The 2003 Redditch Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Redditch

Redditch

Redditch is a town and local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district had a population of 79,216 in 2005. In the 19th century it became the international centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry...

 Borough Council in the West Midlands region

West Midlands (region)

The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control

No overall control

Within the context of local councils of the United Kingdom, the term No Overall Control refers to a situation in which no single party achieves a majority of seats and is analogous to a hung parliament...

.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative
  Conservative Party (UK)
  The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
  
   14
• Labour
  Labour Party (UK)
  The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
  
   10
• Liberal Democrat 5

Campaign

The Conservative party was hoping to gain control over the council, which before the election was controlled by Labour with the support of the Liberal Democrats. 10 seats were being contested with the Labour party defending 6 of the seats. Labour needed to gain one seat to regain their majority, while the Conservatives needed 3 gains to also win a majority. The key wards targeted by the Conservatives were Central, Greenlands and Lodge Park.

The Conservatives were hoping to gain from voters who were unhappy over council tax

Council tax

Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...

 rises and they pledged to only increase it by the inflation rate

Inflation rate

In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of inflation, the rate of increase of a price index . It is the percentage rate of change in price level over time. The rate of decrease in the purchasing power of money is approximately equal.The inflation rate is used to calculate the real interest...

 over the next three years if they won control. Meanwhile Labour pledged to use new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence, as opposed to pro-social behaviour, behaviour that helps or benefits society...

 and said they were making a difference in the town. Other issues raised in the election included an Audit Commission

Audit Commission

The Audit Commission is a public corporation in the United Kingdom.The Commission’s primary objective is to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local government, housing and the health service, directly through the audit and inspection process and also through value for money...

 report on the housing department and the poor use of tourist attractions in the borough.

Election result

The results saw the Labour party lose four seats, two each to the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats gained in Church Hill and Winyates, while the Conservatives gained Central and Greenlands. Among the Labour losses was the wife of the Labour leader, Helen Cartwright, and the planning committee

Planning committee

A planning committee in the United Kingdom is a committee of local authority councillors that sit as the local planning authority to determine planning applications....

 chairman, Clive Cheetham. The new Conservative councillor

Councillor

A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

from Central ward, Mohammed Farooqui, became the youngest member of the council at the age of 24.

As a result the Conservatives became the largest party on the council with 14 seats. They had only just missed winning a majority on the council after failing to gain Lodge Park by 64 votes.

Ward results