Map showing the composition of West Somerset Council as of the last election in 2015. Conservatives in blue, independents in grey, UK Independence Party in purple and Labour in red.
West Somerset District Council in Somerset, England was elected every four years. The first elections to the council were held in 1973, ahead of it coming into being in 1974. The last election was held in 2015. The council was abolished in 2019 when the district merged with neighbouring Taunton Deane district to become Somerset West and Taunton. West Somerset had 28 councillors following its final boundary changes in 2011, 28 elected from 16 wards.[1]
Political control
From the first election to the council in 1973 until its abolition in 2019, political control of the council was held by the following parties:[2]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Independent | 1973–1995 | |
| No overall control | 1995–2003 | |
| Conservative | 2003–2007 | |
| Independent | 2007–2011 | |
| Conservative | 2011–2019 | |
Leadership
The leaders of the council from 1998 to 2019 were:[3][4]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Pugsley | Independent | 1998 | 2003 | |
| Conservative | 2003 | 2006 | ||
| Christine Lawrence | Conservative | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Keith Ross | Independent | May 2007 | May 2010 | |
| Tim Taylor | Conservative | 19 May 2010 | 10 May 2015 | |
| Anthony Trollope-Bellew | Conservative | 20 May 2015 | 31 Mar 2019 | |
Council elections
Summary of the council composition after each council election, click on the year for full details of each election.
| Year | Conservative | Independent | UK Independence Party | Labour | Liberal Democrats (including predecessor parties) | Independent Conservative | Residents | Vacant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973[5] | 3 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1976[5] | 4 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1979[5] | 3 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | New ward boundaries[6] |
| 1983[5] | 4 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1987[5] | 6 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1991[7] | 5 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1995[8] | 9 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1999[9] | 15 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | New ward boundaries[10] |
| 2003[11] | 18 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007[12] | 13 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011[2] | 19 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries[13] |
| 2015[14] | 21 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
District result maps
1999 results map
2003 results map
2007 results map
2011 results map- 2015 results map
By-elections
By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections;[15] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.
| By-election | Date | Incumbent party | Winning party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minehead South by-election | 14 November 1996 | Ind. Conservative | Conservative | ||
| Quantock Vale by-election | 17 July 1997 | Conservative | Independent | ||
| Minehead North by-election | 23 April 1998 | Independent | Conservative | ||
| Porlock and Oare by-election | 23 October 1998 | Conservative | Independent | ||
| Williton by-election | 8 December 1999 | Labour | Conservative | ||
| Aville Vale by-election | 13 July 2000 | Labour | Conservative | ||
| Old Cleeve by-election | 7 July 2005 | Independent | Independent | ||
| Alcombe East by-election | 1 May 2008 | Conservative | Conservative | ||
| Minehead South by-election | 16 April 2009 | Independent | Independent | ||
| Dunster and Timberscombe by-election | 23 March 2017 | Conservative | Liberal Democrats | ||
References
- ↑ "Councillors — General Information". West Somerset Council. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
- 1 2 "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
- ↑ "Council minutes". Somerset West and Taunton Council. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ↑ "Leaders' names". What do they know?. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "West Somerset District Council Election Results 1973 -2011" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- ↑ The District of West Somerset (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1976
- ↑ "Complete round-up of results from Thursday's local council elections". The Times. 4 May 1991.
- ↑ "Complete list of results from thursday's council elections". The Times. 6 May 1995.
- ↑ "West Somerset". BBC News Online. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- ↑ legislation.gov.uk - The District of West Somerset (Electoral Changes) Order 1998. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
- ↑ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- ↑ "West Somerset". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- ↑ legislation.gov.uk - The West Somerset (Electoral Changes) Order 2011. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
- ↑ "District Election Results 2015". West Somerset Council. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- ↑ "Local Authority Byelection Results". Retrieved 27 November 2011.
External links
 Council elections in Somerset | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Somerset Council | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Bath and North East Somerset Council | |||||||||||||||||||||
| North Somerset Council | |||||||||||||||||||||
| West of England Mayor | |||||||||||||||||||||
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