The 2002 Basingstoke and Deane Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of

Basingstoke and Deane Basingstoke and Deane is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its primary settlement is Basingstoke. Other settlements include Bramley, Tadley, Kingsclere, Overton, Oakley, Whitchurch and the village of Deane, som ...

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Council in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2000 increasing the number of seats by 3. The council stayed under no overall control.

Background

Before the election the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

parties had run the council together for the previous 7 years. Since the 2000 election both the parties had 15 seats, so they had 4

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

seats each and shared the leadership of the council for 6 months each. Boundary changes increased the number of seats to 60 from the previous 57. This meant all of the seats were being contested instead of the usual one third of the council. The

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

hoped to take control of the council and the local party was supported by visits from the national Conservative leader

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...

and the party chairman David Davis. The Conservatives said their campaign focused on issues such as youth crime, but were accused by the Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Brian Gurden, of running a negative campaign.

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives remain the largest party, but they remained on 25 seats. As a result, the Liberal Democrat and Labour coalition remained in control of the council with 32 of the 60 seats between them. The Liberal Democrats made a net gain of 2 seats, after picking up 3 seats and losing 1. This included taking seats in Eastrop and

Tadley Tadley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE), now known as AWE, became the area's largest employer, and many houses were built during this p ...

North from other parties and meant the Liberal Democrats had 17 seats, compared to 15 for Labour. This meant Liberal Democrat Brian Gurden remained as leader of the council. Meanwhile, both sitting

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s were re-elected and a third, Ian Tilbury, gained a seat in Overton. 4 sitting councillors were defeated at the election, 3 Labour, Pam Lonie, Carl Reader and Rose Wellman, and 1 Conservative, Robert Musson. Overall turnout in the election was 34.3%, an increase from 29% in 2000.

Ward results

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2002

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2002 English local elections 2000s in Hampshire