Poole Borough Council elections

Poole was a unitary authority in Dorset, England from 1997 to 2019. From 1974 until 1 April 1997 it was a non-metropolitan district. In 2019 it was abolished and subsumed into Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, ahead of the local government reorganisation coming into effect 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
	Liberal Democrats	1991–1997

Unitary authority

Party in control		Years
	Liberal Democrats	1997–1999
	No overall control	1999–2003
	Conservative	2003–2011
	No overall control	2011–2015
	Conservative	2015–2019

Leadership

The role of mayor was largely ceremonial at Poole Borough Council. Political leadership was instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 2003 until the council's abolition in 2019 were:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Brian Leverett[2][3]		Conservative	20 May 2003	17 Sep 2010
Elaine Atkinson[4][5]		Conservative	26 Oct 2010	May 2015
Janet Walton[6][7]		Conservative	20 May 2015	31 Mar 2019

Council elections

Non-metropolitan district elections

• 1973 Poole Borough Council election
• 1976 Poole Borough Council election
• 1979 Poole Borough Council election
• 1983 Poole Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)^[8]
• 1987 Poole Borough Council election
• 1991 Poole Borough Council election

Unitary authority elections

• 1996 Poole Borough Council election
• 1999 Poole Borough Council election
• 2003 Poole Borough Council election (New ward boundaries increased the number of seats by three)^[9][10]
• 2007 Poole Borough Council election
• 2011 Poole Borough Council election
• 2015 Poole Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)^[11]

Council composition

Year	Conservative	Liberal Democrats	Labour	Poole People	UKIP	Council control after election
1999	17	19	3	0	0		No overall control
2003	26	16	0	0	0		Conservative
2007	25	17	0	0	0		Conservative
2011	21	18	0	3	0		Conservative
2015	32	6	0	3	1		Conservative

Borough result maps

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

By-election results

1999-2003

Canford Heath By-Election 28 September 2000 (2 vacancies)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Moore	1,825
	Liberal Democrats	Jeff Allen	1,747
	Conservative	Peter Bowler	1,649
	Conservative	Roy Oakton	1,645
	Labour	George Inglis	216
	Labour	Paul Westbrook-Merry	177
Turnout			7,259	33.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Resignation of Cllr Andrew Muspratt and Cllr Marian Mackenzie^[12]

2003-2007

Alderney By-Election 18 March 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lindsay Wilson	1,392	58.4	+11.4
	Conservative	Wendy Herring	527	22.1	−13.7
	Labour	Philip Murray	327	13.7	−0.7
	Independent	Nicholas Tapping	77	3.2	+3.2
	Independent	Doreen Renphrey	61	2.6	+2.6
Majority			825	36.3
Turnout			2,384	30.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Resignation of Cllr Bob Dugdale^[13]

2007-2011

Branksome East By-Election 15 May 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Karen Rampton	923	55.2	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Gillett	750	44.8	+26.0
Majority			173	10.4
Turnout			1,673	35.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Death of Cllr Mary Hillman^[14]

Broadstone By-Election 6 May 2010^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Clements	809	48.3	−4.1
	Conservative	Tony Reeves	481	28.7	−7.7
	Labour	Tony Reeves	205	12.2	+12.2
	UKIP	Diana Butler	114	6.8	+0.8
	BNP	William Kimmet	66	3.9	+3.9
Majority			328	19.6
Turnout			1,675
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Resignation of Cllr Daniel Martin^[16]

Newtown By-Election 9 September 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Clements	809
	Conservative	Tony Reeves	481
	Labour	Jason Sanderson	205
	UKIP	Diana Butler	114
	BNP	William Kimmet	66
Majority			328
Turnout				17.86
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Resignation of Cllr Michael Plummer^[17]

Poole Town By-Election 2 December 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Poole People	Mark Howell	463
	Conservative	Tony Reeves	438
	Liberal Democrats	Peter England	213
	Labour	Jason Sanderson	201
	UKIP	Avril King	55
	BNP	William Kimmet	32
Majority			25
Turnout				17.37
	Poole People gain from Conservative		Swing

Death of Cllr Brian Leverett^[18]

2011-2015

Branksome East By-Election 15 November 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jane Thomas	553
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Paton	254
	Poole People	Peter Portnoi	245
	UKIP	Diana Mary Butler	132
	Labour	Hazel Malcom-Walker	104
	BNP	William Kimmet	28
Majority			199
Turnout				27.58
	Conservative hold		Swing

Resignation of Cllr Stephen Rollo-Smith.^[19]

2015-2019

Broadstone By-Election 13 October 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Vikki Slade	2,184
	Conservative	Marc Ujvari	733
	UKIP	Alan Gerring	121
	Green	Mark Chivers	57
	Labour	Jason Sanderson	45
Majority			1,451
Turnout				37.23
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Resignation of Cllr Joanne Tomlin.^[20]