2000 Wyre Forest District Council election
2000 UK local government election
The 2000 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, 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:
- Health Concern 19
- Labour 11
- Conservative 5
- Liberal Democrats 4
- Liberal 3[2]
Background
Before the election the council had 17 Labour, 7 Health Concern, 5 Conservative, 5 independent, 4 Liberal Democrats and 3 Liberal councillors, with one seat vacant.[3] The council was run by an alliance of all groups apart from Labour.[3]
57 candidates stood in the election with 15 seats being contested, which included 2 seats in Greenhill ward due to a by-election being held at the same time.[3]
Election result
Health Concern became the largest group on the council after making 8 gains and Health Concern was also boosted by the decision of 3 independent councillors to join the group.[2][4] Labour losses included the deputy leader of the party and the longest-serving member of the council, Michael Kelly, in Habberley and Blakebrook ward.[5] The only other group to make a gain in the election was the Conservatives in Oldington and Foley Park ward where they took a seat from Labour.[5]
The defeats for Labour were put down to the downgrading of Kidderminster hospital, despite the local party opposing the move.[2] Labour said that the results would be a disaster as they said Health Concern had no policies in many areas.[2] However Health Concern put their success down to disillusionment with political parties that had failed to take action over the hospital and that they would represent local opinion.[2]
Following the election the Health Concern group said they wanted to continue the alliance with the other groups apart from Labour.[5]
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health Concern | 8 | +8 | 53.3 | ||||||
| Independent | 3 | -2 | 20.0 | ||||||
| Labour | 1 | -7 | 6.7 | ||||||
| Conservative | 1 | 0 | 6.7 | ||||||
| Liberal Democrats | 1 | 0 | 6.7 | ||||||
| Liberal | 1 | 0 | 6.7 | ||||||
References
- ^ "Wyre Forest". BBC News Online. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Walker, Jonathan (6 May 2000). "Hospital gives healthy majority Labour pushed out by campaigners' success". Birmingham Post. p. 5.
- ^ a b c "Local Elections: Wyre Forest". Birmingham Mail. 5 April 2000. p. 13.
- ^ a b c Smith, Sue (5 May 2000). "Health group pledge to rainbow alliance". Birmingham Post. p. 4.
- ^ "Election results: local councils". The Times. 5 May 2000. p. 4.
- v
- t
- e
Council elections in Worcestershire- 1973
- 1977
- 1981
- 1985
- 1989
- 1993
- Abolished
- See also: Wards
- Boundary changes
