See main article: 2011 United Kingdom local elections.
| Election Name: | Cheshire West and Chester Council Election, 2011 |
| Country: | Cheshire |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 2008 Cheshire West and Chester Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2015 Cheshire West and Chester Council election |
| Next Year: | 2015 |
| Seats For Election: | All 75 seats on Cheshire West and Chester Council |
| Election Date: | 5 May 2011 |
| Majority Seats: | 38 |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 55 |
| Seats Before1: | 50 |
| Seats After1: | 42 |
| Seats1: | 8 |
| Leaders Seat1: | Tattenhall |
| Leader1: | Mike Jones |
| Popular Vote1: | 84,705 |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 13 |
| Seats Before2: | 13 |
| Seats After2: | 32 |
| Seats2: | 19 |
| Seats Needed2: | 25 |
| Leaders Seat2: | Ellesmere Port Town |
| Leader2: | Derek Bateman |
| Popular Vote2: | 69,829 |
| Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election3: | 4 |
| Seats Before3: | 4 |
| Seats After3: | 1 |
| Seats3: | 3 |
| Seats Needed3: | 34 |
| Popular Vote3: | 22,223 |
| Party4: | Independent (politician) |
| Last Election4: | 0 |
| Seats Before4: | 4 |
| Seats After4: | 0 |
| Seats4: | 4 |
| Popular Vote4: | 5,732 |
| Party5: | UK Independence Party |
| Last Election5: | 0 |
| Seats Before5: | 1 |
| Seats After5: | 0 |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seats Needed5: | 37 |
| Leader5: | Richard Lowe |
| Leaders Seat5: | Garden Quarter (defeated) |
| Popular Vote5: | 2,889 |
| Before Election: | Mike Jones |
| Before Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leader of the Council | |
| Posttitle: | Leader of the Council after election |
| After Election: | Mike Jones |
| After Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
The 2011 elections to Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council were the first elections to this Council after it had been re-warded into a mixture of single-, two- and three-member wards. They took place on 5 May alongside the 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum. The previous election held for 2008 were based on the old Cheshire County Council electoral divisions each of which returned 3 members. The 2008 elections elected 72 members to serve first on the shadow authority and then, with effect from 1 April 2009, the new Council when it took over responsibility for the delivery of local government services.
Given the re-warding that took place in time for the 2011 elections, direct comparisons between the 2008 and 2011 results are problematic. Superficially, the 2011 results give the impression of a dramatic swing to Labour when compared with the 2008 results; however, this is misleading. In 2008, the Labour Party was particularly unpopular, with the local government elections taking place shortly after the '10p tax rate' had been abolished, plunging Labour support to a particular low. This unpopularity, coupled with the then large electoral wards electing three councillors per ward, and the first-past-the-post system, very much favoured the then leading party in the opinion polls – the Conservatives – who, in 2008, won a much greater majority than had otherwise been predicted.
The 2011 elections with the re-warding took place one year into the national Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition, at a time when support for the Liberal Democrats was at a particular low. Nationally, Labour's support had rallied considerably when compared with 2008.
Before the elections in 2011, the majority Conservative party suffered a small number of defections, principally almost certainly associated with existing councillors failing to be selected by the party to fight the seat of their choice.As noted, the Conservatives had reduced in number from 55 to 50 through resignations, defections and withdrawal of the party whip associated with the processes for selection of candidates to fight the 2011 election.
Four political groups which had unsuccessfully put forward candidates in 2008 did not do so in 2011. Several deselected Conservatives stood without the party whip, but there were no other independent candidates.
[1] [2] [3] |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#F2F2F2;"! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" colspan=2 | Political party! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Group leader! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Candidates! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Total
votes! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Total
seats! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Seats,
net change! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Seats,
of total (%)! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Votes,
of total (%)! style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | Total votes,
change (%)|-| data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | Mike Jones| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 75| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 84,705| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 42| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 8| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 56| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 45.34| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||-| data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | Derek Bateman| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 75| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 69,829| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 32| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 19| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 42.6| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 37.38| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||-| data-sort-value="Liberal Democrats (UK)" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 51| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 22,223| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 1| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 3| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 1.33| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 11.90| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||-| data-sort-value="Independent" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 9| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 5,732| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 4| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 3.07| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||-| data-sort-value="United Kingdom Independence Party" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | Richard Lowe| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 15| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 2,889| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 1| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 1.55| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||-| data-sort-value="Green Party of England and Wales" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 4| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 1,042| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0.56| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||-| data-sort-value="Socialist Labour Party (UK)" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 1| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 251| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0.13| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||-| data-sort-value="British National Party (UK)" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" scope="row" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa; text-align: left;" | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 1| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 151| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | | style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" | 0.08| style="border: 1px solid #aaa;" ||}
Seat composition between 2008 (top) and 2011 (bottom):
| 55 | 13 | 4 |
| 42 | 32 | 1 |