2003 United Kingdom local elections

Local elections took place in various parts of the United Kingdom on May 1, 2003, on the same day as the Scottish Parliamentary and the Welsh Assembly elections. There were local elections for all councils in Scotland and in most of England. There were no elections in Wales, Northern Ireland or London.

The ruling Labour Party lost a considerable 833 seats, while both the main opposition parties, Conservative and Liberal Democrat, polled strongly.

Fifty nine councils held electoral pilot schemes to try and boost turnout figures. Schemes included all postal voting, mobile polling stations, alterations to voting hours and various kinds of Electronic voting. The most successful in raising turnout was all-postal voting which saw turnout rise to an average of 50%. In comparison turnout across the whole of England was only 33%

The Results

The Labour party lost a considerable 833 seats, losing control of councils such as Birmingham and Coventry, both of which the party had controlled for 20 years.

The Conservative party extended its lead over the Labour party by 1,399 councillors, however their celebrations were tempered by the resignation of Conservative front bencher Crispin Blunt, who described the party leader, Ian Duncan Smith as a "handicap" and called for him to be replaced.[1]

The Liberal Democrat party gained its highest ever share of the vote ever at 30% only one percent behind the Labour party.

Party		Councillors		Councils
Party		+/-	Total	+/-	Total
bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Conservative Party	+566	4,423	+31	110
bgcolor="Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	Labour Party	-833	3,001	-28	66
bgcolor="Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Democrat	+193	2,624	+5	28
bgcolor="Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color" \|	Independents	-42	1,142	-2	10
bgcolor="Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color" \|	Scottish National Party	-21	182	-1	1
	Residents	0	84	0	2
bgcolor="Template:Green Party of England and Wales/meta/color" \|	Green Party	+9	34	0	0
bgcolor="Template:British National Party/meta/color" \|	British National Party	+11	13	0	0
bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (UK, 1989)/meta/color" \|	Liberal Party	-2	9	0	0
bgcolor="Template:Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern/meta/color" \|	Health Concern	-2	5	0	0
bgcolor="Template:Scottish Socialist Party/meta/color" \|	Scottish Socialist Party	-1	2	0	0
	Other	-24	107	0	0
	No overall control	n/a	n/a	-5	123

Scottish local elections

All 32 Scottish unitary authorities held elections. They were held at the same time as the Scottish Parliamentary Election, 2003.

Council	Former control	New control	Type	Link to Council election
Aberdeen	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Aberdeenshire	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Angus	Scottish National Party	Scottish National Party	Unitary
Argyll and Bute	Independent	Independent	Unitary
Clackmannanshire	Scottish National Party	Labour	Unitary
Dumfries and Galloway	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Dundee	NOC	NOC	Unitary
East Ayrshire	Labour	Labour	Unitary
East Dunbartonshire	NOC	NOC	Unitary
East Lothian	Labour	Labour	Unitary
East Renfrewshire	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Edinburgh	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Falkirk	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Fife	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Glasgow	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Highland	Independent	Independent	Unitary	Highland
Inverclyde	NOC	Liberal Democrat	Unitary
Midlothian	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Moray	Independent	Independent	Unitary
North Ayrshire	Labour	Labour	Unitary
North Lanarkshire	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Orkney	Independent	Independent	Unitary
Perth and Kinross	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Renfrewshire	NOC	Labour	Unitary
Scottish Borders	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Shetland	Independent	Independent	Unitary
South Ayrshire	Labour	NOC	Unitary
South Lanarkshire	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Stirling	NOC	Labour	Unitary
West Dunbartonshire	NOC	Labour	Unitary
West Lothian	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Western Isles	Independent	Independent	Unitary

Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 English Metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

Council	Former control	New control	Type	Link to Council election
Barnsley	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Birmingham	Labour	NOC	Metropolitan
Bolton	Labour	NOC	Metropolitan	Bolton
Bradford	NOC	NOC	Metropolitan
Bury	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Calderdale	NOC	NOC	Metropolitan
Coventry	Labour	NOC	Metropolitan
Doncaster	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Dudley	Labour	NOC	Metropolitan
Gateshead	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Kirklees	NOC	NOC	Metropolitan
Knowsley	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan	Knowsley
Leeds	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Liverpool	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats	Metropolitan	Liverpool
Manchester	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Newcastle upon Tyne	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
North Tyneside	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan	North Tyneside
Oldham	NOC	Labour	Metropolitan
Rochdale	Labour	NOC	Metropolitan	Rochdale
Rotherham	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Salford	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan	Salford
Sandwell	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Sefton	NOC	NOC	Metropolitan	Sefton
Sheffield	NOC	Labour	Metropolitan
Solihull	Conservative	Conservative	Metropolitan
South Tyneside	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
St Helens	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan	St Helens
Stockport	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	Metropolitan
Sunderland	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Tameside	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Trafford	Labour	NOC	Metropolitan	Trafford
Wakefield	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan
Walsall	NOC	NOC	Metropolitan
Wigan	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan	Wigan
Wirral	NOC	NOC	Metropolitan	Wirral
Wolverhampton	Labour	Labour	Metropolitan	Wolverhampton

Unitary Authorities

Whole council

In 27 English Unitary authorities the whole council was up for election.

