The 2003 Christchurch Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

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

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

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 after boundary changes reduced the number of seats by one. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

stayed in overall control of the council.

Election result

The Conservatives remained in control of the council after winning 14 of the 24 seats on the council, despite losing three seats. The Liberal Democrats gained three seats to have eight

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, while two independents were elected.

Ward results

By-elections between 2003 and 2007

Jumpers

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held in Jumpers ward on 5 May 2005 after the resignation of independent councillor Bob McArthur. The seat was gained for the Liberal Democrats by Jason Viney with a majority of 333 votes over Conservative Trevor Watts.

Portfield

A by-election was held in Portfield on 5 May 2005 following the resignation of councillor Susan Darch due to poor health. Darch had been elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2003, but together with her fellow councillor for Portfied Lillian Jefferis, she subsequently

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the Conservatives. The seat was regained for the Liberal Democrats by David Vick with a majority of 222 votes over Conservative Tavis Fox.

Purewell and Stanpit

A by-election was held in Purewell and

Stanpit Stanpit is a neighbourhood in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. Stanpit is within Mudeford parish, and is situated on the shore of Christchurch Harbour, east of Christchurch t ...

on 5 May 2005 after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Wendy Lloyd. The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by Alan Wright with a majority of 34 votes over Conservative Nicholas Geary.

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2003

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2003 English local elections