Bournemouth Borough Council elections

Bournemouth Borough Council was the local authority for Bournemouth in Dorset, England between 1974 and 2019. Prior to 1974 Bournemouth had been a county borough within Hampshire (being a county borough meant it was self-governing, being independent of Hampshire County Council). Under the Local Government Act 1972 Bournemouth became a non-metropolitan district within Dorset on 1 April 1974, with the same boundaries as the former county borough. On 1 April 1997 it became a unitary authority, taking over the functions previously provided for the area by Dorset County Council. In 2019 the council was abolished, merging with Christchurch and Poole to form Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Political control

The first elections to the reformed council were held in 1973, initially to act as a shadow authority prior to the new arrangements coming into force the following year. From 1973 until the council's abolition in 2019 political control of the council was held by the following parties:^[1]

Lower tier non-metropolitan district

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	1973–1991
	No overall control	1991–1997

Unitary authority

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1997–2003
	Liberal Democrats	2003–2007
	Conservative	2007–2019

Leadership

The role of mayor was largely ceremonial at Bournemouth Borough Council. Political leadership was instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 2007 until the council's abolition in 2019 were:

Councillor		From	To
Richard Smith^[2]	Liberal Democrats		2007
Stephen MacLoughlin^[3]^[4]	Conservative	May 2007	2010
Peter Charon^[5]	Conservative	19 Jul 2010	21 Feb 2012
John Beesley^[6]^[7]^[8]	Conservative	21 Feb 2012	31 Mar 2019

Council elections

Non-metropolitan district elections

Unitary authority elections

Council composition

Year	Conservative	Liberal Democrats	Labour	Green	UKIP	Independent	Council control after election
Year							Council control after election
2003	16	33	3	0	0	2		Liberal Democrats
2007	41	7	3	0	0	3		Conservative
2011	45	3	3	0	0	3		Conservative
2015	51	0	0	1	1	1		Conservative

Borough result maps

2003 results map
2007 results map
2011 results map
2015 results map

By-election results

1999–2003

Moordown By-Election 4 May 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Henning	559	40.0	+19.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Hayter	537	38.4	−1.1
	Labour	Tony Hughes	301	21.5	+1.2
Majority			22	1.6
Turnout			1,397	23.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Westbourne By-Election 4 May 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Beesley	1,565	75.5	+13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Russell	351	16.9	−7.1
	Labour	David Stokes	156	7.5	−6.6
Majority			1,214	58.6
Turnout			2,072	30.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Strouden Park By-Election 7 September 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Littlewood	1,276	54.7	+11.3
	Conservative	Terry Hellier-Woods	917	39.3	+1.9
	Labour	Arthur O'Luby	139	6.0	−13.3
Majority			359	15.4
Turnout			2,332	29.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kinson By-Election 2 August 2001
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janice Hurne	708	44.7	−9.8
	Liberal Democrats	Donald Lazenbury	532	33.6	+13.1
	Conservative	Michaela Keene	345	21.8	−3.2
Majority			176	11.1
Turnout			1,585	25.2
	Labour hold		Swing

2003–2007

Talbot & Branksome Woods By-Election 15 January 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lynda Price	766	52.9	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Lorna McGowan	484	33.4	+5.4
	UKIP	Graham Evans	128	8.8	−2.9
	Labour	David Stokes	70	4.8	−4.5
Majority			282	19.5
Turnout			1,448	21.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boscombe West By-Election 22 July 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Benedict Prescott	526	42.9	+8.1
	Conservative	Christopher Wakefield	384	31.3	+5.9
	Labour	David Stokes	120	9.8	−5.6
	UKIP	Graham Evans	107	8.7	+8.7
	Green	Roger Eede	90	7.3	+7.3
Majority			142	11.6
Turnout			1,227	20.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kinson North By-Election 29 September 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Lewis	720	37.0	−7.8
	Labour	Dennis Gritt	645	33.1	+4.8
	Conservative	Christopher Pomeroy	456	23.4	+7.1
	UKIP	Mark Smith	126	6.5	+6.5
Majority			75	3.9
Turnout			1,947	26.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Littledown & Iford By-Election 15 December 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas King	1,318	67.8	+36.9
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Ketchley	389	20.0	−30.9
	Labour	Debbie Sharman	162	8.3	+2.1
	BNP	Barry Bennett	74	3.8	+3.8
Majority			929	47.8
Turnout			1,943	25.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

