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    2001 local elections handbook

    Final editionPartial coverage

    Scheduled council elections held between April and June 2001, from our ward results. This is the final edition. Where our results for a council are incomplete, its figures will be too low.

    Partial coverage: we only hold 654 seats across 278 councils for 2001, so many ward results are missing. Totals and seat counts on this page are incomplete and should not be quoted as the full result.

    Councils
    278
    Wards
    2,044
    Seats
    654
    Candidates
    6,391
    Votes
    9,756,876

    Seats won by party

    PartySeatsCandidatesVotesVote share*
    Conservative
    2921,9993,840,13140.0%
    Labour
    2271,8533,025,02531.5%
    Liberal Democrats
    1091,7062,430,48325.3%
    Independent
    22337278,7642.9%
    LIB
    33320,8370.2%
    RATE
    111,8670.0%

    *Note on vote share: this is each party's share of the votes cast in the wards we hold for 2001. It is not an estimate for the whole country: many councils did not vote this year, some of our results may be missing, and in wards with several seats each voter had several votes.

    National Equivalent Vote — our estimate

    What each party's share might have been if the whole of Great Britain had voted in 2001. Built from 2,020 wards that did vote, compared like-for-like with the last time each ward voted, then carried across the places that didn't vote using the change in their region. Shown beside the Elections Centre's published figure where we hold it.

    PartyOur estimateElections Centre
    CON
    35.5%31%
    LAB
    32.9%39%
    LD
    23.0%25%
    IND
    3.8%—
    SNP
    2.0%—
    GRN
    1.1%—
    PC
    0.5%—

    How far to trust this: it is an estimate, not a count. It uses each party's best-placed candidate in each ward, so multi-seat wards don't inflate anyone. Parties that stand in only a few places stay in those places. Where our ward records are incomplete for a year, the estimate is less reliable — compare it with the Elections Centre column.

    Councils changing hands (3)

    CouncilBeforeAfter
    CotswoldNo overall controlOther
    CravenConservativeNo overall control
    DorsetNo overall controlConservative

    Every council (278)

