New Forest District Council elections

New Forest District Council in Hampshire, England is elected every four years.

Political control[]

Since the foundation of the council in 1973 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:^[1]

Party in control	Years
Independent	1973 - 1976
Conservative	1976 - 1991
No overall control	1991 - 1995
Liberal Democrats	1995 - 1999
Conservative	1999–present

Previously New Forest District Council was controlled by the Independent Group, however the Conservatives entered into talks with several independents and the Party later decided to field candidates for the 1973 Local Election. Subsequently, from 1976 to 1991 the Conservatives had the majority on New Forest District Council, although after the 1991 Local Election the Conservatives remained the largest Party but became a minority administration. This was due to two factors, firstly the unpopularity of the national Conservative Government, and secondly the rise of the Liberal Democrats after the merger of the SDP and Liberal Parties.

In 1995 the Lib Dems won control of the District Council and formed a majority administration, the first political party other than the Conservatives to do so. The result was a concern for local Conservatives who subsequently feared that the new parliamentary constituencies for the New Forest (NF East & NF West) could be lost to the Lib Dems at the upcoming 1997 General Election. Nevertheless, both seats were won by the Tories despite a crushing national defeat that resulted in a landslide Labour Government. Locally the Liberal Democrat administration in the New Forest became very unpopular. Firstly the Council increased taxes by upwards of 40% over four years and secondly the administration introduced car parking charges in Council owned car parks despite winning a majority on the promise not to do so.

In a surprising result that came as a shock to many, the Conservatives won a majority of two at NFDC after the 1999 Local Election. This was especially traumatic for the Lid Dems who expected to remain in control of the Council, not least because of the unpopularity of the national Conservative Party. At the 2003 Election the Conservatives increased their majority slightly, and by 2007 the Tories won a solid majority taking 46 of the 60 seats. At the 2011 Local Election, encouraged by the growing popularity of the Conservatives in Coalition Government, the Tories had their first landslide and won 54 of the 60 seats leaving the Lib Dems with only 6 representatives. In 2014 the Tories lost two Councillors after defections to UKIP.

In 2015 the Local Elections coincided with the General Election. Both New Forest Parliamentary constituencies were won with almost 60% of the popular vote. The Tories left the Lib Dems 'feeling blue' after a second landslide which resulted in 58 Conservative Councillors and only 2 Lib Dems. UKIP, who were expected to make significant gains in the New Forest, were unable to increase their numbers of representative and lost their only two Councillors, both of whom were formerly Conservative defectors.

Following the re-emergence of the Liberal Democrats following the European Union Referendum in 2016, the Liberal Democrats gained 11 seats from the Conservatives in the 2019 Local Election to take their total to 13. The Conservatives also lost a seat to an Independent candidate in Lymington Town to leave the final make-up of New Forest District Council as 46 Conservatives, 13 Lib Dems, and 1 Independent.

New boundaries are due to come into force in December 2020,^[2] with the next local election due to take place in 2023.

Political Party	1995	1999	2003	2007	2011	2015	2019
Conservative	23	30	32	44	54	58	46
Liberal Democrats	31	25	27	14	6	2	13
Independent	4	3	1	2	0	0	1

Council elections[]

• (New ward boundaries)^[3]
• (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)^[4]
• (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)^[5]
• 1999 New Forest District Council election
• 2003 New Forest District Council election (New ward boundaries increased the number of seats by 2)^[6][7]
• 2007 New Forest District Council election
• 2011 New Forest District Council election (Some new ward boundaries)^[8]
• 2015 New Forest District Council election
• 2019 New Forest District Council election

District results map[]

• 

  2003 results map

• 

  2007 results map

• 

  2011 results map

• 

  2015 results map

• 

  2019 results map

By-election results[]

1995-1999[]

Ringwood North By-Election 17 September 1998^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Waddington	503	61.6	+21.4
	Liberal Democrats	Veronica Sullivan	313	38.4	+1.4
Majority			190	23.2
Turnout			816	21.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

1999-2003[]

Bashley By-Election 7 June 2001^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jill Cleary	2,186	57.1	-7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Newlands	1,638	42.8	+21.3
Majority			548	14.3
Turnout			3,824	59.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Becton By-Election 22 November 2001^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Godfrey Beck	692	61.0	-7.6
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Newlands	442	39.0	+7.6
Majority			250	22.0
Turnout			1,134	21.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Milford By-Election 21 February 2002^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Pemberton	781	74.0	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jasqueline Szwaczka	275	26.0	+8.7
Majority			506	48.0
Turnout			1,056	25.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pennington By-Election 21 February 2002^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Hickman	1,079	70.6	+25.4
	Conservative	Penelope Beasley	449	29.4	-11.2
Majority			630	41.2
Turnout			1,528	34.8
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Ringwood North By-Election 21 February 2002^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lorna Ford	337	47.5	-13.2
	Independent	Stephen Wright	203	28.6	+28.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Chambers	169	23.8	-2.0
Majority			134	18.9
Turnout			709	18.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

2003-2007[]

Holbury and North Blackfield By-Election 5 February 2004^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Dunsdon	772	75.2	+3.5
	Conservative	Robert Wappet	210	20.4	-7.9
	Labour	Philip Annette	45	4.4	+4.4
Majority			562	54.8
Turnout			1,027	21.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Ringwood East & Sopley By-Election 5 May 2005^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Treleaven	953	64.4	-11.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Chambers	527	35.6	+11.6
Majority			426	28.8
Turnout			1,480	68.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Totton West By-Election 20 July 2006^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Leonard Harris	535	48.1	+0.3
	Conservative	Diana Brooks	498	44.8	-7.4
	Labour	Alan Goodfellow	79	7.1	+7.1
Majority			37	3.3
Turnout			1,112	28.5
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Barton By-Election 25 January 2007^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frances Carpenter	990	56.9	-16.7
	Liberal Democrats	Wynford Davies	426	24.5	-1.9
	Independent	Jeremy May	277	15.9	+15.9
	Labour	Peter Dance	48	2.8	+2.8
Majority			564	32.4
Turnout			1,741	36.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

2007-2011[]

The 2007 Brahmshaw, Copythorne Noorth and Minstead By-Election was held after a candidate for the 2007 local election died, postponing the election for that ward.

Bramshaw, Copythorne North and Minstead By-Election 14 June 2007^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Forse	436	78.0	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Gray	123	22.0	-4.9
Majority			313	56.0
Turnout			559	26.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ringwood South By-Election 19 June 2008^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Heron	610	58.6	+25.1
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Chambers	354	32.9	+12.3
	Labour	Peter Harper	113	10.5	+1.6
Majority			256	25.7
Turnout			1,077	23.3
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

2011-2015[]

2015-2019[]

2019-2023[]

References[]

• By-election results

External links[]

• New Forest District Council