 seats on Lancaster City Council, making us the 3rd largest group of elected Greens in England & Wales, after Bristol (25) and Mid-Suffolk (24). We had Councillors in 10 wards: Bowerham, Bulk, Castle, Ellel, Halton-with-Aughton and Kellet, John O’Gaunt, Marsh, Scotforth West, University and Warton.
Our new group of councillors was also the most diverse on the Council, with 12 women, three councillors under the age of 30, and the council’s only person of colour.
The 10 Green Councillors who held their seats were:
Mandy Bannon (Marsh)
Dave Brookes (Castle),
Gina Dowding (Marsh)
Tim Hamilton-Cox (Scotforth West)
Caroline Jackson (Bulk)
Jack Lenox (Bulk)
Sally Maddocks (Ellel)
Abi Mills (Scotforth West)
Paul Stubbins (Castle)
Sue Tyldesley (Warton).
The 11 new Green councillors were:
Suhir Abuhajar (John O’Gaunt)
Tom Fish (University)
Sarah McGowan (Halton-with-Aughton and Kellet)
Shelagh McGregor (Castle)
Hamish Mills (Bowerham)
Sarah Punshon (Bowerham)
Sam Riches (Bulk)
Grace Russell (John O’Gaunt)
James Sommerville (Halton-with-Aughton and Kellet)
Paul Tynan (Ellel)
Nick Wilkinson (Marsh).
We were delighted to form a new shared administration for Lancaster City Council, with a cabinet comprised of 5 Labour, 4 Green and 1 Liberal Democrat Councillors. Cllr Caroline Jackson – formerly the Council Leader – became Deputy Leader.
Our other Cabinet portfolios were Finance (Cllr Tim Hamilton-Cox), Housing (Cllr Caroline Jackson), Climate Emergency (Cllr Gina Dowding) and Economic Development (Cllr Nick Wilkinson).
We also had three committee chairs: Licensing (Cllr Sally Maddocks), Audit (Cllr Paul Stubbins) and Standards (Cllr Hamish Mills).
Green Cllr Abi Mills was elected as the champion for people with disabilities.
You can see the full list of Green candidates here:
North Lancashire Green Party Candidates for Lancaster City Council Elections 2023
The Councillors page shows all our elected Councillors, and gives links to our profile page about each Councillor, and to their profile on City Council website which lists their roles, such as committees they sit on.
Wyre Council
We stood candidates to Wyre Council in Garstang, Great Eccleston, Hambleton and Stalmine, and Pharos wards, and hoped to gain our first seat on the Council. Unfortunately we were not successful. However Luke Meeks got within 221 votes of winning in Garstang. You can see our Wyre Candidates here:
North Lancashire Green Party Candidates for Wyre Council Elections 2023
2021-2022 Lancaster City Council By-elections & Councillors Joining the Green Group
In May 2021, Jack Lenox won a by-election in Bulk Ward, replacing Green Councillor Lucie Carrington who had stood down.
Then in in May 2022, Sally Maddocks won a by-election in Ellel Ward, taking the number of Green Councillors to 11, and the 2nd largest group on the Council.
In July 2022, Councillors Kevin Frea, Faye Penny, and Alistair Sinclair, 3 Eco-Socialist Independant Councillors who had worked very closely with Green Party councillors since the Cooperative Alliance was formed, joined the Green Party, increasing the total Green Councillors to 14, with 5 Green Councillors out of the 10 on the Cabinet.
In September 2022, Sue Tyldesley won the by-election in Warton Ward, taking Green Councillors to 15, and 7 wards represented.
Green candidates in four other by-elections to Lancaster City Council in November/December 2021 were:
- Jamie Payne in University & Scotforth Rural ward (11 Nov – Jamie lost by only 23 votes)
- Patrick McMurray in Carnforth & Millhead ward (25 Nov)
- Nicola Sharkey in Upper Lune Valley ward (2 Dec)
- James Sommerville in Bare ward (2 Dec – second place)
2021: Lancashire County Council
Gina Dowding retained her seat on the County Council in Lancaster Central.
Jamie Melly got a good second place in Lancaster East.
Hamish Mills got a good second place in Lancaster South East.
2019: Lancaster City Council & European Parliament
North Lancashire Green Party contested over half the seats in the Lancaster City Council elections on 2 May 2019. We targeted 4 wards in Lancaster – and they all turned Green, electing 10 City Councillors (out of a total of 60). Lancaster was the third biggest group of Green Councillors in England. The elections gave no overall control to any political party. As a result, Greens, Labour, Eco-Socialist Independents and the Liberal Democrats agreed to work together, with Greens receiving 4 out of the 10 posts on the Cabinet running the Council.
We also contested 6 seats in the Wyre Borough Council elections on the same day.
The Green wave swept over the North West later that month, when Gina Dowding was elected the first Green MEP in the European Union elections. She won one of the 8 available seats with 12.5% of the regional vote overall – and 20% of the vote in Lancaster.
FORMER MEP FOR THE NORTH WEST
- Gina Dowding
LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL
Bulk ward (3 seats)
- Tim Hamilton-Cox (1,199 votes – retained his seat)
- Caroline Jackson (1,196 votes- retained her seat)
- Lucie Carrington (1,055 votes – new councillor)
Castle ward (2 seats)
- Dave Brookes (1,003 votes – retained his seat)
- Paul Stubbins (851 votes – new councillor)
Marsh ward (2 seats)
- Gina Dowding (1,174 votes – returning to the City Council having done her first stint in 1999-2007)
- Mandy Bannon (1,109 – new councillor)
Scotforth West ward (3 seats)
- Tim Dant (1,303 votes – new councillor)
- Abi Mills (1,488 votes – retained her seat)
- Joanna Young (1,319 votes – new councillor)
For more information on current and past councillors and election candidates, please see our People page and its sub-menus.
(Election maps for Great Britain are available at https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ – select ‘boundary’ on the left and then scroll down to select types of boundary – eg Westminster Constituency (General Elections), County Electoral Divisions, Districts (eg Lancaster District, Wyre District) and District Wards. Zoom in using the + and – tool on the right.)