2003 Woking Borough Council election

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

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 17
• Liberal Democrat 12
• Labour 6
• Independent 1^[2]

The election saw 13 seats being contested with the contest in Brookwood ward being a by-election after the previous Conservative councillor, Mark Pritchard, resigned his seat on the council.^[3] Three long standing councillors also stood down at the election, Alf Stranks in Byfleet ward, Gordon Brown in Horsell East and Woodham and Rosemary Johnson in Old Woking.^[3] As well as candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour, there were also 3 from the United Kingdom Independence Party, 2 independents and 1 from the Green Party.^[3]

No party won a majority in the election with the council remaining under no overall control as it had been since the 1998 election.^[4] The only party to have more seats after the election than before was Labour after they gained Old Woking from the Liberal Democrats by 26 votes.^[4] Meanwhile, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each gained one seat from the other, with the Conservatives taking Byfleet by 27 votes and the Liberal Democrats winning Brookwood by 7 votes.^[4] Overall turnout in the election was 33.66%.^[5]

The failure by the Conservatives to gain the two seats they needed to have a majority on the council was described as disappointing by commentators, in a year when the party gained seats nationally.^{[6] [7]}