West Wiltshire District Council elections

Political control

From the first election to the council in 1973 until its abolition in 2009, political control of the council was held by the following parties:^[1]

The leaders of the council from 2003 until the council's abolition in 2009 were:

Councillor		From	To
Tony Phillips^[2]^[3]	Independent	14 May 2003	11 May 2005
Sarah Content^[3]^[4]	Liberal Democrats	11 May 2005	May 2007
Graham Payne^[5]^[6]	Conservative	16 May 2007	31 Mar 2009

Adcroft By-Election 14 November 1996
Party		Votes	%
	Labour	198	41.3
	Liberal Democrats	144	30.1
	Conservative	137	28.6
Majority		54	11.2
Turnout		479
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats	Swing

College By-Election 14 November 1996
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jeffrey Bryan Osborn	325	35.4
	Conservative		284	30.9
	Liberal Democrats		246	26.8
	Independent		63	6.9
Majority			41	4.5
Turnout			918
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Adcroft By-Election 11 September 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Debra Hawken	151	29.8	−6.0
	Labour		112	22.1	−8.7
	Independent	Anthony Jay	110	21.7	+4.5
	Conservative		79	15.6	−0.7
	Independent		54	10.7	+10.7
Majority			39	7.7
Turnout			506	20.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Drynham By-Election 12 November 1998
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Marcus Francis	334	44.1	+16.9
	Conservative		182	24.0	−6.3
	Independent	Frederick Anthony Durrant	113	14.9	+0.9
	Labour		84	11.1	−17.5
	Green		45	5.9	+5.9
Majority			152	20.1
Turnout			758	18.5
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Blackmore Forest By-Election 14 September 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Milton	337	53.7	+15.6
	Liberal Democrats		290	46.3	+8.0
Majority			47	7.4
Turnout			627	17.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Westbury and Storridge By-Election 17 October 2002
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Raymond Pearce	694	36.3	−1.9
	Conservative	Russell Mark Jonathan Hawker	659	34.4	+10.1
	Labour	Michael Sutton	561	29.3	+7.4
Majority			35	1.9
Turnout			1,914	22.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Melksham North By-Election 15 July 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Vic Oakman	373	44.7	+13.3
	Conservative	Kenneth Williams	237	28.4	+28.4
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Paton	224	26.9	−30.1
Majority			136	16.3
Turnout			834	19.8
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Trowbridge College By-Election 15 July 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Content	416	52.7	+5.1
	Conservative	Peter Fuller	283	35.8	+1.8
	Green	Timothy Unsworth	52	6.6	−4.0
	Independent	Liam Silcocks	39	4.9	−2.7
Majority			133	16.9
Turnout			790	20.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Warminster East By-Election 20 April 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Lovell	777	44.3	+23.6
	Conservative	William Parks	736	42.0	−14.6
	Independent	Michael Turner	121	6.9	−3.7
	Independent	May Law	120	6.8	+6.8
Majority			41	2.3
Turnout			1,754	28.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Warminster West By-Election 2 November 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Philippa Ridout	572
	Liberal Democrats	Roger John Coveney	448
	Independent	Michael Turner	332
Majority			124
Turnout			1,342	21.2
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Trowbridge Central By-Election 10 July 2008^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Halik	452	55.3	+21.9
	Liberal Democrats	John Knight	366	44.7	+3.8
Majority			86	10.6
Turnout			818	18.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

^ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "West Wiltshire" in search box to see specific results.)
^ "Council minutes, 14 May 2003" (PDF). West Wiltshire District Council. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Council minutes, 11 May 2005" (PDF). West Wiltshire District Council. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^ "Guide to West Wiltshire district elections". Wiltshire Times. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^ "Council minutes, 16 May 2007" (PDF). West Wiltshire District Council. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^ Allen, Rachel (26 March 2009). "Leader bids poignant farewell to district council". Wiltshire Times. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^ The District of West Wiltshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979
^ legislation.gov.uk – The District of West Wiltshire (Electoral Changes) Order 1999. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk – The District of West Wiltshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2007. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
^ "Byelection results". West Wiltshire District Council. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.

v t e Council elections in Wiltshire
Wiltshire Council	2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Swindon Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Kennet District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
North Wiltshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
Salisbury District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
Wiltshire County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 Abolished
West Wiltshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished
See also: Divisions and wards Boundary changes