Durham City Council elections

Elections to Durham City Council were held every four years. The district was created as part of the 1972 local government reforms. The first elections to the new authority were held in 1973 in advance of the council taking office in 1974. The last district elections took place in 2007 before the district was abolished as part of changes to local government in 2009. The area today forms part of the unitary Durham County Council.

Political control

Control		Dates
	Labour	1973 – 1979
	No overall control	1979 – 1983
	Labour	1983 – 2003
	Liberal Democrats	2003 – 2009

Council elections

Election	Labour	Liberal Democrat	Conservative	Independent	Total
1973	40	7	0	14	61
1976	34	10	0	17	61
1979	24	7	4	14	49
1983	27	9	2	11	49
1987	26	14	0	9	49
1991	28	15	0	6	49
1995	38	7	0	4	49
1999	33	13	0	3	49
2003	17	30	0	3	50
2007	17	30	0	3	50

By-election results

The following is an incomplete list of by-elections to Durham City Council.

Deerness By-Election 22 May 1997

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		561	64.2
	Independent		259	29.6
	Liberal Democrat		54	6.2
Majority			302	34.6
Turnout			874	31.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Pelaw By-Election 12 December 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		239	51.7	-20.9
	Liberal Democrat		223	48.3	+20.9
Majority			16	3.4
Turnout			462	29.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Brandon By-Election 11 December 2003

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		645	59.5	-8.6
	Liberal Democrat		396	36.5	+4.6
	Conservative		43	4.0	+4.0
Majority			249	23.0
Turnout			1,084	23.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Belmont By-Election 16 December 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat		364	46.1	-4.5
	Independent		244	30.9	+1.6
	Labour		119	15.1	+0.1
	Conservative		63	8.0	+2.9
Majority			120	15.2
Turnout			790	26.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Newton Hall North By-Election 3 February 2005

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Amanda Hopgood	740	70.7	-9.4
	Labour		180	17.2	-2.7
	Conservative		65	6.2	+6.2
	Independent		62	5.9	+5.9
Majority			560	53.5
Turnout			1,047	39.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Carrville and Gilesgate Moor By-Election 5 May 2005

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Les Thomson	1,618	54.1
	Labour		1,141	38.2
	Conservative		229	7.7
Majority			477	53.5
Turnout			2,988	69.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Coxhoe By-Election 5 May 2005

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Hepplewhite	1,947	69.3
	Liberal Democrat		640	22.8
	Conservative		221	7.9
Majority			1,307	46.5
Turnout			2,808	64.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Shadforth & Sherburn By-Election 6 April 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Colledge	658	48.7	-5.1
	Labour	Angela Leary	625	46.3	+15.2
	Conservative	Carolyn Smith	67	5.0	+5.0
Majority			33	2.4
Turnout			1,350	35.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing