2002 Fareham Borough Council election

The 2002 Fareham Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Fareham Borough Council in Hampshire, England. The whole council was up for election with ward boundary changes since the 2000 [Fareham Council election|last election in 2000] reducing the number of seats by 11. The Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.

Candidates

All of the seats were contested after the wards had been re-organised. Every ward was contested by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, with Labour standing in every ward but one, and also 1 English Independence Party candidate.

Election results

The results saw the Conservatives remain in control of the council with a reduced majority on 17 seats, compared to 14 for the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives lost a number of councillors, which they blamed on the boundary changes, while the Liberal Democrats were pleased with the gains they had made. The Liberal Democrat gains also saw the last 2 Labour councillors lose their seats, with the Labour leader Mark Prior losing in Fareham South. Overall turnout was the highest since 1996 at 35.68%.
After the previous election and immediately prior to this election, the composition of the council was:
After the election result, with new wards the composition of the council became: