East Dorset District Council in Dorset, England existed from 1973 to 2019, when it was abolished and subsumed into Dorset Council.
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:[1]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1973–1976 | ||
| 1976–1995 | ||
| 1995–1999 | ||
| 1999–2019 | ||
The leaders of the council from 1999 until the council's abolition in 2019 were:[2]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Burt[3] | 1999 | 12 May 2008 | ||
| Spencer Flower | 12 May 2008 | 2 Sep 2013 | ||
| Ian Monks | 2 Sep 2013 | 14 Dec 2015 | ||
| Spencer Flower[4] | 28 Jan 2016 | 31 Mar 2019 | ||
Spencer Flower went on to be appointed leader of the replacement Dorset Council at its first meeting in May 2019.
Summary of the council composition after recent council elections, click on the year for full details of each election. Boundary changes took place for the 2003 and 2015 elections.[5] [6]
| Year | Conservative | Liberal Democrats | Independent | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995[8] | 13 | 23 | 0 | District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same[9] | |
| 1999[10] | 26 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2003 | 24 | 11 | 1 | New ward boundaries[11] | |
| 2007[12] | 25 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | 30 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | 24 | 3 | 2 | New ward boundaries[13] | |
By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections;[14] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.
| By-election | Date | Incumbent party | Winning party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sixpenny Handley | 18 September 1997 | ||||
| Alderholt by-election | 23 October 2008 | ||||
| Ferndown Central by-election | 23 July 2009 | ||||
| Corfe Mullen South by-election | 15 July 2010 | ||||
| Colehill East by-election | 17 July 2014 | ||||
| Alderholt by-election | 3 March 2016 | ||||
| Parley by-election | 1 September 2016 | ||||
| Verwood East by-election | 12 July 2018 | ||||
| Ferndown Central by-election | 25 October 2018 | ||||