1999 Wyre Forest District Council election

The 1999 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Labour 18
• Health Concern 7
• Conservative 5
• Independent 5
• Liberal Democrats 4
• Liberal 3 ^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the council was composed of 24 Labour, 5 Liberal Democrats, 5 Independent Labour, 4 Conservatives, 3 Liberals and 1 Independent councillors. ^[3] The election saw the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern contest seats for the first time in protest against attempts to downgrade Kidderminster General Hospital. ^[4] They put up candidates for 11 of the 14 seats which were up for election claiming that they had the backing of 100,000 people. ^{[5] [6]} As well as the Health Concern candidates, one Independent and three Liberal Party candidates also stood on the issue. ^[3] However sitting councillors, including the Labour Party who controlled the council, said that they had done everything they could to preserve services at the hospital but that the council could have no effect on decisions over the hospital made by the National Health Service. ^[6] Labour said that other issues in the election included a redevelopment of Kidderminster town centre and a proposed transfer of council housing to a non-profit organisation. ^[3]

Election result

Labour lost their majority on the council after Health Concern won 7 of the seats contested, gaining 6 of them from Labour. The local Labour MP David Lock accused the Health Concern campaigners of having gained support by scaremongering over the closure of Kidderminster Hospital, which he said had never been an option. ^[7]

Wyre Forest local election result 1999 ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Health Concern	7			+7	50.0
	Labour	3			-6	21.4
	Conservative	2			+1	14.3
	Liberal Democrats	1			-1	7.1
	Liberal	1			0	7.1
	Independent	0			-1	0.0

References

1. "Wyre Forest". BBC News Online . Retrieved 29 December 2009.
2. "Britain votes: Local Council Election Results". The Independent . 7 May 1999. p. 12.
3. Smith, Sue (5 May 1999). "Local election countdown: Kidderminster". Birmingham Mail. p. 6.
4. Summers, Deborah (2 April 1999). "Hospital campaigners vote to fight at the ballot box". Birmingham Post . p. 4.
5. Worrall, Boris (13 April 1999). "Labour fearing the worst as town hall battles loom". Birmingham Post . p. 4.
6. Summers, Deborah (27 April 1999). "Fight for hospital goes to polls". Birmingham Post . p. 4.
7. "MP hits out over hospital scaremongering: Wyre Forest". Birmingham Post . 8 May 1999. p. 3.
8. "Local Councils: Results round-up". The Times . 7 May 1999. p. 4.
9. "Tories make substantial gains in locals". BBC News Online. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 29 December 2009.