Durham City Council elections were generally held every four years between the reforms of 1974 and the council's abolition in 2009. Durham was a non-metropolitan district in County Durham, England. On 1 April 2009 the council's functions passed to Durham County Council, which became a unitary authority.
Political control
editFrom 1836 to 1974 the city of Durham was a municipal borough, sometimes called "Durham and Framwelgate". Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory enlarged and became a non-metropolitan district.[1][2][3][4] The first election to the reconstituted city council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1973 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:[5]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1973–1979 | |
No overall control | 1979–1983 | |
Labour | 1983–2003 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2003–2009 |
Leadership
editThe leaders of the council from 2003 until its abolition in 2009 were:[6]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sue Pitts[7] | Liberal Democrats | 2003 | 2004 | |
Fraser Reynolds | Liberal Democrats | 2004 | 31 Mar 2009 |
Council elections
editElection | Labour | Liberal Democrat[a] | Conservative | Independent | Total | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1973[8] | 40 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 61 | |
1976[9] | 34 | 10 | 0 | 17[b] | 61 | |
1979[10] | 24 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 49 | New ward boundaries[11] |
1983[12] | 27 | 9[c] | 2 | 11[d] | 49 | |
1987[13] | 26 | 14[e] | 0 | 9[f] | 49 | City boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same[14][15] |
1991[16] | 28 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 49 | |
1995[17] | 38 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 49 | City boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same[18][19] |
1999[20] | 33 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 49 | |
2003[21] | 17 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 50 | New ward boundaries[22] |
2007[23] | 17 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 50 | |
By-election results
editThe following is an incomplete list of by-elections to Durham City Council.
1995-1999
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 561 | 64.2 | |||
Independent | 259 | 29.6 | |||
Liberal Democrats | 54 | 6.2 | |||
Majority | 302 | 34.6 | |||
Turnout | 874 | 31.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
1999-2003
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 239 | 51.7 | −20.9 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 223 | 48.3 | +20.9 | ||
Majority | 16 | 3.4 | |||
Turnout | 462 | 29.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
2003-2007
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 645 | 59.5 | −8.6 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 396 | 36.5 | +4.6 | ||
Conservative | 43 | 4.0 | +4.0 | ||
Majority | 249 | 23.0 | |||
Turnout | 1,084 | 23.4 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 364 | 46.1 | −4.5 | ||
Independent | 244 | 30.9 | +1.6 | ||
Labour | 119 | 15.1 | +0.1 | ||
Conservative | 63 | 8.0 | +2.9 | ||
Majority | 120 | 15.2 | |||
Turnout | 790 | 26.4 | |||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Amanda Hopgood | 740 | 70.7 | −9.4 | |
Labour | 180 | 17.2 | −2.7 | ||
Conservative | 65 | 6.2 | +6.2 | ||
Independent | 62 | 5.9 | +5.9 | ||
Majority | 560 | 53.5 | |||
Turnout | 1,047 | 39.0 | |||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Les Thomson | 1,618 | 54.1 | ||
Labour | 1,141 | 38.2 | |||
Conservative | 229 | 7.7 | |||
Majority | 477 | 53.5 | |||
Turnout | 2,988 | 69.5 | |||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | John Hepplewhite | 1,947 | 69.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 640 | 22.8 | |||
Conservative | 221 | 7.9 | |||
Majority | 1,307 | 46.5 | |||
Turnout | 2,808 | 64.6 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Brian Colledge | 658 | 48.7 | −5.1 | |
Labour | Angela Leary | 625 | 46.3 | +15.2 | |
Conservative | Carolyn Smith | 67 | 5.0 | +5.0 | |
Majority | 33 | 2.4 | |||
Turnout | 1,350 | 35.1 | |||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing |
Notes
edit- ^ Liberal Party prior to 1983, SDP-Liberal Alliance in 1983 and 1987.
- ^ Including one Independent Labour
- ^ 5 Liberal, 4 SDP
- ^ Including one Independent Labour
- ^ 5 Liberal, 9 SDP
- ^ Including three Independent Labour
References
edit- ^ "Durham Municipal Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 July 2022
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 13 August 2022
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 13 August 2022
- ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ "Council minutes". Durham County Council. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "Cancer news forces civic leader to resign". Northern Echo. 5 November 2004. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "Final poll result may lie with Independents". The Times. 8 June 1973.
- ^ "Heavy Labour losses in district polls". The Times. 8 May 1976.
- ^ Local elections in Britain: a statistical digest, edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. 1993
- ^ The City of Durham (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978
- ^ "How votes were cast in local government elections". The Times. 7 May 1983. p. 4.
- ^ "Results in Thursday's local elections". The Times. 9 May 1987.
- ^ The Durham and Easington (Areas) Order 1985
- ^ The Durham (District Boundaries) Order 1986
- ^ "Complete round-up of results from Thursday's local council elections". The Times. 4 May 1991.
- ^ "Complete list of results from Thursday's council elections". The Times. 6 May 1995. p. 10.
- ^ legislation.gov.uk - The Durham and Tyne and Wear (County and District Boundaries) Order 1992. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
- ^ legislation.gov.uk - The Durham and Tyne and Wear (County and District Boundaries) (Variation) Order 1993. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
- ^ "Durham City". BBC News. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
- ^ "Durham City". BBC News. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
- ^ legislation.gov.uk - The City of Durham (Electoral Changes) Order 1999. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
- ^ "Durham". BBC News. 5 May 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2013.