Craven District Council elections

Map showing the composition of Craven District Council as of the 2019 election. Conservatives in blue, independents in grey, Liberal Democrats in yellow, Green Party in green, and Labour in red.

Craven District Council in North Yorkshire, England was established in 1974 and abolished in 2023. One third of councillors were elected each year, followed by one year when there was an election to North Yorkshire County Council instead. After the last boundary changes in 2002, 30 councillors were elected from 19 wards. ^[1]

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control from 1974 until its abolition in 2023 was as follows: ^{[2] [3]}

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1976
	Conservative	1976–1986
	No overall control	1986–1996
	Liberal Democrats	1996–1998
	No overall control	1998–1999
	Conservative	1999–2001
	No overall control	2001–2010
	Conservative	2010–2023

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 2000 until the council's abolition in 2023 were:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Chris Knowles-Fitton [4]		Conservative	2000	2002
Carl Lis [5] [6]		Independent	2002	20 May 2008
Chris Knowles-Fitton [7]		Conservative	20 May 2008	30 Oct 2014
Richard Foster [7] [8]		Conservative	Dec 2014	31 Mar 2023

Council elections

Summary of the council composition after recent council elections, click on the year for full details of each election. Boundary changes took place for the 2002 election, leading to the whole council being elected in that year and reducing the number of seats by four. ^[9]

• 1973 Craven District Council election
• 1976 Craven District Council election
• 1979 Craven District Council election (New ward boundaries) ^[10]
• 1980 Craven District Council election
• 1982 Craven District Council election
• 1983 Craven District Council election (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same) ^[11]
• 1984 Craven District Council election
• 1986 Craven District Council election
• 1987 Craven District Council election

Year	Conservative	Independent	Liberal Democrats	Labour	UKIP	Green	Vacant	Notes
1988 [12]	12	6	13	3	0	0	0
1990 [13]	12	7	12	3	0	0	0
1991 [14]	12	7	12	3	0	0	0
1992 [15]	13	6	12	3	0	0	0	District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same [16]
1994 [17]	11	6	14	3	0	0	0
1995 [18]	6	6	17	5	0	0	0
1996 [19]	6	4	18	6	0	0	0
1998 [20]	13	4	13	4	0	0	0
1999 [21]	19	10	4	1	0	0	0
2000 [22]	18	12	4	0	0	0	0
2002 [9]	13	8	9	0	0	0	0	New ward boundaries [23] [24]
2003 [25]	11	10	9	0	0	0	0
2004 [26]	13	11	6	0	0	0	0
2006 [27]	13	11	6	0	0	0	0
2007 [28]	13	11	6	0	0	0	0
2008 [29]	15	10	5	0	0	0	0
2010 [30]	18	8	4	0	0	0	0
2011 [31]	18	8	4	0	0	0	0
2012 [32]	16	10	4	0	0	0	0
2014 [3]	18	9	2	0	0	0	1
2015	20	6	2	1	1	0	0	Some new ward boundaries [33] [34]
2016	18	7	1	3	1	0	0
2018	18	7	1	3	1	0	0
2019	15	9	1	3	0	2	0

District result maps

• 
  2002 results map
• 
  2003 results map
• 
  2004 results map
• 
  2006 results map
• 
  2007 results map
• 
  2008 results map
• 
  2010 results map
• 
  2011 results map
• 
  2012 results map
• 
  2014 results map
• 
  2015 results map
• 
  2016 results map
• 
  2018 results map
• 
  2019 results map

By-election results

By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections; ^[35] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.

By-election	Date	Incumbent party		Winning party
Helifield	20 March 1997		Liberal Democrats		Conservative
Sutton	20 March 1997		Conservative		Liberal Democrats
Skipton South West	1 May 1997		Independent		Labour
Skipton West	30 October 1997		Liberal Democrats		Conservative
Skipton East by-election	9 March 2000		Independent		Independent
Skipton South by-election	7 June 2001		Conservative		Liberal Democrats
Bentham by-election	13 November 2003		Liberal Democrats		Independent
Upper Wharfedale by-election	2 March 2006		Conservative		Conservative
Cowling by-election	12 July 2007		Independent		Conservative
Skipton West by-election	2 July 2014		Liberal Democrats		Labour
Embsay-with-Eastby by-election	31 March 2016		Conservative		Independent
Aire Valley with Lothersdale by-election	4 May 2017		Conservative		Green
Barden Fell by-election	6 May 2021		Independent		Independent
Penyghent by-election	6 May 2021		Conservative		Conservative

References

1. "Your Council". Craven District Council. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
2. "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "Craven" in search box to see specific results.)
3. "Craven". BBC News Online . Retrieved 10 March 2015.
4. "Departing council leader looks back on occasionally turbulent years". Craven Herald and Pioneer. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
5. "Tenants say yes to stock transfer". Telegraph and Argus. 4 October 2002. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
6. Tate, Lesley (23 May 2008). "Tories take over leadership of council". Craven Herald and Pioneer. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
7. Tate, Lesley (9 October 2014). "Tributes to departing council leader - but none from opposition councillors". Craven Herald and Pioneer. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
8. Barrett, Thomas (28 March 2023). "Council leader reflects on his time as Craven Council to be abolished to make way for North Yorkshire Council". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
9. "Craven". BBC News Online . Retrieved 10 March 2015.
10. The District of Craven (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977
11. The North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire (Areas) Order 1982
12. "The gains and losses: Council election results in full". The Times . NewsBank. 7 May 1988. ISSN   0140-0460.
13. "Local election results". The Times . NewsBank. 5 May 1990. ISSN   0140-0460.
14. "Complete round-up of results from Thursday's local council elections". The Times . NewsBank. 4 May 1991. ISSN   0140-0460.
15. "Local election results 1992". The Times . NewsBank. 9 May 1992. ISSN   0140-0460.
16. legislation.gov.uk - The North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire (County and District Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
17. "Non Metropolitan Districts - Local elections". The Times . NewsBank. 7 May 1994. p. 9. ISSN   0140-0460.
18. "Complete list of results from thursday's council elections". The Times . NewsBank. 6 May 1995. ISSN   0140-0460.
19. "Complete list of results". The Times . NewsBank. 4 May 1996. p. 8. ISSN   0140-0460.
20. "Local Elections results". The Times . NewsBank. 9 May 1998. p. 46. ISSN   0140-0460.
21. "How the nations voted". The Times . NewsBank. 8 May 1999. p. 48. ISSN   0140-0460.
22. "Craven". BBC News Online . Retrieved 10 March 2015.
23. legislation.gov.uk - The District of Craven (Electoral Changes) Order 2000. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
24. legislation.gov.uk - The District of Craven (Electoral Changes) (Amendment) Order 2005. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
25. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 10 March 2015.
26. "Craven council". BBC News Online. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
27. "Local elections: Craven". BBC News Online. 4 May 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
28. "Craven". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
29. "Craven". BBC News Online. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
30. "Craven". BBC News Online. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
31. "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
32. "Vote 2012". BBC News Online. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
33. legislation.gov.uk - The District of Craven (Electoral Changes) Order 2012. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
34. legislation.gov.uk - The District of Craven (Electoral Changes) (Amendment) Order 2013. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
35. "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2015.

External links

• Craven District Council