Taunton Deane Borough Council elections

Taunton Deane Borough Council in Somerset, England was elected every four years. The first elections to the council were held in 1973, ahead of it coming into being in 1974. The last election was held in 2015. The council was abolished in 2019 when the district merged with neighbouring West Somerset district to become Somerset West and Taunton.

Political control

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
	No overall control	1973–1976
	Conservative	1976–1991
	Liberal Democrats	1991–1999
	No overall control	1999–2003
	Conservative	2003–2007
	No overall control	2007–2015
	Conservative	2015–2019

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 1974 to 2019 were:^[2]^[3]

Councillor		From	To
John Meikle	Conservative	1974	1991
Jefferson Horsley	Liberal Democrats	1991	4 May 2003
John Williams	Conservative	14 May 2003	16 May 2007
Ross Henley	Liberal Democrats	16 May 2007	13 May 2010
John Williams	Conservative	13 May 2010	31 Mar 2019

John Williams also served as leader of the shadow authority for Somerset West and Taunton during 2018–2019 ahead of the new council coming into force, but was unsuccessful in securing a seat on the new council at its first elections in May 2019.^[4]

Council elections

1973 Taunton Deane District Council election
1976 Taunton Deane Borough Council election
1979 Taunton Deane Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)^[5]
1983 Taunton Deane Borough Council election
1987 Taunton Deane Borough Council election (New ward boundaries & borough boundary changes also took place)^[6]^[7]
1991 Taunton Deane Borough Council election
1995 Taunton Deane Borough Council election
1999 Taunton Deane Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)^[8]^[9]
2003 Taunton Deane Borough Council election
2007 Taunton Deane Borough Council election (New ward boundaries increased the number of seats by 2)^[1]^[10]
2011 Taunton Deane Borough Council election
2015 Taunton Deane Borough Council election

District result maps

2007 results map
2011 results map
2015 results map

By-election results

1995-1999

Lynford By-Election 1 May 1997
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	1,191	44.0	+15.2
	Labour	981	36.6	−21.6
	Conservative	530	19.6	+6.2
Majority		2,172	7.4
Turnout		2,702
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour	Swing

Taunton Halcon By-Election 1 May 1997
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	1,100	43.9	+0.8
	Labour	826	33.0	−12.5
	Conservative	578	23.1	+11.6
Majority		274	10.9
Turnout		2,504
	Liberal Democrats hold	Swing

Bishops Lydeard By-Election 10 July 1997
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	395	49.6	+35.7
	Liberal Democrats	338	42.5	−4.0
	Labour	63	7.9	−7.8
Majority		57	7.1
Turnout		796	36.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats	Swing

1999-2003

Monument By-Election 21 March 2002^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Tolchard	430	65.3	−0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Henley	228	34.7	+10.0
Majority			202	30.6
Turnout			658	40.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ruishton and Creech By-Election 14 November 2002^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kim Cooper	576	40.3	−1.7
	Conservative		518	36.3	−0.4
	Independent		334	23.4	+2.1
Majority			58	4.0
Turnout			1,428	44.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

2003-2007

Taunton Eastgate By-Election 5 May 2005^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Coles	1,030	51.5	+9.0
	Conservative	Roger Ryan	621	31.1	+0.6
	Labour	Martin Peters	347	17.4	+1.6
Majority			409	20.4
Turnout			1,998	58.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Taunton Monument By-Election 5 May 2005^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Hill	701	58.8	−13.3
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Henley	491	41.2	+13.3
Majority			210	17.6
Turnout			1,192	72.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wellington Rockwell Green and West By-Election 5 May 2005^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Clark	1,157	38.5	+10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Vivienne Stock-Williams	1,132	37.7	+7.6
	Labour	David Mitton	717	23.9	+8.1
Majority			25	0.8
Turnout			3,006	71.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Taunton Blackbrook & Holway By-Election 4 May 2006^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Smith	1,326	75.3	+26.8
	Conservative	Martin Seamark	436	24.7	−9.9
Majority			890	50.9
Turnout			1,762	35.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

