Power-shift at Town Hall following recent local elections

The balance of power in BCP Council has shifted significantly following May’s local elections across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Before the recent elections the Conservative Party held a slim majority enabling them to form an administration for almost two years, but following the recent local elections, local voters reduced the Conservatives to just 12 seats out of a total of 76 seats available.

The big winners on the day were the Liberal Democrats who ended up with 28 seats which was not quite enough to form an outright majority. For a single party to form an administration, over half of the total seats would need to be gained - in the case of BCP Council this would be 39 seats which would leave 37 seats for those representing other parties or who are independent.

Because the Liberal Democrats only won 28 seats, it wasn’t enough to form a solely Liberal Democrat administration and the result left no party in overall control - similar to a Hung Parliament at national level.

Over the 2-3 weeks following the election, officials within BCP Council have been assisting the elected councillors in finding a way forward so that a stable administration could be formed and the business of steering the Council could be resumed. A new administration has now been formed called the ‘Three Towns Alliance’ which consists of Liberal Democrats and a number of Independents from Poole (Poole People Party), Christchurch (Christchurch Independents) & Bournemouth (Bournemouth Independent Group) totalling 44 seats and giving the Three Towns Alliance a 12 seat majority.