North Dorset District Council elections

Map showing the composition of North Dorset District Council as of the last election in 2015. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in grey.

North Dorset District Council in Dorset, England existed from 1974 to 2019, when it was abolished and subsumed into Dorset Council.

Political control

From the first election to the council in 1973 until its abolition in 2019, political control was held by the following parties:

Party in control		Years
	Independent	1973–1995
	Liberal Democrats	1995–1999
	No overall control	1999–2007
	Conservative	2007–2019

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 2012 until the council's abolition in 2019 were:^[1]

Councillor		From	To
Peter Webb^[2]	Conservative		28 Sep 2012
Deborah Croney^[3]	Conservative	28 Sep 2012	29 Jul 2016
Graham Carr-Jones	Conservative	29 Jul 2016	31 Mar 2019

Council elections

1973 North Dorset District Council election
1976 North Dorset District Council election
1979 North Dorset District Council election
1983 North Dorset District Council election (New ward boundaries)^[4]
1987 North Dorset District Council election
1991 North Dorset District Council election (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)^[5]^[6]
1995 North Dorset District Council election
1999 North Dorset District Council election
2003 North Dorset District Council election (New ward boundaries)^[7]
2007 North Dorset District Council election
2011 North Dorset District Council election
2015 North Dorset District Council election (New ward boundaries)^[8]

Council composition

Year	Conservative	Liberal Democrats	Independent	Council control after election
Year				Council control after election
1999	16	10	7^[a]		No overall control
2003	15	11	7		No overall control
2007	17	13	3		Conservative
2011	23	6	4		Conservative
2015	27	4	2		Conservative

District result maps

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

By-election results

1995-1999

Blandford West By-Election 9 January 1997
Party		Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	413	45.6
	Conservative	316	34.9
	Labour	176	19.4
Majority		97	10.7
Turnout		905	23.7
	Liberal Democrats hold	Swing

Riverside By-Election 26 November 1998
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	231	62.4	+22.2
	Labour	139	37.6	+18.0
Majority		92	34.8
Turnout		370	28.0
	Liberal Democrats hold	Swing

1999-2003

Gillingham Town By-Election 4 October 2001
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	243	58.0	+22.3
	Conservative	119	28.4	−5.3
	Independent	57	13.6	−17.1
Majority		124	29.6
Turnout		419	29.0
	Liberal Democrats hold	Swing

Wyke By-Election 4 October 2001
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen James	434	46.8	−4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Beckley	374	40.3	+19.3
	Independent	Su Hunt	119	12.8	−14.7
Majority			60	6.5
Turnout			927	34.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

2003-2007

Hill Forts By-Election 10 June 2004
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	1,149	58.1	+18.9
	Conservative	775	39.2	−12.6
	Labour	52	2.6	+2.6
Majority		374	18.9
Turnout		1,976	62.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative	Swing

Lodbourne By-Election 7 July 2005
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	308	57.6	+57.6
	Independent	131	24.5	+24.5
	Independent	96	17.9	+17.9
Majority		177	33.1
Turnout		535	35.5
	Liberal Democrats hold	Swing

Lydden Vale By-Election 6 July 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Fox	429	57.0	+47.4
	Conservative	Ian Johns	324	43.0	+28.5
Majority			105	14.0
Turnout			753	50.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

2011-2015

Lodbourne By-Election 21 March 2013^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Arnold	187	47.9	+0.1
	Conservative	Mike Gould	134	34.4	−17.8
	Labour	Bob Messer	69	17.7	+17.7
Majority			53	13.6
Turnout			390
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

The Stours By-Election 21 March 2013^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Traci Handford	207	80.2	+11.8
	Labour	Joseph Pestell	51	19.8	+19.8
Majority			156	60.5
Turnout			258
	Conservative hold		Swing

2015-2019

Blanford Hilltop By-Election 5 May 2016
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Traci Handford	176	32.5	−14.8
	Liberal Democrats	Hugo Mieville	170	31.4	n/a
	Labour	Haydn White	100	18.5	+8.1
	UKIP	William Woodhouse	96	17.7	−3.2
Majority			6	1.1
Turnout				34.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hill Forts By-Election 5 May 2016
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Piers Brown	946	48.4	+4.3
	UKIP	John England	417	21.3	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Tibbles	318	16.3	n/a
	Labour	Keith Yarwood	273	14.0	−0.2
Majority			529	27.1
Turnout				39.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gillingham Town By-Election 4 May 2017^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Chase	678	46.2	+11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Barry von Clemens	660	45.0	+13.0
	UKIP	Peter Caulfield	129	8.8	+8.8
Majority			18	1.2
Turnout			1,467
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Blandford Central By-Election 27 July 2017
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Noc Lacey-Clarke	310	36.6	+16.6
	Labour	Haydn White	307	36.3	+25.1
	Liberal Democrats	Hugo Mieville	229	27.1	+0.1
Majority			3	0.3
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

References

^ Includes 1 independent conservative.

^ "Council minutes". Dorset Council. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
^ "New leader for district council". Forum Focus. Blandford Forum. November 2012. p. 12. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
^ "New leader for North Dorset council". Daily Echo. 3 August 2016.
^ The District of North Dorset (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1980
^ legislation.gov.uk - The Dorset (District Boundaries) Order 1987. Retrieved on 6 November 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk - The Berkshire, Dorset and Wiltshire (County Boundaries) Order 1989. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk - The District of North Dorset (Electoral Changes) Order 2002. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk - The North Dorset (Electoral Changes) Order 2014. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Lodbourne Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Local Elections Archive Project — The Stours Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Gillingham Town Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

External links

North Dorset District Council

[9] Includes 1 independent conservative.

[1] "Council minutes". Dorset Council. Retrieved 1 July 2022.

[2] "New leader for district council". Forum Focus. Blandford Forum. November 2012. p. 12. Retrieved 1 July 2022.

[3] "New leader for North Dorset council". Daily Echo. 3 August 2016.

[4] The District of North Dorset (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1980

[5] slation.gov.uk - The Dorset (District Boundaries) Order 1987. Retrieved on 6 November 2015.

[6] slation.gov.uk - The Berkshire, Dorset and Wiltshire (County Boundaries) Order 1989. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.

[7] slation.gov.uk - The District of North Dorset (Electoral Changes) Order 2002. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.

[8] slation.gov.uk - The North Dorset (Electoral Changes) Order 2014. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.

[10] "Local Elections Archive Project — Lodbourne Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

[11] "Local Elections Archive Project — The Stours Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

[12] "Local Elections Archive Project — Gillingham Town Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[a]

[9]

[10]

[11]

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