    CouncilWardsSeatsBeforeAfter
    Adur50No overall controlNo overall control
    Allerdale130LabourLabour
    Alnwick30No overall controlNo overall control
    Amber Valley90——
    Arun120ConservativeConservative
    Ashfield60LabourLabour
    Ashford60No overall controlNo overall control
    Aylesbury Vale130No overall controlNo overall control
    Babergh60No overall controlNo overall control
    Barrow-in-Furness120No overall controlNo overall control
    Basildon80No overall controlNo overall control
    Basingstoke and Deane70No overall controlNo overall control
    Bassetlaw10LabourLabour
    Bassetlaw80——
    Bedford120——
    Bedford10No overall controlNo overall control
    Berwick-upon-Tweed40Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Blaby40ConservativeConservative
    Blackburn with Darwen180LabourLabour
    Blyth Valley60LabourLabour
    Bolsover60LabourLabour
    Bolton11LabourLabour
    Boston60No overall controlNo overall control
    Braintree50LabourLabour
    Breckland80ConservativeConservative
    Brentwood50Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Bridgnorth70OtherOther
    Bristol, City of2324LabourLabour
    Broadland120ConservativeConservative
    Bromsgrove98ConservativeConservative
    Broxbourne60ConservativeConservative
    Broxtowe80——
    Burnley60No overall controlNo overall control
    Cambridge40Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Cannock Chase60LabourLabour
    Canterbury70——
    Caradon110No overall controlNo overall control
    Carlisle1311——
    Carlisle40ConservativeConservative
    Carrick100Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Castle Morpeth1111No overall controlNo overall control
    Castle Point10——
    Charnwood1414No overall controlNo overall control
    Chelmsford70No overall controlNo overall control
    Cheltenham110ConservativeConservative
    Cherwell120ConservativeConservative
    Cheshire11—Labour
    Chester-le-Street60LabourLabour
    Chesterfield70——
    Chichester1010ConservativeConservative
    Chiltern1111ConservativeConservative
    Chorley60No overall controlNo overall control
    Christchurch40——
    City of Chester80——
    Colchester10No overall controlNo overall control
    Colchester60——
    Congleton40Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Congleton10——
    Copeland1212LabourLabour
    Copeland Borough Council40——
    Corby60LabourLabour
    Cotswold40No overall controlOther
    Craven10——
    Craven20ConservativeNo overall control
    Crawley87LabourLabour
    Crewe and Nantwich60LabourLabour
    Cumberland66ConservativeConservative
    Dacorum80ConservativeConservative
    Dartford50LabourLabour
    Daventry88ConservativeConservative
    Derbyshire Dales20ConservativeConservative
    Derry11—Liberal Democrats
    Derwentside60LabourLabour
    Dorset11No overall controlConservative
    Dover30No overall controlNo overall control
    Dudley11LabourLabour
    Durham30LabourLabour
    Easington50——
    East Cambridgeshire40Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    East Devon70——
    East Dorset80ConservativeConservative
    East Hampshire66ConservativeConservative
    East Hertfordshire100ConservativeConservative
    East Lindsey90OtherOther
    East Northamptonshire99ConservativeConservative
    East Staffordshire70LabourLabour
    Eastbourne50ConservativeConservative
    Eastleigh10——
    Eastleigh77Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Eden99OtherOther
    Ellesmere Port and Neston66LabourLabour
    Elmbridge80No overall controlNo overall control
    Epping Forest80No overall controlNo overall control
    Epsom And Ewell40OtherOther
    Erewash90LabourLabour
    Exeter70LabourLabour
    Fareham66ConservativeConservative
    Fenland70ConservativeConservative
    Forest Heath40ConservativeConservative
    Forest Of Dean30LabourLabour
    Fylde40——
    Gedling90ConservativeConservative
    Gloucester80——
    Gosport55No overall controlNo overall control
    Gravesham66LabourLabour
    Great Yarmouth90——
    Guildford80——
    Halton1612LabourLabour
    Hambleton50ConservativeConservative
    Harborough66No overall controlNo overall control
    Harlow20LabourLabour
    Harrogate170Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Hart55ConservativeConservative
    Hastings40LabourLabour
    Havant88No overall controlNo overall control
    Hertsmere77ConservativeConservative
    High Peak70LabourLabour
    Hinckley And Bosworth60No overall controlNo overall control
    Horsham70——
    Huntingdon80——
    Hyndburn60——
    Ipswich140LabourLabour
    Isle Of Wight360No overall controlNo overall control
    Kennet80ConservativeConservative
    Kerrier1515No overall controlNo overall control
    Kettering88No overall controlNo overall control
    Kettering32——
    King's Lynn And West Norfolk20No overall controlNo overall control
    Lancaster70No overall controlNo overall control
    Lewes30Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Lichfield70——
    Lincoln80LabourLabour
    Macclesfield1111ConservativeConservative
    Macclesfield11——
    Maidstone101No overall controlNo overall control
    Maldon10ConservativeConservative
    Malvern Hills76No overall controlNo overall control
    Mansfield District Council20——
    Melton40No overall controlNo overall control
    Mendip110No overall controlNo overall control
    Mid Bedfordshire100——
    Mid Devon40No overall controlNo overall control
    Mid Suffolk80No overall controlNo overall control
    Mid Sussex100——
    Mole Valley50——