Council	Former control	New control	Type	Link to Council election
Bath and North East Somerset	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Blackpool	Labour	Labour	Unitary	Blackpool
Bournemouth	NOC	Liberal Democrat	Unitary
Bracknell Forest	Conservative	Conservative	Unitary
Brighton & Hove	Labour	NOC	Unitary	Results on council's website
Darlington	Labour	Labour	Unitary
East Riding of Yorkshire	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Herefordshire	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Leicester	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Luton	Labour	NOC	Unitary	Politics in Luton
Medway	NOC	Conservative	Unitary
Middlesbrough	Labour	Labour	Unitary
North East Lincolnshire	Labour	NOC	Unitary
North Lincolnshire	Labour	Conservative	Unitary	North Lincolnshire
North Somerset	Conservative	NOC	Unitary
Nottingham	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Plymouth	Conservative	Labour	Unitary
Poole	NOC	Conservative	Unitary
Redcar and Cleveland	Labour	NOC	Unitary
Rutland	Independent	Conservative	Unitary
South Gloucestershire	Liberal Democrat	NOC	Unitary
Stockton-on-Tees	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Telford and Wrekin	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Torbay	Conservative	Liberal Democrat	Unitary
West Berkshire	Liberal Democrat	NOC	Unitary
Windsor and Maidenhead	NOC	Liberal Democrat	Unitary
York	NOC	Liberal Democrat	Unitary

One third of council

In 13 English Unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.

Council	Former control	New control	Type	Link to Council election
Bristol	Labour	NOC	Unitary
Derby	Labour	NOC	Unitary
Hartlepool	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Kingston upon Hull	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Milton Keynes	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	Unitary
Portsmouth	NOC	NOC	Unitary	Portsmouth
Reading	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Slough	Labour	Labour	Unitary
Southampton	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Southend-on-Sea	Conservative	Conservative	Unitary
Stoke-on-Trent	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Swindon	NOC	NOC	Unitary
Wokingham	Conservative	Conservative	Unitary

District councils

Whole council

In 150 English district authorities the whole council was up for election.