2007–2011

Queen's Park By-Election 1 May 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cheryl Anne Johnson	910	47.6	−7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Carlile	466	24.4	−10.6
	UKIP	David Norman Hughes	175	9.1	+9.1
	Labour Co-op	Mike Goff	149	7.8	−2.3
	Independent	Chris Mayne	146	7.6	+7.6
	Liberal	Bill Brandwood	67	3.5	+3.5
Majority			444	23.2
Turnout			1,913	26.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Winton East By-Election 1 May 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Lloyd Barton Spencer	590	35.6	−14.9
	Liberal Democrats	Anson Westbrook	411	24.8	−3.5
	Labour	Mel Semple	244	14.7	+3.1
	Independent	Malcolm Kenneth Lock	132	8.0	−1.7
	Green	Roger Eede	126	7.6	+7.6
	BNP	Barry John Sinclair Bennett	104	6.3	+6.3
	UKIP	Sam Whitt	51	3.1	+3.1
Majority			179	10.8
Turnout			1,658	24.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westbourne & West Cliff By-Election 4 June 2009
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Richard Powell	1,308	51.4
	Liberal Democrats	Noel Davenport	567	22.3
	UKIP	Rod Trelease	360	14.1
	Labour	Jack Killingback	166	6.5
	Independent	Malcolm John Chapman	146	5.7
Majority			741	29.1
Turnout			2,547	31.76
	Conservative hold		Swing

2011–2015

Redhill and Northbourne By-Election 31 May 2012^[11]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David d’Orton-Gibson	675	26.7
	Labour	Jo Kennedy	539	21.3
	Liberal Democrats	Pat Lewis	424	16.8
	Independent	Claire Smith	398	15.8
	UKIP	Nicholas Atkinson	327	13.0
	Green	Sandra Hale	54	2.1
	Independent	Paul Graham	51	2.0
	BNP	Colin Smith	42	1.7
	Independent	Peter Woodley	15	0.6
Majority			136	5.4
Turnout			2,525	32.77
	Conservative hold		Swing

Littledown and Iford By-Election 15 November 2012^[13]^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Gill Seymour	810	54.0
	Labour	Debbie Lynn Sharman	247	16.5
	UKIP	David Norman Hughes	229	15.3
	Liberal Democrats	Peter David Pull	214	14.3
Majority			563	37.5
Turnout			1,500	19.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

Winton East By-Election 14 November 2013^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Pat Oakley	503	41.8
	Labour	Mike Goff	215	17.9
	UKIP	Laurence Fear	212	17.6
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Stephen Gillett	191	15.9
	Green	Sandra Hale	48	4.0
	Independent	Kathleen Mortimer	34	2.8
Turnout			1,203	15.44
	Conservative hold		Swing

2015–2019

Kinson South By-Election 10 December 2015 (2 seats)^[16]
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	Norman Decent	520
Conservative	Roger Marley	509
Labour	Beryl Baxter	471
Labour	Mel Semple	371
UKIP	Duane Farr	313
Bournemouth Independent Alliance	Philip Davenport	168
Bournemouth Independent Alliance	Roger West	116
Green	Carla Gregory-May	63
Liberal Democrats	Gill Pardy	61
Liberal Democrats	Phil Dunn	60
Green	Geoffrey Darnton	54
Patria	Kevin Dixon	8
Conservative hold		Swing
Conservative hold		Swing

Kinson North By-Election 1 September 2016^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Perkins	556	34.7	+2.2
	Labour	Dennis Gritt	517	32.2	+11.2
	UKIP	Duane Farr	313	19.5	−7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Plant	116	7.2	−1.8
	Green	Carla Gregory-May	102	6.4	−4.0
Majority			39	2.4
Turnout			1,604
	Conservative hold		Swing

Throop and Muscliff By-Election 18 January 2018^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Kieron Wilson	533	31.3	+31.3
	Conservative	Hazel Allen	511	30.0	+0.8
	Labour	Rob Bassinder	402	23.6	+13.1
	Independent	Peter Lucas	117	6.9	+6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Muriel Turner	107	6.3	+6.3
	Green	Jane Bull	33	1.9	−7.4
Majority			22	1.3
Turnout			1,703
	Independent hold		Swing

