Wear Valley District Council elections

Wear Valley was a non-metropolitian district in County Durham, England. It was abolished on 1 April 2009 and replaced by Durham County Council.

Political control

Since the first election to the council in 1973 political control of the council has been 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

Council elections

Election	Labour	Liberal Democrat[lower-alpha 1]	Conservative	Independent	Total	Notes
1973[2]	21	9	0	11[lower-alpha 2]	41
1976[3]	17	11	2	11[lower-alpha 3]	41
1979[4]	25	5	3	8	41
1983[5]	28	2[lower-alpha 4]	3	7[lower-alpha 5]	40	New ward boundaries[6]
1987[7]	26	3[lower-alpha 6]	3	8	40
1991[8]	8	28	0	4	40
1995[9]	35	2	0	3	40
1999[10]	30	5	0	5	40
2003[11]	25	9	0	6	40	New ward boundaries[12]
2007[13]	19	16	0	5	40

By-election results

The following is an incomplete list of by-elections to Wear Valley District Council.

Bishop Auckland Town By-Election 30 March 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		359	49.0	+4.0
	Liberal Democrat		249	34.0	-14.0
	Conservative		125	17.1	+10.0
Majority			110	15.0
Turnout			733	22.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Howden Le Wear By-Election 30 March 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		208	52.1	-1.8
	Liberal Democrat		191	47.9	+1.8
Majority			17	4.2
Turnout			399	23.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Woodhouse Close By-Election 26 February 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		713	56.0	-2.5
	Liberal Democrat	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

Wheatbottom & Helmington Row By-Election 20 January 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rose Seabury	328	59.6	-10.0
	Liberal Democrat	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

Bishop Auckland Town By-Election 3 March 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	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 Democrat gain from Independent		Swing

Howden By-Election 27 October 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Bailey	157	50.5	+6.0
	Labour	Jay Smith	154	49.5	-6.0
Majority			3	1.0
Turnout			311	24.0
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

Coundon By-Election 9 March 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Strongman	360	52.1	-2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Diane Hardaker	331	47.9	+2.1
Majority			29	4.2
Turnout			691	21.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Notes

1. Liberal Party prior to 1983, SDP-Liberal Alliance in 1983 and 1987.
2. Includes one People's Rep.
3. Includes five of other parties.
4. 2 Liberal, 0 SDP
5. Includes 1 People's Rep. and 1 People before pol.
6. 3 Liberal, 0 SDP

References

1. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
2. "Liberals capture Eastbourne and exceed ambition to win 1,000 local government seats". The Times. 9 June 1973.
3. "Heavy Labour losses in district polls". The Times. 8 May 1976.
4. Local elections in Britain: a statistical digest, edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. 1993
5. "How votes were cast in local government elections". The Times. 7 May 1983. p. 4.
6. The District of Wear Valley (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979
7. "Results in Thursday's local elections". The Times. 9 May 1987.
8. "Complete round-up of results from Thursday's local council elections". The Times. 4 May 1991.
9. "Complete list of results from Thursday's council elections". The Times. 6 May 1995. p. 10.
10. "Wear Valley". BBC News. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
11. "Wear Valley". BBC News. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
12. legislation.gov.uk - The District of Wear Valley (Electoral Changes) Order 1999. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
13. "Wear Valley". BBC News. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2013.