Council	Former control	New control	Type	Link to Council election
Allerdale	Labour	NOC	District	Allerdale
Alnwick	NOC	NOC	District	Alnwick
Arun	Conservative	Conservative	District	Arun
Ashfield	Labour	NOC	District	Ashfield
Ashford	NOC	Conservative	District	Ashford
Aylesbury Vale	NOC	Conservative	District	Aylesbury Vale
Babergh	NOC	NOC	District	Babergh
Berwick-upon-Tweed	Liberal Democrat	NOC	District
Blaby	Conservative	Conservative	District
Blyth Valley	Labour	Labour	District
Bolsover	Labour	Labour	District
Boston	NOC	NOC	District
Braintree	NOC	NOC	District
Breckland	Conservative	Conservative	District
Bridgnorth	Independent	NOC	District
Bromsgrove	Conservative	Conservative	District
Broxtowe	Labour	NOC	District
Canterbury	NOC	NOC	District
Caradon	NOC	NOC	District
Carrick	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
Castle Morpeth	NOC	NOC	District
Castle Point	Labour	Conservative	District
Charnwood	NOC	NOC	District
Chelmsford	NOC	Conservative	District
Chester-le-Street	Labour	Labour	District
Chesterfield	Labour	Liberal Democrat	District
Chichester	Conservative	Conservative	District
Chiltern	Conservative	Conservative	District
Christchurch	Conservative	Conservative	District
Copeland	Labour	Labour	District
Corby	Labour	Labour	District	Corby
Cotswold	NOC	Conservative	District
Dacorum	NOC	Conservative	District
Dartford	Labour	NOC	District	Dartford
Derbyshire Dales	Conservative	Conservative	District
Derwentside	Labour	Labour	District
Dover	NOC	NOC	District
Durham	Labour	Liberal Democrat	District
Easington	Labour	Labour	District
East Cambridgeshire	Liberal Democrat	NOC	District
East Devon	Conservative	Conservative	District
East Dorset	Conservative	Conservative	District
East Hampshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
East Hertfordshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
East Lindsey	Independent	NOC	District
East Northamptonshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
East Staffordshire	Labour	Conservative	District
Eden	Independent	Independent	District
Epsom and Ewell	Residents	Residents	District
Erewash	Labour	Conservative	District
Fenland	Conservative	Conservative	District
Forest Heath	Conservative	Conservative	District
Forest of Dean	Labour	NOC	District
Fylde	NOC	Conservative	District	Fylde
Gedling	Conservative	NOC	District
Gravesham	Labour	Labour	District
Guildford	NOC	Conservative	District
Hambleton	Conservative	Conservative	District
Harborough	NOC	NOC	District
High Peak	Labour	NOC	District
Hinckley and Bosworth	NOC	Conservative	District	Hinckley and Bosworth
Horsham	Conservative	NOC	District
Kennet	Conservative	Conservative	District
Kerrier	NOC	NOC	District
Kettering	Labour	Conservative	District	Kettering
King's Lynn and West Norfolk	NOC	Conservative	District
Lancaster	NOC	NOC	District
Lewes	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
Lichfield	Conservative	Conservative	District
Maldon	Conservative	Conservative	District
Malvern Hills	Conservative	NOC	District
Mansfield	Labour	Independent	District
Melton	NOC	Conservative	District
Mendip	NOC	Conservative	District
Mid Bedfordshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
Mid Devon	NOC	NOC	District
Mid Suffolk	NOC	Conservative	District
Mid Sussex	Conservative	Conservative	District
New Forest	Conservative	Conservative	District
Newark and Sherwood	NOC	NOC	District
North Cornwall	Independent	Independent	District
North Devon	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
North Dorset	NOC	NOC	District
North East Derbyshire	Labour	Labour	District
North Kesteven	NOC	NOC	District
North Norfolk	NOC	Liberal Democrat	District
North Shropshire	Independent	NOC	District
North Warwickshire	Labour	NOC	District
North West Leicestershire	Labour	Labour	District
North Wiltshire	NOC	NOC	District
Northampton	Labour	NOC	District	Northampton
Oadby and Wigston	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
Oswestry	NOC	NOC	District
Restormel	NOC	NOC	District	Restormel
Ribble Valley	NOC	Conservative	District
Richmondshire	NOC	NOC	District
Rother	Conservative	Conservative	District
Rushcliffe	Conservative	Conservative	District
Ryedale	NOC	NOC	District	Ryedale
Salisbury	NOC	Conservative	District
Scarborough	NOC	Conservative	District	Scarborough
Sedgefield	Labour	Labour	District	Sedgefield
Sedgemoor	Conservative	Conservative	District
Selby	NOC	Conservative	District
Sevenoaks	Conservative	Conservative	District
Shepway	Conservative	Liberal Democrat	District
South Bucks	Conservative	Conservative	District
South Derbyshire	Labour	Labour	District
South Hams	Conservative	Conservative	District
South Holland	NOC	Conservative	District
South Kesteven	NOC	Conservative	District
South Norfolk	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
South Northamptonshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
South Oxfordshire	NOC	Conservative	District
South Ribble	NOC	NOC	District	South Ribble
South Shropshire	NOC	NOC	District
South Somerset	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
South Staffordshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
Spelthorne	Conservative	Conservative	District
St Edmundsbury	NOC	Conservative	District
Stafford	NOC	Conservative	District	Stafford
Staffordshire Moorlands	NOC	NOC	District
Suffolk Coastal	Conservative	Conservative	District
Surrey Heath	Conservative	Conservative	District
Taunton Deane	NOC	Conservative	District
Teesdale	NOC	Independent	District
Teignbridge	NOC	NOC	District
Tendring	NOC	NOC	District
Test Valley	Conservative	Conservative	District
Tewkesbury	NOC	NOC	District
Thanet	Labour	Conservative	District
Tonbridge and Malling	NOC	Conservative	District
Torridge	NOC	NOC	District
Tynedale	NOC	Conservative	District	Tynedale
Uttlesford	NOC	Liberal Democrat	District
Vale of White Horse	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District	Vale of White Horse
Vale Royal	Labour	NOC	District
Wansbeck	Labour	Labour	District
Warwick	NOC	NOC	District
Waverley	Conservative	Liberal Democrat	District
Wealden	Conservative	Conservative	District
Wear Valley	Labour	Labour	District
Wellingborough	Labour	Conservative	District
West Devon	NOC	NOC	District
West Dorset	NOC	Conservative	District
West Somerset	Conservative	Conservative	District
West Wiltshire	Liberal Democrat	NOC	District	West Wiltshire
Wychavon	Conservative	Conservative	District
Wycombe	Conservative	Conservative	District
Wyre	Conservative	Conservative	District

One third of council

In 82 English district authorities one third of the council was up for election.

