Dorset County Council elections

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.

County Hall in Dorchester, headquarters of Dorset County Council

Under the Local Government Act 1972 the non-metropolitan county of Dorset was created from the merger of the administrative counties of Dorset, and the boroughs of Bournemouth and Poole. 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.

Political control

Since 1973 political control of the council was held by the following parties:

PartyTenure
Conservative1973–1993
No overall control1993–2001
Conservative2001–2019

County council composition
ElectionConservativeLiberal Democrat[1]LabourUKIPGreenOther Total
1973[2]59141100791
1977[3]804400391
1981[4]531611001191
1985[5]4226400577
1989[6]4322600677
1993[7]2838600577
1997[8]1521500142
2001[9]2314400142
2005[10]2416400145
2009[11]2816000145
2013[12]2712510045
2017[13]3211102046

Composition since 1973
1973



1977



1981



1985



1989



1993



1997



2001



2005



2009



2013



2017



County result maps
  • 2005 results map
  • 2009 results map
  • 2013 results map
  • 2017 results map

By-election results

By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections;[14] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.

By-electionDateIncumbent partyWinning party
Ferndown by-election 6 May 1999 Conservative Conservative
Corfe Mullen by-election 10 June 2004 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Rodwell by-election 12 November 2015 Labour Green
Sherborne Rural by-election 2 June 2016 Conservative Liberal Democrats
Ferndown by-election 1 September 2016 Conservative Conservative
Ferndown by-election 1 December 2016 UKIP Conservative

References
  1. Liberal prior to 1981, SDP-Liberal Alliance from 1981 to 1988.
  2. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1973). Local Elections Handbook 1973: The 1973 Local Election Results. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. pp. 374–81.
  3. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1977). Local Elections Handbook 1977: The 1977 Local Election Results. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 8.
  4. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1981). Local Elections Handbook 1981: The 1981 Local Election Results. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 8.
  5. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1985). Local Elections Handbook 1985: The 1985 Local Election Results. 1. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 218.
  6. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1989). Local Elections Handbook 1989: The 1989 Local Election Results. 1. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 76.
  7. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1993). Local Elections Handbook 1993: The 1993 Local Election Results. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 1.
  8. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1997). Local Elections Handbook 1997: The 1997 Local Election Results. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 4.
  9. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2001). Local Elections Handbook 2001: The 2001 Local Election Results. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 4.
  10. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2005). Local Elections Handbook 2005: The 2005 Local Election Results. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. pp. 3–4.
  11. "Elections 2009 – Dorset". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  12. "Dorset results". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 February 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  13. "Dorset County Council". BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  14. "Local Authority Byelection Results". Retrieved 8 May 2016.
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