Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch.
The first elections to the council took place in May 2019, replacing the shadow authority.
Shadow authority
Statutory instruments for the creation of the new authority were made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 25 May 2018, and a shadow authority was formed the following day.The Shadow Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council had 125 members, being the elected councillors from Bournemouth Borough Council, Christchurch Borough Council, Poole Borough Council and the five councillors from Dorset County Council who were elected from divisions within Christchurch. Similarly a shadow authority was created for Dorset Council, consisting of the borough and county councillors of Dorset, excluding those from Christchurch. The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole shadow authority formed a shadow executive committee, of eight councillors from Bournemouth Borough Council, two from Christchurch Borough Council and six from Poole Borough Council.
The first meeting of the shadow authority was held on Wednesday 6 June 2018. Ray Nottage was elected to be Chair of the shadow authority and Ann Stribley was elected as Vice-Chair. A shadow executive committee was also formed and met for the first time on 15 June 2018, at which point Janet Walton was appointed as the Shadow Council Leader.
Elected Council
On 2 May 2019, as part of the wider local elections, the authority held elections to replace the shadow authority. Whereas the shadow authority had 125 members, new ward boundaries created by the Local Government Boundary Commission brought the number down to 76, across 33 multi-member wards. Whereas before the election the Conservative Party had a large majority, the election saw the newly-elected council with no-overall control, with the Conservatives still the largest party but short of a majority. The Liberal Democrats were the second largest party, with 15 seats. Other parties elected included Poole People, Labour, the Greens, the Alliance for Local Living and UKIP, alongside 11 independents. After negotiations, all groups other than the Conservatives and UKIP formed a "Unity Alliance administration", headed by the Liberal Democrats but including other parties throughout the cabinet.In October 2019 two Poole People councillors left the party, with one remaining as part of the Unity Alliance and one resigning from the group. In April 2020 Independent Councillor Colin Bungey of the Commons ward died, with his seat becoming vacant. As a member of the Christchurch Independents group, this left the Unity Alliance with a minority of one. Whilst a by-election would usually be held shortly thereafter, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this was postponed. Conservative council leader Drew Mellor motioned for a vote of no confidence to be held in the now minority administration, which was held on the 9th June. All 75 serving councillors attended the virtual council meeting, in which all 36 Conservative councillors and one independent voted for the motion, with the 37 Unity Alliance administration councillors against, and the single UKIP councillors abstaining. As such there was a tie of 37 votes each way, meaning that Council Chairman Cllr David Flagg cast the deciding vote against the motion, meaning that the Unity Alliance remained in administration.
Political groups
As well as the administration and opposition, parties sit as part of six party groups:| Administration | 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 | Independent | |
| Opposition | Unaligned | UKIP | |
| Vacant | Vacant | Vacant |