1999 Rother District Council election

The 1999 Rother District Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Rother District Council in East Sussex, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control. ^[1]

Background

Before the election both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had 16 councillors, while there were 8 independents and 5 from the Labour Party. ^[2] Among the councillors who stood down at the election were the independent councillors, Clifford Jordan and George Shackleton, from Rye and Liberal Democrat Jill Theis of Crowhurst and Catsfield ward. ^[2]

The Conservatives won all 3 seats in Bexhill Collington ward without opposition. ^[2]

Election result

Rother local election result 1999 ^[3]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	28			+12	62.2
	Liberal Democrats	8			-8	17.8
	Labour	5			0	11.1
	Independent	4			-4	8.9

By-elections between 1999 and 2003

Bexhill Central

Bexhill Central by-election 7 June 2001 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		934	43.3	-11.9
	Liberal Democrats		739	34.2	-10.6
	Labour		486	22.5	+22.5
Majority			195	9.1
Turnout			2,159
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bexhill St Mark's

A by-election was held in Bexhill St Marks on 7 June 2001 after the death of Conservative councillor and leader of Rother council Ivor Brampton. ^{[5] [6]}

Bexhill St Mark's by-election 7 June 2001 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		2,110	63.2	+16.1
	Liberal Democrats		779	23.3	+1.1
	Labour		452	13.5	-17.2
Majority			1,331	39.9
Turnout			3,341
	Conservative hold		Swing

Fairlight

A by-election was held in Fairlight on 1 November 2001 after the Conservative councillor S. Ashworth resigned her seat. ^[7] It was held for the Conservatives by Roger Bird with a majority of 213 votes. ^[7]

Fairlight by-election 1 November 2001 ^{[4] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Bird	437	66.1	+8.2
	Independent	Alwyn Lutman	224	33.9	+33.9
Majority			213	32.2
Turnout			661	44.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Old Town

Old Town by-election 17 October 2002 ^{[4] [8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	James Wood	369	48.6	+13.6
	Labour	Keith Bridger	197	25.9	-9.7
	Conservative	Peter Botting	194	25.5	+0.0
Majority			172	22.7
Turnout			760	24.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

1. "Rother". BBC News Online . Retrieved 14 July 2014.
2. "Election background: Parties battle over district with an independent streak". East Sussex County Publications. NewsBank. 24 April 1999.
3. "How the nations voted - Election". The Times . NewsBank. 8 May 1999. p. 48.
4. "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
5. "Bexhill St Marks Ward". Rother District Council. 5 February 2001. Archived from the original on 1 March 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
6. "Death of leader - statement from Rother DC". Local Government Chronicle . 22 January 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
7. "Fairlight Ward Election Results". Rother District Council. 2 November 2001. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
8. "Main parties fend off byelection challengers". theguardian.com. 18 October 2002. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
9. "Election results for Bexhill Old Town ward held on 17th October 2002". Rother District Council. 21 October 2002. Archived from the original on 4 October 2002. Retrieved 14 July 2014.