2013 Wiltshire Council election


Elections to the Wiltshire Council unitary authority took place on 2 May 2013. All ninety-eight seats were up for election, with each councillor being elected in a single-member electoral division, although in six of the divisions only one candidate was nominated and was thus declared the winner without elections taking place.
The previous elections were held in June 2009 and resulted in the Conservatives taking overall control of the newly formed council, the successor to Wiltshire County Council and four recently abolished district councils, with the Liberal Democrats forming the largest of four opposition political groups. At the 2013 election, the Conservatives were the only political party to contest every division. They needed to avoid a net loss of thirteen seats to maintain overall control, while the Liberal Democrats needed a net gain of twenty-six to take control. In the event, the Conservatives gained five seats and lost nine, a net loss of four, retaining control of the council with fifty-eight members. The Liberal Democrats remained the largest other group, with twenty-seven councillors, followed by eight Independents, four from the Labour Party, and one from the UK Independence Party, the first time a seat in Wiltshire Council had been won by UKIP.

Uncontested elections

At the close of nominations on 5 April 2013, in six electoral divisions only one candidate had come forward, so these were uncontested: they were Fovant & Chalke Valley, Ludgershall & Perham, the Collingbournes & Netheravon, Tidworth, Warminster West, and Winterslow. These six candidates were all Conservatives and were elected unopposed.

Results by county divisions

Bradford-on-Avon South

Calne North

Chippenham Monkton

Devizes East

Kington

Melksham North

Pewsey Vale

Salisbury Fisherton and Bemerton Village

Southwick

Trowbridge Central

Warminster Copheap and Wylye

Wilton and Lower Wylye Valley

By-elections between 2013 and 2017

During 2014 four Liberal Democrats defected from their political group: one to the Conservatives and three to the Independents. In a by-election in May 2015 at Chippenham Hardenhuish, the Conservatives gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats, and in November they gained another at Salisbury St Edmund. At a by-election in May 2016 the Liberal Democrats gained Amesbury East from the Conservatives.