11 of the 33 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party
Second party
Third party
Party
Conservative
Liberal Democrats
Labour
Seats before
8
8
26
Seats won
12
12
9
Seats after
12
12
9
Seat change
4
4
17
Popular vote
19,201
17,943
22,752
Percentage
31.8%
29.7%
37.7%
Map showing the results of contested wards in the 2002 Harlow District Council elections.
Council control before election
Labour
Council control after election
No overall control
The 2002 Harlow District Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2000 reducing the number of seats by 9.[1] The Labour party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.[2]
Background
Before the election Labour controlled the council with 25 councillors, compared to 8 each for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, while there was 1 independent councillor.[3] Boundary changes took effect for the 2002 election, reducing the number of councillors from 42 to 33 and the number of wards from 16 to 11 and meaning that the whole council was to be elected.[3]
11 Labour and 1 Conservative councillors stood down at the election, including the Labour assistant leader Derek Fenny and a former council chairman Terry Abel.[4]
Election result
Labour were reduced by 16 seats and thereby lost overall control of the council.[5] Overall turnout at the election was 36.84%.[6]
Following the election the Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders, Andrew Johnson and Lorna Spenceley, made an agreement to be joint leaders of the council.[7]
^ ab"Election results - Local Elections". The Times. NewsBank. 3 May 2002. p. 6.
^ ab"Harlow Council election preview". Greater London, Kent, and Surrey Counties Publications. NewsBank. 1 May 2002.
^"Councillors on the move". Greater London, Kent, and Surrey Counties Publications. NewsBank. 16 April 2002.
^McSmith, Andy; Britten, Nick (3 May 2002). "Brown's Budget saves seats for Labour in its heartland". The Daily Telegraph. NewsBank.
^ abcdefghijklm"Results of Harlow District Council election -2nd May 2002". Harlow District Council. Archived from the original on 13 January 2003. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
^"Joint leaders". Greater London, Kent, and Surrey Counties Publications. NewsBank. 21 May 2002.