    New Forest1111ConservativeConservative
    Newark And Sherwood80No overall controlNo overall control
    Newcastle-under-Lyme100LabourLabour
    North Cornwall1313OtherOther
    North Devon60——
    North Dorset55ConservativeConservative
    North East Derbyshire80LabourLabour
    North Hertfordshire99ConservativeConservative
    North Kesteven1111No overall controlNo overall control
    North Norfolk80——
    North Shropshire70——
    North Warwickshire80LabourLabour
    North West Leicestershire70——
    North Wiltshire1313No overall controlNo overall control
    Northampton2323LabourLabour
    Norwich140LabourLabour
    Nuneaton and Bedworth150LabourLabour
    Oadby And Wigston20Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Oswestry40OtherOther
    Oxford60No overall controlNo overall control
    Pendle66No overall controlNo overall control
    Penwith90No overall controlNo overall control
    Peterborough1919No overall controlNo overall control
    Preston99No overall controlNo overall control
    Purbeck55ConservativeConservative
    Reading1515LabourLabour
    Redditch88LabourLabour
    Reigate & Banstead80ConservativeConservative
    Restormel110No overall controlNo overall control
    Ribble Valley22No overall controlNo overall control
    Ribble Valley22——
    Richmondshire55OtherOther
    Rochford50No overall controlNo overall control
    Rossendale50ConservativeConservative
    Rother80ConservativeConservative
    Rugby99No overall controlNo overall control
    Rugby22——
    Runnymede40ConservativeConservative
    Rushcliffe70——
    Rushmoor55ConservativeConservative
    Ryedale70No overall controlNo overall control
    Salisbury128No overall controlNo overall control
    Scarborough120No overall controlNo overall control
    Sedgefield1211LabourLabour
    Sedgemoor110ConservativeConservative
    Selby100No overall controlNo overall control
    Sevenoaks80——
    Shepway60ConservativeConservative
    Shrewsbury and Atcham120No overall controlNo overall control
    Slough1414LabourLabour
    South Bedfordshire130No overall controlNo overall control
    South Cambridgeshire120No overall controlNo overall control
    South Derbyshire40——
    South Hams30ConservativeConservative
    South Holland99ConservativeConservative
    South Kesteven1515ConservativeConservative
    South Lakeland1818No overall controlNo overall control
    South Norfolk80——
    South Northamptonshire50ConservativeConservative
    South Oxfordshire120No overall controlNo overall control
    South Ribble60No overall controlNo overall control
    South Shropshire60OtherOther
    South Somerset110Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    South Staffordshire60ConservativeConservative
    Southend-On-Sea10ConservativeConservative
    Southwark11LabourLabour
    Spelthorne33——
    Spelthorne44ConservativeConservative
    St Albans1010No overall controlNo overall control
    St Edmundsbury70ConservativeConservative
    St. Albans60——
    Stafford90No overall controlNo overall control
    Staffordshire Moorlands60No overall controlNo overall control
    Stevenage50——
    Stratford-on-Avon120——
    Stroud100No overall controlNo overall control
    Suffolk Coastal70——
    Surrey Heath54ConservativeConservative
    Surrey Heath22——
    Swale70No overall controlNo overall control
    Tamworth40——
    Tandridge66ConservativeConservative
    Taunton Deane90No overall controlNo overall control
    Teesdale33OtherOther
    Teignbridge80No overall controlNo overall control
    Tendring70No overall controlNo overall control
    Test Valley60ConservativeConservative
    Tewkesbury70No overall controlNo overall control
    Thanet80LabourLabour
    Three Rivers60Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Thurrock150——
    Tonbridge and Malling50——
    Tonbridge And Malling11No overall controlNo overall control
    Torridge30OtherOther
    Tunbridge Wells70——
    Tynedale100No overall controlNo overall control
    Uttlesford30No overall controlNo overall control
    Vale Of White Horse120Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Vale Royal109LabourLabour
    Wansbeck80LabourLabour
    Warrington140LabourLabour
    Warwick1515No overall controlNo overall control
    Watford Borough Council30——
    Waveney70——
    Waveney60LabourLabour
    Waverley80ConservativeConservative
    Wealden50ConservativeConservative
    Wear Valley88LabourLabour
    Wellingborough60LabourLabour
    Welwyn Hatfield50——
    Welwyn Hatfield20LabourLabour
    West Devon10No overall controlNo overall control
    West Dorset1010No overall controlNo overall control
    West Lancashire70LabourLabour
    West Lindsey1010No overall controlNo overall control
    West Oxfordshire1111ConservativeConservative
    West Somerset30ConservativeConservative
    West Sussex11ConservativeConservative
    West Wiltshire1311Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Weymouth and Portland77No overall controlNo overall control
    Winchester40——
    Winchester10Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
    Woking50No overall controlNo overall control
    Wokingham1818No overall controlNo overall control
    Worcester99No overall controlNo overall control
    Worthing90ConservativeConservative
    Wychavon90ConservativeConservative
    Wycombe100ConservativeConservative
    Wycombe50——
    Wyre70ConservativeConservative
    Wyre Forest100——
    Wyre Forest10OtherOther
    YEOVIL11LabourLabour

    See also Election Health for 2001's competitiveness figures and Council Control.