The Conservatives had held a majority of the seats on the shadow authority, but the result of the first election left the council under
no overall control. The Conservatives were the largest party, but a coalition of all groups other than the Conservatives and
UKIP formed a 'Unity Alliance' administration, with
Vikki Slade (leader of the Liberal Democrat group) appointed leader of the council. After two changes of allegiance in October 2019, and the death of
Christchurch Independents councillor Colin Bungey in April 2020, the Unity Alliance was left one seat short of a majority. Whereas a
by-election would normally have been held to fill the vacant seat, this was
postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Conservative group leader, Drew Mellor, moved a
vote of no confidence, which was held on 9 June 2020. The 36 Conservatives and one independent voted for the motion and all 37 Unity Alliance councillors voted against; the single UKIP councillor abstained. The vote was thus tied 37-37, and the chairman of the council, David Flagg, used his casting vote to defeat the motion, dedicating it to the memory of the late Colin Bungey. In the three months after that confidence vote, Liberal Democrat councillor Pete Parish died in July 2020, and independent (and former Poole People) councillor Julie Bagwell left the Unity Alliance. A second vote of no confidence was tabled by Mellor for 15 September 2020, which this time was carried, with 39 votes in support and 33 against, ending Vikki Slade's tenure as leader. Mellor was appointed the new leader of the council at a subsequent meeting on 1 October 2020. The
Christchurch Independents group rejected Mellor's overtures to become part of the new administration, so the Conservatives formed a minority administration. In September 2021, four councillors from various groups joined the Conservatives, giving the party a majority on the council for the first time. The Conservatives lost their majority in June 2022 when four of their councillors left the party to form the
Poole Local Group with independent councillor Julie Bagwell.
FuturePlaces In 2021, the council set up an urban regeneration company, BCP FuturePlaces Limited. The company attracted controversy from the outset, with concerns about the six-figure salaries paid to its management and its reliance on public money, including an £8 million loan from the council advanced in 2022. The delivery of regeneration projects proved slower than originally anticipated, and concerns were identified in a best value inspection from the government in 2023 which said councillors were too involved in the day-to-day running of the company. The council therefore decided in September 2023 to close the company and bring its regeneration sites and projects back under direct council management.
Bournemouth city status In 2021 the council bid for Bournemouth to be awarded
city status as part of the
Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours contest. It later transpired that the application document, though for Bournemouth only, also contained photographs of multiple sites in Poole and Christchurch. The application was unsuccessful, with the three new cities in England created following that contest being
Colchester,
Doncaster and
Milton Keynes.
Abolition of the overview and scrutiny board The Conservative administration of Drew Mellor was criticised in 2022 for its abolition of the council's overview and scrutiny board, one of the main mechanisms by which opposition parties were able hold the administration to account. The decision was criticised both as a matter of principle and for the way in which the abolition was secured. The debate on abolishing the board was held at a full council meeting on 26 April 2022. Due to a large number of absences on the Conservative side, the opposition won an amendment that would have retained the board. Two Conservative councillors with COVID were then telephoned during an interval and turned up to the debate shortly afterwards, despite having sent apologies hours previously on COVID-related grounds. The meeting was then adjourned due to safety concerns. At the reconvened meeting on 10 May there were enough Conservatives present to win a further amendment which abolished the overview and scrutiny board and replaced it with four smaller committees which would meet less frequently. Members of the Conservative group were elected as chairs and vice-chairs of these new committees, contrary to normal practice at local authorities that scrutiny committees are chaired by opposition councillors.
Beach huts In February 2022, as part of its proposed budget, the Conservative administration announced plans to sell the council's 3,600 beach huts to a new council-owned company, which would buy the huts at market value with loans from the council and third party lenders. The plan was said to be able to raise £54million. The idea was heavily criticised by opposition councillors, who described it as a "reverse equity release scheme" and "immoral". At a meeting on 22 February 2022, council leader Drew Mellor denied rumours that the council had had reports prepared by consultants
KPMG examining the issue, instead saying that workshops had been held with them and the council's auditors, which had given comfort that the approach was legitimate and within accounting rules. It subsequently transpired that two reports on the issue had been prepared by KPMG in 2021, which had raised concerns that if the council provided loans or guarantees to enable a company to buy the council's own assets, that may be deemed improper. It also emerged that the reports had not been released in February 2022 at the specific suggestion of Drew Mellor. The government also intervened in the row, with the
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities,
Greg Clark, having meetings with the council. These led to the council applying for alternative sources of funding from government, and a letter from Greg Clark to all councils in August 2022 criticising "dodgy deals" which attempted to exploit loopholes in council spending rules.
Petition to remove leadership A petition from local residents to remove Drew Mellor and his deputy, Philip Broadhead, from office was debated at BCP Council on 8 November 2022, having attracted 2,066 valid signatures. The council voted to take no action over the petition.
'Cleaning for votes' Around the start of 2023, Conservative councillor Mark Anderson, the administration's portfolio holder for environment and place, devised what came to be known as "cleaning for votes", a street-cleaning scheme aimed at benefitting wards the Conservatives hoped to retain or win in the May 2023 local elections. An independent report on the matter concluded that he had breached the council's code of conduct. It was also reported to
Dorset Police, who decided to take no action as the scheme had not actually been implemented. Anderson resigned in March 2023.
Resignation of Drew Mellor and administration of Philip Broadhead Whilst the investigation into cleaning for votes was underway, and amid criticism of his administration's proposals for the 2023 budget, Drew Mellor resigned as leader on 13 February 2023 and announced he would not be standing for re-election in the
May 2023 local elections. Conservative councillor Philip Broadhead, who had been deputy leader under Mellor since 2020, was subsequently appointed leader on 21 February 2023. He only served as leader for three months. The Conservative vote collapsed at the May 2023 local elections, with Broadhead's group reduced from 34 to 12 seats (out of 76). Several cabinet members lost their seats; Broadhead himself retained his seat by just five votes. Other groups increased their vote share substantially, with the
Liberal Democrats emerging as the largest party, with 28 seats (up from 13).
Three Towns Alliance On 23 May 2023,
Vikki Slade was elected leader of BCP Council unopposed; she would be leading a coalition administration, 'the Three Towns Alliance', comprising all 28 Liberal Democrat councillors, the 8 Christchurch Independents, the
Bournemouth Independents Group (3 councillors), and the Poole People's Party (5 councillors). Vikki Slade stood down as leader in July 2024 after being elected MP for
Mid Dorset and North Poole at the
2024 United Kingdom general election. She was replaced as leader by
Millie Earl, also a Liberal Democrat. In October 2025, the two conservative
Kinson councillors Duane Farr and Cameron Adams joined
Reform UK. ==Elections==