Wiltshire Council elections date from 2009, when the Wiltshire Council unitary authority was created.
As a result of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, the former Wiltshire County Council and the four districts within its geographical area were replaced by Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority covering the same area, with elections continuing to be held every four years. A shadow authority was in place from 2008 and the first elections were held on 4 June 2009, when they coincided with an election to the European Parliament. Previously, Wiltshire County Council had been elected between 1889 and 2005, initially every three years, later every four years.
The unitary authority area has 98 electoral divisions, each electing one councillor. In 2018, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England began the first review of the divisions,[1] [2] on the grounds that in two of them the number of electors deviated from the average by more than 30%.[3] Following consultations, their proposal, enacted by Parliament in March 2020 as the Wiltshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2020 and coming into effect at the 2021 elections, kept the total at 98 but redrew boundaries and renamed divisions in several areas.[4] [5]
Since the first election to the council in 2009, political control of the council has been held by the following parties:[6]
The leaders of the council since the council's creation in 2009 have been:[7]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Scott | 1 Apr 2009 | 9 Jul 2019 | ||
| Philip Whitehead | 9 Jul 2019 | 18 May 2021 | ||
| Richard Clewer | 18 May 2021 | |||
Jane Scott had been the last leader of the predecessor Wiltshire County Council.
The number of councillors by party was:
| Party | 2021 | 2017 | 2013 | 2009 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative Party | 61 | –7 | 68 | +10 | 58 | –4 | 62 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | 27 | +7 | 20 | –7 | 27 | +3 | 24 | ||
| Independent | 7 | = | 7 | –1 | 8 | +1 | 7 | ||
| Labour Party | 3 | = | 3 | –1 | 4 | +2 | 2 | ||
| Devizes Guardians | 0 | = | 0 | = | 0 | –3 | 3 | ||
| UKIP | 0 | = | 0 | –1 | 1 | +1 | 0 | ||
| Control: | Conservative | Conservative | Conservative | Conservative | |||||
By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of all by-elections;[8] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.
| By-election | Date | Incumbent party | Winning party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwick by-election | 3 September 2009 | ||||
| Bromham, Rowde and Potterne by-election | 21 December 2010 | ||||
| Ethandune by-election | 6 March 2014 | ||||
| Bromham, Rowde and Potterne by-election | 7 May 2015 | ||||
| Chippenham Hardenhuish by-election | 7 May 2015 | ||||
| Salisbury St Edmund and Milford by-election | 26 November 2015 | ||||
| Amesbury East by-election | 5 May 2016 | ||||
| Trowbridge Grove by-election | 14 July 2016 | ||||
| Trowbridge Drynham by-election | 4 July 2019 | ||||
| Westbury North by-election | 18 July 2019 | ||||
| Ethandune by-election | 19 September 2019 | ||||
| Melksham Without South by-election | 24 October 2019 | ||||
| Trowbridge Lambrok by-election | 28 November 2019 | ||||
| Till and Wylye Valley by-election | 2 March 2020 | ||||
| Salisbury St Paul's by-election | 3 November 2022 | ||||
| Tisbury by-election | 8 June 2023 | ||||
| Calne Chilvester and Abberd by-election | 22 February 2024 | ||||
| Cricklade and Latton by-election | 14 March 2024 | ||||