Janet Looker

Janet Looker (born 1938) is a British Labour Party politician and councillor. She has been a councillor for Guildhall Ward continuously since 1985, making her the longest-serving councillor in City of York Council.

Janet Looker
Leader of the York Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 October 2015
Preceded by	Dafydd Williams
Lord Mayor of York
In office May 2004 – May 2005
Preceded by	Charles Hall
Succeeded by	Janet Greenwood
Member of City of York Council for Guildhall
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 May 1995
Member of North Yorkshire County Council for Guildhall
In office 1985 – 4 May 1995
Preceded by	D Green
Succeeded by	Herself in City of York Council
Personal details
Born	1938 (age 79-80) Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour (1964-present)
Spouse(s)	Robert 'Bob' Looker
Children	2 girls, 1 boy
Alma mater	University of Bristol

Looker was born in Bristol and brought up in the small south Gloucestershire market town of Chipping Sodbury. Her dad was a small-holder and market gardener. Her parents were what she called 'old-fashioned West Country Liberals', but she herself has always been Labour. She joined the party went she went to Bristol University to study English in the Wilson era.

In the mid-1960s, she met academic Robert Looker while working in a library. They married and subsequently moved north in 1965. Robert began teaching students politics at the University of York. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, they had three children, two girls and one boy. After her children were old enough to go to school Looker started thinking about how she would make a career for herself, and in the late 1970s did a two-year course in law at Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University). She stood as the Labour Party candidate for Guildhall in the 1985 North Yorkshire County Council election, receiving 1,079 votes compared to the Conservative's 733 and the Liberal/SDP's 446. She was re-elected to this seat in 1989 and 1993.

In 1995, York was granted unitary authority status, and thus was given its own metropolitan council. She was again re-elected as a councillor for Guildhall in the 1995 election.

Electoral history

City of York Council election, 2015

Guildhall (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Green	Denise Craghill	1895	12.5
	Labour	James Flinders	1625	10.7
	Labour	Janet Looker	1621	10.7
	Labour	Kate Pilling	1407	9.3
	Green	Andy Law	1253	8.3
	Conservative	Jan Keenan	1209	8.0
	Conservative	Jack Robinson	1112	7.3
	Green	June Tranmer	1060	7.0
	Conservative	Janette Robinson	984	6.5
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Love	672	4.4
	UKIP	John Brittlebank	520	3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Green	511	3.4
	Independent	Brian Watson	416	2.7
	Independent	Gordon Campbell-Thomas	386	2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Derek Waudby	254	1.7
	TUSC	Andrew Dickenson	214	1.4
Turnout				53.8%
	Green gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

City of York Council election, 2011

Guildhall (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Janet Looker	978	25.2	1.1
	Labour	Brian Watson	881	22.7	2.6
	Conservative	Lynne Carty	537	13.8	1.2
	Green	Denise Craghill	537	13.8	4.6
	Green	Andreas Heinemeyer	326	8.4	0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Packington	313	8.1	2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Lizzie Beardsley	310	8.0	2.6
Turnout			3882	35.1	3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	0.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.0

City of York Council election, 2007

Guildhall (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Janet Looker	785	24.1	1.4
	Labour	Brian Watson	654	20.1	0.8
	Conservative	Matthew Kilburn	413	12.7	1.8
	Conservative	Jonathan Meehan	343	10.5	10.5
	Green	John Norris	302	9.3	2.5
	Green	Candy Spillard	248	7.6	2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jackie Talbot	180	5.5	-12.7
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Reid	175	5.4	-8.8
	Liberal	Andrew Hinkles	158	4.8	4.8
Turnout				31.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.9

City of York Council election, 2003

Guildhall (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Janet Looker	664	22.7
	Labour	Brian Watson	564	19.3
	Liberal Democrat	Nicholas Blitz	532	18.2
	Liberal Democrat	Philip Thomas	414	14.1
	Conservative	Nicholas Toms	319	10.9
	Green	Gillian Cossham	199	6.8
	Green	Denise Craghill	156	5.3
	Socialist Alliance	Mark Russell	78	2.7
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

City of York Council election, 1999

Guildhall (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	J.M. Looker	780	24.9
	Labour	B.W.J.E. Watson	667	21.3
	Conservative	K.J. Beavan	487	15.6
	Conservative	A.J. Mett	445	14.2
	Liberal Democrat	C.M. Anderson	255	8.2
	Liberal Democrat	L.A. Hogg	223	7.1
	Green	G.M. Williams	136	4.3
	Green	J.S. Cossham	134	4.3
Turnout			3,127
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

City of York Council election, 1995

Guildhall (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	J. Looker	1,353	33.5	-26.6
	Labour	B. Watson	1,206	29.9	N/A
	Conservative	R. Garland	445	11.0	N/A
	Conservative	J. Cornish	432	10.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	S. McCloy	209	5.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	J. McCloy	199	4.9	N/A
	Green	M. Nicholson	195	4.8	0.0
Turnout			4,039	36.5	+2.1
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

North Yorkshire County Council election, 1993

Guildhall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ms. J. Looker	1,132	60.1	+17.0
	Conservative	S. Cook	474	25.1	-17.0
	Liberal Democrat	J. Platt	189	10.0	+4.7
	Green	Ms. H. Nightingale	90	4.8	N/A
Turnout			1,885	34.4	-10.2
	Labour hold		Swing

North Yorkshire County Council election, 1989

Guildhall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ms. J. Looker	1,047	43.1	-4.7
	Conservative	J. Yeomans	1,022	42.1	+9.6
	Green	M. Farran	231	9.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	G. Riding	130	5.3	N/A
Turnout			2,430	44.6	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing

North Yorkshire County Council election, 1985

Guildhall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ms. J. Looker	1,079	47.8	+14.2
	Conservative	Ms. M. Young	733	32.5	+1.5
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Ms. A. Feinstein	446	19.7	-11.3
Turnout			2,258	41.9	-1.9
	Labour hold		Swing

References

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