West Dorset District Council in Dorset, England existed from 1974 to 2019. The council was abolished and subsumed into Dorset Council in 2019.
The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority prior to the district coming into effect the following year. From 1973 until its abolition in 2019 political control of the council was held by the following parties: [1]
Party | Tenure | |
---|---|---|
Independent | 1973–1987 | |
No overall control | 1987–2003 | |
Conservative | 2003–2019 |
The leaders of the council from 2001 until the council's abolition in 2019 were: [2]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gwyn Pritchard [3] | Conservative | May 2001 | May 2004 | |
Robert Gould [4] | Conservative | May 2004 | 8 Jan 2015 | |
Tony Alford | Conservative | 8 Jan 2015 | 31 Mar 2019 |
Year | Conservative | Liberal Democrats | Independent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2003 [7] | 25 | 12 | 11 | (New ward boundaries) [8] |
2007 [9] | 26 | 16 | 6 | |
2011 [1] | 32 | 11 | 5 | |
2015 [10] | 30 | 12 | 0 | (New ward boundaries) [11] |
By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of by-elections from 1997 to 2019; [12] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.
By-election | Date | Incumbent party | Winning party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thorncombe by-election | 17 April 1997 | Conservative | Conservative | ||
Bridport South by-election (2 seats) | 1 May 1997 | Labour | Labour | ||
Independent | Conservative | ||||
Yetminster by-election | 1 May 1997 | Liberal Democrats | Conservative | ||
Chickerell by-election | 10 July 1997 | Conservative | Liberal Democrats | ||
Cam Vale by-election | 2 May 2013 | Conservative | Conservative | ||
Piddle Valley by-election | 13 April 2017 | Conservative | Conservative | ||
Lyme Regis & Charmouth by-election | 14 September 2017 | Conservative | Independent | ||
Bridport North by-election | 22 February 2018 | Liberal Democrats | Conservative |
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