14 of the 42 seats to Basildon District Council 22 seats needed for a majority
First party
Second party
Third party
Party
Conservative
Labour
Liberal Democrats
Last election
21
18
3
Seats before
21
16
3
Seats won
8
5
1
Seats after
23
14
3
Seat change
2
4
1
Popular vote
12,090
7,441
5,255
Percentage
45.3%
27.9%
19.7%
Fourth party
Party
Basildon Independent Residents
Last election
0
Seats before
2
Seats won
0
Seats after
2
Seat change
Popular vote
n/a
Percentage
n/a
Map of the results of the 2003 Basildon council election. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red and Liberal Democrats in yellow. Wards in grey were not contested in 2003.
Council control before election
No overall control
Council control after election
Conservative Party
The 2003 Basildon District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Basildon District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.[4]
After the election, the composition of the council was
The previous election in 2002 saw the Conservatives win exactly half of the seats, but Labour remained in control of the council with the support of the Liberal Democrats.[6] However 6 months before the 2003 election 2 Labour councillors defected and the Conservatives took over the administration of the council.[7]
Election result
The results saw the Conservatives win a majority for only the second time in the history of Basildon council.[8]
Following the election the Labour leader on the council Nigel Smith was replaced by his group with Paul Kirkman.[7]