Hull Council election, 2007

The 2007 Hull City Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Hull City Council in England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control. Overall turnout was 27%.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Before the election the Liberal Democrats had run the council as a minority administration since the 2006 election. However, by the time of the 2007 election they only had 24 seats on the council as compared to 25 for the Labour party; with 2 Conservatives, 6 in the independent group and 2 other independent councillors making up the council. The Liberal Democrats generally received support from the Conservatives and one of the independent councillors, while Labour usually got support from the independent group. As a result, the election was expected to be close with both main parties hopeful of forming the administration after the election.

All three of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservatives parties contested the 19 seats which were up for election. There were also 11 independent, 6 Green, 3 British National Party and 3 United Kingdom Independence Party candidates. An important issue in the election was poor housing in Hull, with the council planning to spend £200 million on refurbishing council properties. An important division between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was over free school meals, with Labour wanting to extend the 3 year long pilot scheme which saw all primary school pupils get free meals. However the Liberal Democrats planned to reintroduce charges for lunches while keeping breakfasts free.

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