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Dorset County Council elections

{{Short description|Local government elections in Dorset, England}}

{{about|elections to the Dorset County Council abolished in 2019|elections to the successor Dorset Council|Dorset Council elections}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

File:Dorchester - County Hall (geograph 3007327).jpg]]

Dorset County Council was a non-metropolitan county in England. Elections were first held on 23 January 1889, thereafter elections were held every three years, with all members being elected by the first past the post system of election on the same day. Later, the cycle was changed to one election in every four years, and the last such election was in 2017. There were also occasional by-elections, the last of which took place in December 2016.

Under the Local Government Act 1972 the non-metropolitan county of Dorset was created from the merger of the administrative county of Dorset and the county borough of Bournemouth. The first elections to the new authority were in April 1973, and the council took office on 1 April 1974. From its creation until 1997, the county council administered the entire area of the ceremonial county of Dorset. Bournemouth and Poole became unitary authorities in 1997, but continued to form part of the county for ceremonial purposes.

The council was abolished on 31 March 2019 as part of structural changes to local government in Dorset.

County council composition

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

!rowspan="2"|Election!!Conservative!!Liberal DemocratLiberal prior to 1981, SDP-Liberal Alliance from 1981 to 1988.!!Labour!!UKIP!!Green!!Other

!rowspan="2"|Total

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |

| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| style="background-color: {{party color|United Kingdom Independence Party}}" |

| style="background-color: {{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}" |

| style="background-color: {{party color|Independent (politician)}}" |

1973{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=1973 |title=Local Elections Handbook 1973: The 1973 Local Election Results |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |pages=374–81 }}59141100791
1977{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=1977 |title=Local Elections Handbook 1977: The 1977 Local Election Results |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |page=8 }}804400391
1981{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=1981 |title=Local Elections Handbook 1981: The 1981 Local Election Results |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |page=8 }}531611001191
1985{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=1985 |title=Local Elections Handbook 1985: The 1985 Local Election Results |volume=1 |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |page=218 }}4226400577
1989{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=1989 |title=Local Elections Handbook 1989: The 1989 Local Election Results |volume=1 |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |page=76 }}4322600677
1993{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=1993 |title=Local Elections Handbook 1993: The 1993 Local Election Results |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |page=1 }}2838600577
1997{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=1997 |title=Local Elections Handbook 1997: The 1997 Local Election Results |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |page=4 }}1521500142
2001{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=2001 |title=Local Elections Handbook 2001: The 2001 Local Election Results |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |page=4 }}2314400142
2005{{cite book |last1=Rallings |first1=Colin |last2=Thrasher |first2=Michael |date=2005 |title=Local Elections Handbook 2005: The 2005 Local Election Results |location=Plymouth |publisher=The Elections Centre |pages=3–4 }}2416400145
2009{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/3856.stm |title=Elections 2009 – Dorset |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314051807/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/3856.stm |archive-date=14 March 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=4 April 2017 |df=dmy-all }}2816000145
2013{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21840008 |title=Dorset results |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206032728/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21840008 |archive-date=6 February 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=4 April 2017 |df=dmy-all }}2712510045
2017{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/404c025c-66dc-4bb4-82f2-2c08929410e4/dorset-county-council |title=Dorset County Council |work=BBC News |access-date=5 May 2017 }}3211102046

=Composition since 1973=

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 1973

|total = 91

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 59

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 14

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 11

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 7

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 1977

|total = 91

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 80

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 4

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 4

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 3

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 1981

|total = 91

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 53

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 16

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 11

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 11

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 1985

|total = 77

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 42

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 26

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 4

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 5

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 1989

|total = 77

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 43

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 22

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 6

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 6

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 1993

|total = 77

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 28

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 38

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 6

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 5

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 1997

|total = 42

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 15

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 21

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 5

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 1

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 2001

|total = 42

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 23

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 14

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 4

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 1

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 2005

|total = 45

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 24

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 16

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 4

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 1

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 2009

|total = 45

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 28

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 16

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 0

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 1

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 2013

|total = 45

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 27

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 12

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 5

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 1

|partycolor4 = {{party color|UK Independence Party}}

}}

{{Composition_bar/advanced

|divisionname = 2017

|total = 46

|boxwidth = 500

|party1 = 32

|partycolor1 = {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}

|party2 = 11

|partycolor2 = {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

|party3 = 1

|partycolor3 = {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}

|party4 = 2

|partycolor4 = {{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}

}}

County result maps

File:Dorset UK local election 2005 map.svg|2005 results map

File:Dorset UK local election 2009 map.svg|2009 results map

File:Dorset UK local election 2013 map.svg|2013 results map

File:Dorset UK local election 2017 map.svg|2017 results map

By-election results

By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections;{{cite web|url=http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/byelections/index.htm|title=Local Authority Byelection Results|access-date=8 May 2016|archive-date=29 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329041227/http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/byelections/index.htm|url-status=dead}} full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.

class="wikitable"

! By-election !! Date !! colspan=2 | Incumbent party !! colspan=2 | Winning party

bgcolor=

|Ferndown by-election

|6 May 1999

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

bgcolor=

|Corfe Mullen by-election

|10 June 2004

| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

bgcolor=#99FF66

|Rodwell by-election

|12 November 2015

| {{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

| {{Party name with colour|Green Party of England and Wales}}

bgcolor=#fdbb30

|Sherborne Rural by-election

|2 June 2016

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

bgcolor=

|Ferndown by-election

|1 September 2016

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

bgcolor=#0087DC

|Ferndown by-election

|1 December 2016

| {{Party name with colour|United Kingdom Independence Party}}

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

bgcolor=#0087DC

|Bridport by-election

|22 February 2018

| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

Ferndown by-election

|22 February 2018

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Dorset elections}}

{{English County Council Elections}}

Category:Council elections in Dorset

Category:County council elections in England