Durham City Council elections explained

Durham City Council elections were generally held every four years between the reforms of 1974 and the council's abolition in 2009. Durham 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.

Political control

From 1836 to 1974 the city of Durham was a municipal borough, sometimes called "Durham and Framwelgate". Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory enlarged and became a non-metropolitan district.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} The first election to the reconstituted city council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1973 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:^[5]

Party in control		Years
	1973–1979
	1979–1983
	1983–2003
	2003–2009

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 2003 until its abolition in 2009 were:^[6]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Sue Pitts^[7]		2003	2004
Fraser Reynolds		2004	31 Mar 2009

Council elections

Election	Labour	Liberal Democrat^[8]	Conservative	Independent	Total	Notes
1973^[9]	40	7	0	14	61
1976^[10]	34	10	0	17^[11]	61
1979^[12]	24	7	4	14	49	New ward boundaries^[13]
1983^[14]	27	9^[15]	2	11^[16]	49
1987^[17]	26	14^[18]	0	9^[19]	49	City boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same^[20] ^[21]
1991^[22]	28	15	0	6	49
1995^[23]	38	7	0	4	49	City boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same^[24] ^[25]
1999^[26]	33	13	0	3	49
2003^[27]	17	30	0	3	50	New ward boundaries^[28]
2007^[29]	17	30	0	3	50

By-election results

The following is an incomplete list of by-elections to Durham City Council.

2003-2007

Notes and References

1. Web site: Durham Municipal Borough . A Vision of Britain through Time . GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth . 14 August 2022.
2. act. 1972. 70. Local Government Act 1972. 31 July 2022.
3. si. The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972. 1972. 2039. 13 August 2022.
4. si. The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973. 1973. 551. 13 August 2022.
5. Web site: Compositions calculator . The Elections Centre . 10 August 2022.
6. Web site: Council minutes . Durham County Council . 14 August 2022.
7. News: Cancer news forces civic leader to resign . 14 August 2022 . Northern Echo . 5 November 2004.
8. [Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]
9. News: Final poll result may lie with Independents. The Times. 8 June 1973.
10. News: Heavy Labour losses in district polls. . 8 May 1976.
11. Including one Independent Labour
12. Local elections in Britain: a statistical digest, edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. 1993
13. The City of Durham (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978
14. News: How votes were cast in local government elections. The Times. 4. 7 May 1983.
15. 5 Liberal, 4 SDP
16. Including one Independent Labour
17. News: Results in Thursday's local elections. The Times. 9 May 1987.
18. 5 Liberal, 9 SDP
19. Including three Independent Labour
20. The Durham and Easington (Areas) Order 1985
21. The Durham (District Boundaries) Order 1986
22. News: Complete round-up of results from Thursday's local council elections. The Times. 4 May 1991.
23. News: Complete list of results from Thursday's council elections . The Times. 10. 6 May 1995.
24. legislation.gov.uk - The Durham and Tyne and Wear (County and District Boundaries) Order 1992. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
25. legislation.gov.uk - The Durham and Tyne and Wear (County and District Boundaries) (Variation) Order 1993. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
26. Web site: Durham City. BBC News. 12 April 2013.
27. Web site: Durham City. BBC News. 12 April 2013.
28. legislation.gov.uk - The City of Durham (Electoral Changes) Order 1999. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
29. Web site: Durham. BBC News. 5 May 2007. 12 April 2013.