References

^ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "Bournemouth" in search box to see specific results.)
^ "Massive Tory swing in Bournemouth". BBC News. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
^ Slade, Darren (5 April 2014). "Former Bournemouth council leader Stephen MacLoughlin aiming for political comeback". Daily Echo. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
^ "Bournemouth has a new leader following porn inquiry". BBC News. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
^ "Bournemouth council leader Peter Charon loses confidence vote". BBC News. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
^ "Council minutes, 21 February 2012" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
^ "John Beesley confirmed as Bournemouth council leader". BBC News. 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
^ Martin, Andy (23 March 2019). "Inquiry was held into Bournemouth council leader John Beesley". Daily Echo. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
^ The Borough of Bournemouth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978
^ legislation.gov.uk - The Borough of Bournemouth (Electoral Changes) Order 2002. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
^ "Bournemouth Borough Council – Redhill and Northbourne By-election". Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
^ "Redhill and Northbourne By-election Results Notice" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
^ "Bournemouth Borough Council – Four candidates for Littledown and Iford by-election". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
^ "Bournemouth Borough Council – Littledown & Iford by-election results". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
^ "Election of a Councillor for the Winton East Ward - Result" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Kinson South Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Kinson North Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk.
^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Throop and Muscliff Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk.

External links

Bournemouth Borough Council

[electionscentre-1] "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "Bournemouth" in search box to see specific results.)

[2] "Massive Tory swing in Bournemouth". BBC News. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

[3] Slade, Darren (5 April 2014). "Former Bournemouth council leader Stephen MacLoughlin aiming for political comeback". Daily Echo. Retrieved 6 December 2024.

[4] "Bournemouth has a new leader following porn inquiry". BBC News. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

[5] "Bournemouth council leader Peter Charon loses confidence vote". BBC News. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

[6] "Council minutes, 21 February 2012" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Retrieved 6 December 2024.

[7] "John Beesley confirmed as Bournemouth council leader". BBC News. 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2024.

[8] Martin, Andy (23 March 2019). "Inquiry was held into Bournemouth council leader John Beesley". Daily Echo. Retrieved 6 December 2024.

[9] The Borough of Bournemouth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978

[10] slation.gov.uk - The Borough of Bournemouth (Electoral Changes) Order 2002. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.

[11] "Bournemouth Borough Council – Redhill and Northbourne By-election". Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.

[12] "Redhill and Northbourne By-election Results Notice" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2012.

[13] "Bournemouth Borough Council – Four candidates for Littledown and Iford by-election". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.

[14] "Bournemouth Borough Council – Littledown & Iford by-election results". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.

[15] "Election of a Councillor for the Winton East Ward - Result" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.

[16] "Local Elections Archive Project — Kinson South Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2023.

[17] "Local Elections Archive Project — Kinson North Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk.

[18] "Local Elections Archive Project — Throop and Muscliff Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk.

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v t e Bournemouth, Dorset
Neighbourhoods	Alder Hills Bear Cross Boscombe Charminster East Cliff East Howe Ensbury Park Hengistbury Head Hill View Holdenhurst Iford Kings Park Kinson Knighton Heath Lansdowne Littledown Malmesbury Park Mayfield Park Estate Meyrick Park Moordown Muccleshell Muscliff Northbourne Pokesdown Queen's Park Redhill Richmond Hill Richmond Park Slades Farm Southbourne Springbourne Strouden Park Talbot Heath Talbot Village Talbot Woods Throop Town centre Townsend Tuckton Turbary Park Victoria Park Wallisdown Warren Hill Westbourne West Cliff West Howe Wick Winton Withybed Wood Woodbury
Blue Flag beaches	Alum Chine Durley Chine Fisherman's Walk Southbourne Beach
Buildings	Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth International Centre Bournemouth Town Hall Bournemouth Pier Bournemouth University Bournemouth War Memorial Dean Court Royal Bournemouth Hospital Pavilion Theatre
Sports	AFC Bournemouth Bournemouth Bobcats Bournemouth F.C. Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic F.C. Bournemouth Rowing Club Bournemouth Rugby Club
Cemeteries	Bournemouth (East) Bournemouth (Kinson) Bournemouth (North) and Crematorium Bournemouth (Wimborne Road)
History	Tramways 1908 tram disaster Bournemouth typhoid outbreak of 1936 Bournemouth Blitz 1944 Moordown air disaster 2023 Bournemouth beach incident
Other	Borough Council elections Churches Coat of arms of Bournemouth Gardens People Schools Water Company

v t e Council elections in Dorset
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council	2019 2023
Dorset Council	2019 2024
Dorset County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 Abolished
Bournemouth Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Christchurch Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
East Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
North Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Poole Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Purbeck District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Abolished
West Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

v t e Former unitary authorities of England
Districts	Bournemouth Poole
Councils	Bournemouth Borough Council Poole Borough Council
Local elections	Bournemouth Poole