Wear Valley District Council elections were generally held every four years between the council's creation in 1974 and its abolition in 2009. Wear Valley was a non-metropolitan district in County Durham, England. On 1 April 2009 the council's functions passed to Durham County Council, which became a unitary authority.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1973 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:[1]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1973–1976 | |
No overall control | 1976–1979 | |
Labour | 1979–1991 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1991–1995 | |
Labour | 1995–2007 | |
No overall control | 2007–2009 |
The leaders of the council from 1995 until its abolition in 2009 were:[2]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Olive Brown | Labour | 1995 | 4 May 2005 | |
Neil Stonehouse | Labour | 4 May 2005 | 7 May 2008 | |
Tommy Taylor | Liberal Democrats | 7 May 2008 | 7 Jul 2008 | |
Neil Harrison | Liberal Democrats | 7 Jul 2008 | 31 Mar 2009 |
Election | Labour | Liberal Democrat[a] | Conservative | Independent | Total | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1973[3] | 21 | 9 | 0 | 11[b] | 41 | |
1976[4] | 17 | 11 | 2 | 11[c] | 41 | |
1979[5] | 25 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 41 | |
1983[6] | 28 | 2[d] | 3 | 7[e] | 40 | New ward boundaries[7] |
1987[8] | 26 | 3[f] | 3 | 8 | 40 | |
1991[9] | 8 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 40 | |
1995[10] | 35 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 40 | |
1999[11] | 30 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 40 | |
2003[12] | 25 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 40 | New ward boundaries[13] |
2007[14] | 19 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 40 | |
The following is an incomplete list of by-elections to Wear Valley District Council.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 359 | 49.0 | +4.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 249 | 34.0 | -14.0 | ||
Conservative | 125 | 17.1 | +10.0 | ||
Majority | 110 | 15.0 | |||
Turnout | 733 | 22.9 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 208 | 52.1 | -1.8 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 191 | 47.9 | +1.8 | ||
Majority | 17 | 4.2 | |||
Turnout | 399 | 23.1 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 713 | 56.0 | -2.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Kenneth Bowser | 287 | 22.5 | -11.7 | |
Independent | 273 | 21.4 | +21.4 | ||
Majority | 426 | 33.5 | |||
Turnout | 1,273 | 36.5 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rose Seabury | 328 | 59.6 | -10.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Bailey | 180 | 32.7 | +2.3 | |
BNP | Stuart Neil | 42 | 0.7 | +0.7 | |
Majority | 148 | 26.9 | |||
Turnout | 550 | 21.8 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Samuel Zair | 181 | 36.7 | +11.6 | |
Labour | Robert Yorke | 161 | 32.7 | -4.9 | |
Conservative | James Tague | 135 | 27.3 | +27.3 | |
UKIP | Margaret Hopson | 16 | 3.2 | +3.2 | |
Majority | 20 | 4.0 | |||
Turnout | 493 | 21.0 | |||
Liberal Democrats gain from Independent | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | John Bailey | 157 | 50.5 | +6.0 | |
Labour | Jay Smith | 154 | 49.5 | -6.0 | |
Majority | 3 | 1.0 | |||
Turnout | 311 | 24.0 | |||
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Norman Strongman | 360 | 52.1 | -2.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Diane Hardaker | 331 | 47.9 | +2.1 | |
Majority | 29 | 4.2 | |||
Turnout | 691 | 21.6 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |