West Berkshire Council is the local authority for West Berkshire, a unitary authority in Berkshire, England. Until 1 April 1998 it was a non-metropolitan district.
Political control
Since the first election to the council in 1973 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:[1][2][3]
Non-metropolitan district
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1973–1976 | |
| Conservative | 1976–1991 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 1991–1998 | |
Unitary authority
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | 1998–2003 | |
| No overall control | 2003–2005 | |
| Conservative | 2005–2023 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 2023–present | |
Leadership
The leaders of the council since 1999 have been:[4]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Lock[5] | Liberal Democrats | 1999 | 2001 | |
| Lena Rust[6] | Liberal Democrats | 2001 | 4 May 2003 | |
| Royce Longton | Liberal Democrats | May 2003 | 10 May 2005 | |
| Graham Jones | Conservative | 10 May 2005 | 27 Sep 2012 | |
| Gordon Lundie[7] | Conservative | 27 Sep 2012 | 5 Nov 2015 | |
| Roger Croft[8] | Conservative | 5 Nov 2015 | 24 Mar 2017 | |
| Graham Jones[9] | Conservative | 9 May 2017 | 5 May 2019 | |
| Lynne Doherty | Conservative | 21 May 2019 | Outgoing | |
Council elections
Non-metropolitan district elections
- 1973 Newbury District Council election
- 1976 Newbury District Council election
- 1979 Newbury District Council election
- 1983 Newbury District Council election (New ward boundaries)[10]
- 1987 Newbury District Council election
- 1991 Newbury District Council election (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)[11][12]
- 1995 Newbury District Council election
Unitary authority elections
| Year | Liberal Democrats | Conservative | Green | Labour | Independent | Notes | |||||
| 2000[13] | 28 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 2003[14] | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries[15][16] | |||||
| 2007[17] | 16 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2011[2] | 13 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2015[18] | 4 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2019[19] | 16 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries[20] | |||||
| 2023[21] | 29 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
By-elections
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Jeff Brooks | 820 | 48.4% | +11.2% | |
| Conservative | Ellen Crumly | 523 | 30.9% | −18.1% | |
| Labour | Louise Coulson | 130 | 7.7% | −6.2% | |
| Green | Jane Livermore | 130 | 7.7% | +7.7% | |
| UKIP | Gary Johnson | 91 | 5.4% | +5.4% | |
| Registered electors | 4,957 | ||||
| Turnout | 1,702 | 34.3% | −34.3% | ||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | 14.7% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Akinbiyi Oloko | 548 | 42% | −18.5% | |
| Labour | Charles Croal | 387 | 30% | +4.7% | |
| Liberal Democrats | Steve Bown | 359 | 28% | +10.3% | |
| Registered electors | 5,652 | ||||
| Turnout | 1,302 | 23% | −5% | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -11.6% | |||
District result maps
-
2003 results map -
2007 results map -
2011 results map
References
- ^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ a b "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ "English elect councils and mayors". BBC News Online. 7 May 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ^ "Council minutes". West Berkshire Council. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ "Tributes continue to pour in for local councillor". Newbury Today. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ "West Berks Council hung - Lib Dems' 12-year grip over". Get Reading. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ Low, Jonathan (20 October 2015). "Gordon Lundie stepping down as leader of West Berkshire Council". Berkshire Live. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ Herring, John (27 March 2017). "Tributes paid to West Berkshire Council leader Roger Croft". Newbury Today. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ Cooper, Dan (29 December 2018). "West Berkshire Council leader to stand down in May 2019". Newbury Today. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ The District of Newbury (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979
- ^ legislation.gov.uk - The Berkshire, Dorset and Wiltshire (County Boundaries) Order 1989. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
- ^ legislation.gov.uk - The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
- ^ "West Berkshire". BBC News Online. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ legislation.gov.uk - The District of West Berkshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
- ^ "Councillors". West Berkshire Council. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ "West Berkshire". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- ^ "Election results by party, 7 May 2015". decisionmaking.westberks.gov.uk. 7 May 2015.
- ^ "West Berkshire Council". BBC News.
- ^ "The West Berkshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2018". www.legislation.gov.uk.
- ^ "West Berkshire result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ^ "Declaration of Result of Poll". West Berkshire. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "Election results for Thatcham West District Election 2015". West Berkshire. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "Notice of Poll". West Berkshire Council. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2018.