11 of the 33 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party
Second party
Third party
Party
Labour
Conservative
Liberal Democrats
Seats before
14
17
2
Seats won
7
4
0
Seats after
20
13
0
Seat change
6
4
2
Popular vote
9,722
7,083
1,467
Percentage
52.1%
38.0%
7.9%
Map showing the results of contested wards in the 2012 Harlow District Council elections.
Council control before election
Conservative
Council control after election
Labour
The 2012 Harlow District Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party gained overall control of the council from the Conservative Party.[1]
After the election, the composition of the council was:
After the last election in 2011 the Conservatives remained in control of the council with 17 councillors, compared to 14 for Labour and 2 for the Liberal Democrats.[3] However, in October 2011 one of the two Liberal Democrat councillors, John Strachan of Staple Tye ward defected to the Labour party.[4]
The Labour Party gained control of Harlow from the Conservatives after gaining 5 seats including 4 from the Conservatives.[8] The Labour gains from the Conservatives came in Harlow Common, Little Parndon and Hare Street, Netteswell and Toddbrook and meant Labour won 8 of the 12 seats contested.[9] The Conservatives had controlled the council since winning a majority at the 2008 election.[10]
The other Labour gain came from the Liberal Democrats in Mark Hall ward and meant the Liberal Democrats no longer had any councillors in Harlow.[8][9] The Liberal Democrats did not come close to taking any of the seats contested, with some candidates getting less than 100 votes.[9] Overall turnout at the election was 28.43%,[11] the lowest turnout ever for a local election in Harlow.[9]
A by-election was held in Toddbrook on 15 November 2012 after Labour councillor Bob Davis resigned from the council.[12] The seat was held for Labour by Christine O'Dell with a majority of 221 votes over the Conservatives.[12]
^"England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
^Moss, Chris (20 October 2011). "Lib Dem councillor defects to Labour in protest at NHS reforms". Harlow Star. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
^Watt, Nicholas (2 May 2012). "Education: 'On policy we win. On personality it is tough': Taxation Schools Libraries Transport Social care & the elderly: Miliband prepares for a challenging London result Labour party plays down high seat expectations". The Guardian. NewsBank.
^Grice, Andrew (2 May 2012). "Threat of London defeat prompts Miliband to attack 'typical Tory'". The Independent. NewsBank.
^Sherman, Jill; Coates, Sam (3 May 2012). "Cameron lets slip as Tories prepare for poll defeats". The Times. NewsBank. p. 13.
^ abWatt, Nicholas (4 May 2012). "Great expectations as Labour ends 'southern discomfort': Miliband's party wins big victory in Birmingham But Boris looks set to fend off Ken's London challenge". The Guardian. NewsBank.
^ abcdMoss, Chris (4 May 2012). "Labour take control of Harlow Council". Harlow Star. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
^"Labour take Harlow council from Conservatives". BBC News Online. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
^ abcdefghijklm"Harlow Council Elections 2012 Results". Harlow District Council. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
^ abc"Labour wins Toddbrook by-election". Harlow Star. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2015.