2019 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council election
The 2019 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect the inaugural members of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council in England, formed from the former unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole, and borough of Christchurch. At the same time an election for the new Christchurch Town Council was held.
A shadow authority comprising elected members of the three preceding councils and relevant members of Dorset County Council sat prior to the election. Two parish councils in the area were also held.
Background
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council held elections on 2 May 2019 along with councils across England as part of the 2019 local elections. The council elected all of its councillors for the first time under the auspices of the combined council. The merger of Bournemouth Borough Council, Christchurch Borough Council and Poole Borough Council's councils to form this new council was reported to save half a million pound a year. A shadow authority of councillors for the three preceding councils and relevant members of Dorset County Council sat as a shadow authority prior to the election, with the Conservative group controlling the council and a majority of councillors being members of the Conservative Party. Parish councils in the area will also have elections, such as the newly formed Christchurch town council and the Highcliffe and Walkford Neighbourhood Council. Whilst the shadow authority had 125 members, the redrawn ward boundaries meant that the newly-elected body has 76 members.Representatives from all of the main UK political parties, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, Labour, Green Party of England and Wales and UKIP, stood for election to the new council. Minor parties based in the area such as the Poole People, Alliance for Local Living and the Engage parties also stood candidates. In March 2019, 5 Conservative candidates, including the party leader on the council David Flagg, were suspended from the party following their opposition to the merger of Christchurch, four of these candidates chose to stand as independents.
Overall results
The composition of the shadow authority immediately ahead of this election was:Following the election, the composition of the council was:
Summary
The table below only tallies the votes of the highest polling candidate for each party within each ward. This is known as the top candidate method and is often used for multi-member plurality elections.Aftermath
The election resulted in no overall control, with no party winning the thirty-nine seats required for an overall majority. The Conservatives held seats in Bournemouth, with other parties and independents performing well in both Christchurch and Poole. The newly-formed Christchuch Independents group said that they would be open to working with all parties except the Conservatives, who had led the creation of the new authority. Conservative councillor John Beesley said that the Conservatives should run the council, and that he was prepared to run a minority administration if no other party would support him. The Liberal Democrats also announced their intention to form a coalition with other parties on the council.Liberal Democrat Vikki Slade was elected council leader of a "unity alliance" of all the parties except the Conservatives and UKIP, with 39 members in total.
Within the council, six party groups were formed:
| Group | Councillors | Composition | |
| Opposition | Conservative | Conservative Party | |
| Administration | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrats | |
| Administration | Christchurch Independents | Independents | |
| Administration | Poole People and ALL | Poole People, Alliance for Local Living | |
| Administration | Bournemouth Independent & Greens | Green Party, Independents | |
| Administration | Labour | Labour Party | |
| Administration | Unaligned | Independent | |
| Opposition | Unaligned | UKIP |