The 2019 Herefordshire Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect 52 of 53 members of Herefordshire Council in England. The election in Ross North ward was deferred until 6 June 2019 following the death of the UKIP candidate.
Summary
Election result
The election resulted in the Conservative Party losing its majority on the council for the first time since 2007, winning 13 seats. Independents made gains and became the largest group on the council after winning 18 seats, 9 seats short of a majority. The Liberal Democrats and Greens also made gains at the expense of the Conservatives, winning 7 seats each. Two non-party groupings, the 'Herefordshire Independents' (comprising 15 of the 18 Independents elected) and the localist It's Our County, formed a coalition with the Greens to govern the council.
Ward results Arrow
Aylestone Hill
Backbury
Belmont Rural
Birch
Bircher
Bishops Frome & Cradley
Bobblestock
Bromyard Bringsty
Bromyard West
Castle
Central
College
Credenhill
Dinedor Hill
Eign Hill
Golden Valley North
Golden Valley South
Greyfriars
Hagley
Hampton
Hinton & Hunderton
Holmer
Hope End
Kerne Bridge
Kings Acre
Kington
Ledbury North
Ledbury South
Ledbury West
Leominster East
Leominster North & Rural
Leominster South
Leominster West
Llangarron
Mortimer
Newton Farm
Old Gore
Penyard
Queenswood
Red Hill
Ross East
Ross North The election in Ross North ward was deferred until 6 June 2019 following the death of the UKIP candidate, Gareth Williams. The Liberal Democrats won the postponed election.
Ross West
Saxon Gate
Stoney Street
Sutton Walls
Three Crosses
Tupsley
Weobley
Whitecross
Widemarsh
Wormside
Changes 2019–2023
Following negotiations, a three-way coalition between 'Herefordshire Independents', 'It's Our County' and the Green Party was formed. Herefordshire Independents took four cabinet positions, and the Leader of the Council, the Greens took two cabinet positions and Deputy Leader of the Council and It's Our County took the remaining two cabinet positions.
Date Herefordshire Independents Conservative It's Our County Greens Lib Dems Independent Vacant Coalition Majority3 May 2019151387631+7
5 June 2019: Following disagreements about a new by-pass road in the Herefordshire Independents group, five councillors left to form a new group, 'True Independents'. 14 September 2019: Former Hereford city mayor Jim Kenyon had temporarily joined the Herefordshire Independents to bolster their numbers, and since left again to sit as the last remaining standalone independent, as the other two previously unaligned independents had joined the ruling coalition of Herefordshire Independents, taking Herefordshire Independents to 12 seats. In May 2021, the Herefordshire Independents and It's Our County groups merged to form a single group, 'Independents for Herefordshire', chaired by John Harrington. Paul Symonds, elected as a Liberal Democrat for Ross East in 2019, left the party to sit as an independent. 17 February 2023: Kath Hey, elected for It's Our County in 2019 and by then sitting within the Independents for Herefordshire group, joined the Labour Party.
By-elections
Ross North
The poll was postponed following the death of UKIP candidate Gareth Williams; the Liberal Democrats won the rescheduled election.
Whitecross
The by-election was triggered by Sue Boulter's resignation shortly after her election as an It's Our County councillor; her husband Dave Boulter retained the seat for the party.
Newton Farm
The by-election was triggered by the death of the sitting True Independents councillor, Bernard Hunt, in October 2020; the poll was delayed to the May 2021 elections, held nationally after the postponement of the previous year's local elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bromyard West
The by-election followed the resignation of It's Our County councillor Alan Seldon after 14.5 years on the council.
Date Herefordshire Independents Conservative It's Our County Greens Lib Dems True Independents Labour Independent Coalition MajorityGoing into the 2023 election1214676611-3
References