2007-2011

Comeytrowe By-Election 1 May 2008^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mollie Floyd	1,362	60.1	+4.0
	Conservative	Wendy Skene	778	34.3	−1.3
	UKIP	Dorothy Baker	127	5.6	+5.6
Majority			584	25.8
Turnout			2,267	50.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Ruishton and Creech By-Election 2 October 2008^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kelly Durdan	902	56.3	+6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Cilla Owen	700	43.7	+3.2
Majority			202	12.6
Turnout			1,602
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lyngford By-Election 15 October 2009^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nicci Court	523	51.0	+6.6
	Conservative	Tonia White	274	26.7	−1.2
	Labour	Martin Jevon	164	16.0	−11.6
	UKIP	Stephanie Lukins	64	6.2	+6.2
Majority			249	24.3
Turnout			1,025	25.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Lyngford By-Election 28 January 2010^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Swaine	390	43.7	−0.7
	Conservative	John Gage	253	28.4	+0.4
	Labour	Martin Jevon	190	21.3	−6.3
	UKIP	Charlene Sheriff	59	6.6	+6.6
Majority			137	15.3
Turnout			892	22.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

2011-2019

Blackdown by-election 15 December 2016
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ross Henley	440	71.2	+49.9
	Conservative	Giuseppe Farschini	164	22.5	−30.4
	Independent	Carl Bennyworth	39	6.3	N/A
Majority			276	48.7
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b "Taunton Deane". BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ "Council minutes". Somerset West and Taunton Council. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
^ "Leaders' names". What do they know?. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
^ Mumby, Daniel (3 May 2019). "Local Elections 2019: Conservative leader of Somerset West and Taunton Council John Williams 'disappointed' at losing seat in 'Battle of the Blackdowns'". Somerset Live. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
^ The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1976
^ The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1986
^ The Sedgemoor and Taunton Deane (Areas) Order 1984
^ legislation.gov.uk - The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Changes) Order 1998. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk - The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Changes) (Amendment) Order 2000. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
^ legislation.gov.uk - The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Changes) Order 2007. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
^ "Lib Dems drop bombshell on Blair's doorstep". guardian.co.uk. 22 March 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ "Labour makes only gain". guardian.co.uk. 15 November 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Taunton Deane Borough Council. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Taunton Deane Borough Council. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ "Widow wins husband's seat on council". Somerset County Gazette. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ "Conservatives by-election win". Somerset County Gazette. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ "Victory for Nicci in Lyngford by-election". Somerset County Gazette. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
^ "Lib Dems win Lyngford by-election". thisisthewestcounty.co.uk. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.

By-election results

External links

Taunton Deane Borough Council

[lose-1] "Taunton Deane". BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[2] "Council minutes". Somerset West and Taunton Council. Retrieved 16 June 2022.

[3] "Leaders' names". What do they know?. Retrieved 16 June 2022.

[4] Mumby, Daniel (3 May 2019). "Local Elections 2019: Conservative leader of Somerset West and Taunton Council John Williams 'disappointed' at losing seat in 'Battle of the Blackdowns'". Somerset Live. Retrieved 16 June 2022.

[5] The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1976

[6] The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1986

[7] The Sedgemoor and Taunton Deane (Areas) Order 1984

[8] slation.gov.uk - The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Changes) Order 1998. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.

[9] slation.gov.uk - The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Changes) (Amendment) Order 2000. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.

[10] slation.gov.uk - The Borough of Taunton Deane (Electoral Changes) Order 2007. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.

[bombshell-11] "Lib Dems drop bombshell on Blair's doorstep". guardian.co.uk. 22 March 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[only-12] "Labour makes only gain". guardian.co.uk. 15 November 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[eastgate-13] "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Taunton Deane Borough Council. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[blackbrook-14] "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Taunton Deane Borough Council. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[widow-15] "Widow wins husband's seat on council". Somerset County Gazette. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[ruishton-16] "Conservatives by-election win". Somerset County Gazette. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[lyngford-17] "Victory for Nicci in Lyngford by-election". Somerset County Gazette. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.

[january-18] "Lib Dems win Lyngford by-election". thisisthewestcounty.co.uk. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.

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