| Election Name: | 2010 Harlow District Council election |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 2008 Harlow District Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2011 Harlow District Council election |
| Next Year: | 2011 |
| Seats For Election: | 11 of the 33 seats to Harlow District Council |
| Majority Seats: | 17 |
| Election Date: | 6 May 2010 |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 19 |
| Seats Before1: | 19 |
| Seats1: | 5 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Seats After1: | 18 |
| Popular Vote1: | 15,837 |
| Percentage1: | 41.6% |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 6 |
| Seats Before2: | 6 |
| Seats2: | 6 |
| Seat Change2: | 4 |
| Seats After2: | 10 |
| Popular Vote2: | 13,815 |
| Percentage2: | 36.3% |
| Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election3: | 8 |
| Seats Before3: | 8 |
| Seats3: | 0 |
| Seat Change3: | 3 |
| Seats After3: | 5 |
| Popular Vote3: | 8,194 |
| Percentage3: | 21.5% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Council control | |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Election: | Conservative |
| After Election: | Conservative |
The 2010 Harlow District Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]
After the election, the composition of the council was
The Conservative party gained a majority on the council at the last election in 2008 and after the election had 19 councillors, compared to 8 for the Liberal Democrats and 6 for Labour.[3] [4] In April 2009 the Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Staple Tye after a by-election, which had previously been held by independent David Kirton, who had been elected as a Conservative but suspended from the party in October 2008.[5] [6] However, in September 2009 councillor Linda Pailing of Netteswell ward left the Liberal Democrats to become an independent and then would go on to join the Conservatives in January 2010.[7]
At the same time as the Conservative party gained the Harlow parliamentary constituency from Labour at the 2010 general election, the party also held control of Harlow council.[8] However Labour made gains to win 6 of the 11 seats contested, while the Liberal Democrats lost the seats of Bush Fair, Mark Hall and Staple Tye.[8]