Council	Former control	New control	Type	Link to Council election
Adur	Conservative	Conservative	District	Adur
Amber Valley	Conservative	Conservative	District	Amber Valley
Barrow-in-Furness	NOC	Labour	District	Barrow-in-Furness
Basildon	NOC	Conservative	District
Basingstoke and Deane	NOC	NOC	District
Bassetlaw	Labour	Labour	District
Bedford	NOC	NOC	District
Brentwood	Liberal Democrat	NOC	District	Brentwood
Broadland	Conservative	Conservative	District
Broxbourne	Conservative	Conservative	District
Burnley	Labour	Labour	District
Cambridge	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
Cannock Chase	Labour	NOC	District
Carlisle	NOC	NOC	District
Cherwell	Conservative	Conservative	District
Chester	NOC	NOC	District
Chorley	NOC	NOC	District	Chorley
Colchester	NOC	NOC	District
Congleton	NOC	Conservative	District
Craven	NOC	NOC	District	Craven
Crawley	Labour	Labour	District
Crewe and Nantwich	NOC	NOC	District
Daventry	Conservative	Conservative	District	Daventry
Eastbourne	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
Eastleigh	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District	Eastleigh
Ellesmere Port and Neston	Labour	Labour	District	Ellesmere Port and Neston
Elmbridge	Residents	Residents	District
Epping Forest	NOC	NOC	District	Epping Forest
Exeter	Labour	NOC	District
Gloucester	NOC	NOC	District
Great Yarmouth	Conservative	Conservative	District
Harlow	NOC	NOC	District	Harlow
Harrogate	NOC	NOC	District
Hart	Conservative	Conservative	District
Havant	Conservative	Conservative	District
Hertsmere	Conservative	Conservative	District
Huntingdonshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
Hyndburn	Labour	Conservative	District	Hyndburn
Ipswich	Labour	Labour	District	Ipswich
Lincoln	Labour	Labour	District	Lincoln
Macclesfield	Conservative	Conservative	District
Maidstone	NOC	NOC	District
Mole Valley	NOC	NOC	District	Mole Valley
Newcastle-under-Lyme	NOC	NOC	District	Newcastle-under-Lyme
North Hertfordshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
Norwich	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
Pendle	NOC	NOC	District
Penwith	NOC	NOC	District	Penwith
Preston	NOC	NOC	District	Preston
Purbeck	Conservative	Conservative	District	Purbeck
Redditch	NOC	NOC	District	Redditch
Reigate and Banstead	Conservative	Conservative	District
Rochford	Conservative	Conservative	District	Rochford
Rossendale	Labour	NOC	District	Rossendale
Rugby	NOC	NOC	District	Rugby
Runnymede	Conservative	Conservative	District	Runnymede
Rushmoor	Conservative	Conservative	District
Shrewsbury and Atcham	Conservative	Conservative	District
South Bedfordshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
South Cambridgeshire	NOC	NOC	District
South Lakeland	NOC	NOC	District	South Lakeland
St Albans	NOC	NOC	District
Stevenage	Labour	Labour	District	Stevenage
Stratford-on-Avon	NOC	Conservative	District
Stroud	Conservative	Conservative	District
Swale	Conservative	Conservative	District
Tamworth	Labour	Labour	District	Tamworth
Tandridge	Conservative	Conservative	District	Tandridge
Three Rivers	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District	Three Rivers
Tunbridge Wells	Conservative	Conservative	District	Tunbridge Wells
Watford	NOC	Liberal Democrat	District	Watford
Waveney	NOC	NOC	District
Welwyn Hatfield	Conservative	Conservative	District
West Lancashire	Conservative	Conservative	District	West Lancashire
West Lindsey	NOC	NOC	District	West Lindsey
West Oxfordshire	Conservative	Conservative	District
Weymouth and Portland	NOC	NOC	District	Weymouth and Portland
Winchester	Liberal Democrat	Liberal Democrat	District
Woking	NOC	NOC	District
Worcester	NOC	Conservative	District
Worthing	Liberal Democrat	NOC	District
Wyre Forest	NOC	NOC	District

Preceded by United Kingdom local elections, 2002	United Kingdom local elections	Succeeded by United Kingdom local elections, 2004

External links