She was succeeded by Deputy Leader and fellow Liberal Democrat councillor Millie Earl on 23 July 2024.

[4] The shadow authority met in lecture theatres at Bournemouth University, as no council venue was sufficiently large to host all 125 members.

Ray Nottage, a Conservative former leader of Christchurch Borough Council, was appointed to the more ceremonial position of chair of the shadow authority.

[26] When BCP Council was created in 2019, it inherited various municipal buildings from its three predecessors, notably including their three headquarters buildings: Bournemouth Town Hall, the Civic Offices on Bridge Street in Christchurch, completed in 1980,[27] and Poole Civic Centre, on Parkstone Road in Poole, completed in 1932.

[28] The council decided to refurbish Bournemouth Town Hall to become its main headquarters, renaming it the Civic Centre, and to sell the other two buildings.

[29][30] 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.

[14] After two changes of allegiance in October 2019,[31] and the death of Christchurch Independents councillor Colin Bungey in April 2020,[32] the Unity Alliance was left one seat short of a majority.

[39][40] In September 2021, four councillors from various groups joined the Conservatives, giving the party a majority on the council for the first time.

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.

[44] 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.

[45] In 2021 the council bid for Bournemouth to be awarded city status as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours contest.

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.

[53] 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.

[54] 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.

[56][57] 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.

Other groups increased their vote share substantially, with the Liberal Democrats emerging as the largest party, with 28 seats (up from 13).