2003 Purbeck District Council election

Last updated October 14, 2025

Elections to Purbeck District Council were held on 1 May 2003. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.

Election result
Ward results
References

After the election, the composition of the council was

Election result

Purbeck local election result 2003
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Liberal Democrats	5	+3	62.5	36.4	3,780	+0.5%
Conservative	3	-3	37.5	44.3	4,603	+13.8%
Labour	0	0	0	12.8	1,334	+0.3%
Independent	0	0	0	6.4	667	-14.8%

Ward results

Castle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Duffy	554	59.5
	Conservative	Stephen Drury	352	37.8
	Labour	Ruth Cade	25	2.7
Majority			202	21.7
Turnout			931

Lytchett Minster and Upton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Frederick Drane	610	61.5
	Conservative	Pam Hindley	382	38.5
Majority			228	23.0
Turnout			992

Lytchett Minster and Upton West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Starr	498	45.6
	Conservative	Bill Pipe	480	44.0
	Labour	David Collis	114	10.4
Majority			18	1.6
Turnout			1,092

St Martin
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Green	497	54.3
	Conservative	Malcolm Russell	287	31.3
	Labour	James Bennett	132	14.4
Majority			210	23.0
Turnout			916

Swanage North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Trite	908	60.7
	Liberal Democrats	Harry Carter	409	27.4
	Labour	Leigh van de Zande	178	11.9
Majority			499	33.3
Turnout			1,495

Swanage South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julie Wheeldon	920	50.3	+7.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Wootton	497	27.2	+3.2
	Labour	Christine Rabson	413	22.6	−10.9
Majority			423	23.1	+14.1
Turnout			1,830

Wareham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Eric Osmond	715	33.6	−8.9
	Independent	Leslie Burns	667	31.4	+1.9
	Conservative	Roy Anderson	572	26.9	+3.9
	Labour	Bob Huskinson	171	8.0	+3.0
Majority			48	2.2	−10.8
Turnout			2,125

Wool
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Rosemary Hodder	702	70.0
	Labour	Jon Davey	301	30.0
Majority			401	40.0
Turnout			1,003

References

v t e Council elections in Dorset
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council	2019 2023
Dorset Council	2019 2024
Dorset County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 Abolished
Bournemouth Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Christchurch Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
East Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
North Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Poole Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Purbeck District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Abolished
West Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

v t e (2002 ←) 2003 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2004)
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2003 Purbeck District Council election

Contents

Election result

Ward results

References