Stratford-on-Avon District Council election, 2003

The 2003 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Stratford-on-Avon District Council in Warwickshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 27
• Liberal Democrat 22
• Independent 3
• Labour 1^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the Conservatives were one seats short of having a majority on the council with 26 seats, as compared to 22 for the Liberal Democrats, 2 Labour and 3 independents.^[3] 16 seats were contested in the election with the Liberal Democrats defending the most seats.^[4]

Council tax levels were the major issue in the election with the Liberal Democrats attacking plans for a 58% increase,^[4] which they said was mostly due to waste and poor decisions by the council.^[3] However the Conservatives defended the rise, blaming it on an insufficient grant from the national government^[4] and on the previous Liberal Democrat administration for using cash balances to keep levels artificially low.^[3] The election also saw four independent candidates standing in Stratford wards in opposition to the council tax rise.^[3]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives regain control of the council, after the election saw 5 seats changes hands.^[5] They made a net gain of 1 seat at the expense of Labour who were reduced to only 1 seat on the council after losing in Southam ward.^[6] The election in Stratford Avenue and New Town saw the closest result with independent Keith Lloyd, standing in protest at council tax levels, defeating Liberal Democrat Bill Lowe by 1 vote.^[6] However the Liberal Democrats ended with the same number of seats, with their 2 gains including a surprise win in Stockton and Napton.^[6] Turnout in the election varied from a low of 27% to a high of 51%,^[7] but overall fell from 45% in 2002 to only 35%.^[8] This was despite including 3,000 voters who had used a trial e-voting internet system.^[7]

Ward results

References

Council elections in Warwickshire Warwickshire County Council 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 North Warwickshire Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 Rugby 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 Stratford-on-Avon 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 Warwick District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015

(2002 ←)   United Kingdom local elections, 2003   (→ 2004) Metropolitan boroughs Barnsley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton Unitary authorities Bath and North East Somerset Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bournemouth Bracknell Forest Brighton & Hove Bristol Darlington Derby East Riding of Yorkshire Halton Hartlepool Herefordshire Kingston upon Hull Leicester Luton Medway Middlesbrough Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Redcar and Cleveland Rutland Slough South Gloucestershire Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Telford and Wrekin Torbay Warrington West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham York District councils (England) Adur Allerdale Alnwick Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Aylesbury Vale Babergh Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bedford Berwick-upon-Tweed Blaby Blyth Valley Bolsover Boston Braintree Breckland Brentwood Bridgnorth Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Caradon Carlisle Carrick Castle Morpeth Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cherwell Chester Chester-le-Street Chesterfield Chichester Chiltern Christchurch Chorley Colchester Congleton Copeland Corby Cotswold Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Dacorum Dartford Daventry Derbyshire Dales Derwentside Dover Easington East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Dorset East Hampshire East Hertfordshire East Lindsey East Northamptonshire East Staffordshire Eastbourne Eastleigh Eden Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fenland Forest Heath Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gloucester Gravesham Great Yarmouth Guildford Hambleton Harborough Harlow Harrogate Hart Havant Hertsmere High Peak Hinckley and Bosworth Horsham Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Kennet Kerrier Kettering King's Lynn and West Norfolk Lancaster Lewes Lichfield Macclesfield Maidstone Mole Valley Newcastle-under-Lyme North Devon Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Pendle Penwith Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Lakeland South Ribble St Albans Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Three Rivers Tonbridge and Malling Torridge Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Wealden Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire West Somerset Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wychavon Wyre Wyre Forest Scottish councils Aberdeen Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll and Bute Clackmannanshire Dumfries and Galloway Dundee City East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Lothian East Renfrewshire Edinburgh Falkirk Fife Glasgow Highland Inverclyde Midlothian Moray Comhairle nan Eilean Siar North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Orkney Perth and Kinross Renfrewshire Scottish Borders Shetland South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire Stirling West Dunbartonshire West Lothian National Assembly elections Scotland Wales Northern Ireland