The 2003 Harlow District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

Quick Facts 11 of the 33 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority, First party ...

2003 Harlow District Council election

← 2002 1 May 2003 2004 →
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 12 12 9 Seats won 4 4 3 Seats after 12 12 9 Seat change 0 0 0 Popular vote 4,610 3,915 5,394 Percentage 32.7% 27.8% 38.3%
Map showing the results of contested wards in the 2003 Harlow District Council elections.
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

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After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 12
• Liberal Democrats 12
• Labour 9^[2]

Before the election both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had 12 councillors, while Labour had 9 seats.^[3]

A total of 36 candidates stood for the 11 seats that were being contested, with the councillors who got the lowest number of votes from the 2002 election defending their seats.^[3] One Labour councillor, John Cave, stood down at the election after 32 years, while 3 former Labour councillors and 1 former Liberal Democrat councillor attempted to regain seats.^[3] Among the councillors defending their seats was the Conservative group leader Andrew Johnson in Sumners and Kingsmoor ward.^[3]

There was no change in the party situation on the council with no party gaining a majority.^[4] The closest result was in Bush Fair ward where Liberal Democrat Chris Millington held the seat by 39 votes, but the Liberal Democrat council chairman Nick Macy was not re-elected after contesting the Labour held seat in Little Parndon and Hare Street.^[5] Overall turnout at the election was 29%.^[6]

However an enquiry was started after the election as 3,279 postal votes had to be rejected as they did not have an official mark on them.^[7]

More information Party, Seats ...

Harlow local election result 2003^[2][6]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	4	0	0		36.4	32.7	4,610	0.9
	Liberal Democrats	4	0	0		36.4	27.8	3,915	1.9
	Labour	3	0	0		27.3	38.3	5,394	0.6
	Socialist Alliance	0	0	0		0	1.3	181	0.7

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