2003 Christchurch Borough Council election

Map of the results of the 2003 Christchurch Borough Council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow and independents in grey.

The 2003 Christchurch Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Christchurch Borough Council in Dorset, England. The whole council was up for election after boundary changes reduced the number of seats by one. ^[1] The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council. ^[2]

Election result

The Conservatives remained in control of the council after winning 14 of the 24 seats on the council, despite losing three seats. ^{[2] [3]} The Liberal Democrats gained three seats to have eight councillors, while two independents were elected. ^[2]

Christchurch local election result 2003 ^{[2] [4]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	14			-3	58.3	55.3	17,350
	Liberal Democrats	8			+3	33.3	31.7	9,945
	Independent	2			-1	8.3	7.5	2,369
	Labour	0			0	0	5.1	1,608
	UKIP	0			0	0	0.4	129

Ward results

Burton and Winkton (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Flagg	721
	Conservative	Colin Jamieson	721
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Evans	587
	Liberal Democrats	David Phillpot	420
	Labour	Martin Jacques	127
Turnout			2,576	41.8

Grange (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Campbell	460
	Liberal Democrats	John Freeman	436
	Conservative	Denise Jones	248
	Conservative	Denise Flagg	245
	Labour	Christopher Thompson	198
	Labour	Carol Wilcox	189
Turnout			1,776	26.7

Highcliffe (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Mawbey	854
	Conservative	John Lofts	719
	Independent	Linda Hammond	580
	Liberal Democrats	William Hall	325
	Liberal Democrats	John Lanz	238
	Labour	Robert Maskell	131
Turnout			2,847	50.3

Jumpers (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Colin Bungey	569
	Independent	Robert McArthur	502
	Conservative	Trevor Watts	332
	Conservative	Shaun Flynn	321
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Gola	268
	Liberal Democrats	John Jenkinson	252
	Independent	William Welsh	59
Turnout			2,303	38.9

Mudeford and Friars Cliff (3 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Josephine Spencer	1,495
	Conservative	Michael Duckworth	1,426
	Conservative	Eric Spreadbury	1,340
	Liberal Democrats	Derrick Roberts	598
	Labour	Jennifer Carlton	381
Turnout			5,240	47.0

North Highcliffe and Walkford (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sally Derham Wilkes	651
	Conservative	Kevin Dingley	627
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Critchley	503
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Wright	470
	UKIP	Janet Hatton	129
	Labour	Abdulhaye Qureshi	65
Turnout			2,445	44.3

Portfield (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Darch	501
	Liberal Democrats	Lillian Jefferis	482
	Independent	Susan Bungey	328
	Conservative	Bernice Pardy	289
	Conservative	Desmond Pardy	272
	Labour	Jerry Brenton	106
	Labour	Vera Hill	77
Turnout			2,055	36.5

Purewell and Stanpit (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Payne	702
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Lloyd	689
	Conservative	John Newman	575
	Conservative	Mark Agg-Jones	562
Turnout			2,528	40.6

St Catherine's and Hurn (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Fox	720
	Conservative	Susan Spittle	691
	Liberal Democrats	Jason Viney	577
Turnout			1,988	42.7

Town Centre (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Hall	766
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Legg	699
	Conservative	Nicholas Geary	447
	Conservative	Michael Hodges	405
	Independent	John Lovell	331
Turnout			2,648	45.7

West Highcliffe (3 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Griffiths	1,247
	Conservative	Patricia Jamieson	1,238
	Conservative	David Jones	1,204
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Curran	496
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Curran	476
	Labour	Raymond Manning	334
Turnout			4,995	41.2

By-elections between 2003 and 2007

Jumpers

A by-election was held in Jumpers ward on 5 May 2005 after the resignation of independent councillor Bob McArthur. ^[5] The seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats by Jason Viney with a majority of 333 votes over Conservative Trevor Watts. ^{[5] [6]}

Jumpers by-election 5 May 2005 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jason Viney	1,224	57.9	+35.0
	Conservative	Trevor Watts	891	42.1	+13.7
Majority			333	15.7
Turnout			2,115	70.8	+31.9
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

Portfield

A by-election was held in Portfield on 5 May 2005 following the resignation of councillor Susan Darch due to poor health. ^[5] Darch had been elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2003, but together with her fellow councillor for Portfied Lillian Jefferis, she subsequently defected to the Conservatives. ^[5] The seat was regained for the Liberal Democrats by David Vick with a majority of 222 votes over Conservative Tavis Fox. ^{[5] [6]}

Portfield by-election 5 May 2005 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Vick	1,023	56.1	+15.1
	Conservative	Tavis Fox	801	43.9	+20.4
Majority			222	12.2
Turnout			1,824	64.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Purewell and Stanpit

A by-election was held in Purewell and Stanpit on 5 May 2005 after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Wendy Lloyd. ^[5] The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by Alan Wright with a majority of 34 votes over Conservative Nicholas Geary. ^{[5] [6]}

Purewell and Stanpit by-election 5 May 2005 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Wright	1,067	50.8	-4.2
	Conservative	Nicholas Geary	1,033	49.2	+4.2
Majority			34	1.6
Turnout			2,100	67.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 20 May 2015.
2. "English councils - Non-metropolitan districts". The Times . NewsBank. 3 May 2003. p. 47.
3. Martin, Andy (2 May 2003). "Backlash as Lib Dems lose Poole and Tories lose Bournemouth". Cornwall County Publications. NewsBank.
4. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Christchurch Borough Council. Retrieved 20 May 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
5. "Tributes flooding in for 'wonderful' councillor". Dorset Echo . 10 May 2005. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
6. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Christchurch Borough Council. dorsetforyou.com. Retrieved 21 May 2015.