2000 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

The 2000 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Southend-on-Sea Unitary Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party gained overall control of the council from no overall control. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 25
• Liberal Democrat 9
• Labour 5 ^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the council was run by a coalition between the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties, but the election was expected to see the Conservatives take control from them. ^[3] 14 of the 39 seats were being contested, ^[4] with the Conservatives only needing to gain one seat in order to have a majority. ^[5] They only required a tiny swing to achieve this, which would give the Conservatives control of the council for the first time in 8 years. ^[5] The election was a high-profile one with the Conservative leader, William Hague, campaigning in the area on the Monday before the election. ^[6]

A major issue in the election was the number of refugees in the town, which was estimated at up to 2,000. ^[6] The Conservatives said that the area had become a "dumping ground" and called on all asylum seekers to be detained upon entry into the country. ^[6] However Labour accused the Conservatives of "playing the race card" ^[6] and reported a Conservative leaflet to the Commission for Racial Equality. ^[7]

Other issues included Conservative plans to build a new bypass to ease traffic within the town. ^[4] Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties defended their record of investing £50 million in the town during their period in control of the council, while keeping council tax rises down, with the latest council tax level the second lowest in Essex. ^[4]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives gain control of the council with an 11-seat majority after winning over 57% of the vote. ^[6] They gained 3 seats each from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats ^[6] with defeated councillors including 3 members of the executive, Nigel Baker, Stephen George and Chris Mallam. ^[8] These defeats meant that Labour failed to hold any of the seats they had been defending, while the Liberal Democrats only managed to hold on to 2 seats. ^[9] Overall turnout in the election was just above the national average at 30%. ^[6]

Following the election Charles Latham became the new Conservative leader of the council and announced they would scrap planned bus lanes and abolish charges for social care services. ^{[10] [11]}

Southend-on-Sea Local Election Result 2000 ^{[2] [12]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	12	6	0	+6	85.7	57.4	21,567	+11.2%
	Liberal Democrats	2	0	3	-3	14.3	23.0	8,625	-0.9%
	Labour	0	0	3	-3	0	17.5	6,564	-11.7%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	1.5	579	+1.5%
	Cliffs Pavilion Area Residents' Parking	0	0	0	0	0	0.4	146	+0.4%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	78	+0.2%

Ward results

Belfairs ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Briggs	2,337	69.1	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Ritchie	713	21.1	-6.4
	Labour	Charles Willis	331	9.8	-4.3
Majority			1,624	48.0	+17.1
Turnout			3,381	37.4	-0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blenheim ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Collins	1,367	46.6	+7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Mallam	1,010	34.4	-6.2
	Labour	Teresa Merrison	324	11.0	-9.2
	UKIP	David Stephens	233	7.9	+7.9
Majority			357	12.2
Turnout			2,934	32.3	+3.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Chalkwell ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lesley Salter	1,633	60.0	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Fisher	623	22.9	-5.9
	Labour	Ruth Jarvis	285	10.5	-6.3
	UKIP	David Cooper-Walker	179	6.6	+6.6
Majority			1,010	37.1	+11.4
Turnout			2,720	28.3	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eastwood ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Walker	1,997	63.4	+13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Mervyn Howell	818	26.0	-8.0
	Labour	Denis Garne	334	10.6	-5.9
Majority			1,179	37.4	+21.9
Turnout			3,149	29.8	-0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Leigh ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Wrexham	1,515	46.8	+9.3
	Conservative	Joyce Lambert	1,356	41.9	+1.6
	Labour	Jane Norman	197	6.1	-8.3
	UKIP	Melvyn Smith	167	5.2	+5.2
Majority			159	4.9
Turnout			3,235	35.2	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Milton ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Garston	1,096	50.4
	Labour	Stephen George	782	36.0
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Smith	150	6.9
	Cliffs Pavilion Area Residents' Parking	Patricia Clark	146	6.7
Majority			314	14.4
Turnout			2,174	25.2	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Prittlewell (2) ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Kerr	1,638
	Conservative	Anna Waite	1,557
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel Baker	975
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Newton	902
	Labour	Sylvia Groom	357
	Labour	Anne Chalk	342
Turnout			5,771	33.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

St Lukes ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Melvyn Day	780	48.4	+14.0
	Labour	Joyce Mapp	627	38.9	-15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Clark	126	7.8	-3.1
	Green	Adrian Hedges	78	4.8	+4.8
Majority			153	9.5	-10.9
Turnout			1,611	19.1	-0.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Shoebury ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony North	2,282	68.8	+15.8
	Labour	Peter Griffiths	802	24.2	-13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Granville Stride	232	7.0	-1.9
Majority			1,480	44.6	+29.7
Turnout			3,316	22.3	-0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Southchurch ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Holland	1,882	75.6	+12.3
	Labour	Colin Van-Assen	397	16.0	-11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Woolcott	209	8.4	-1.1
Majority			1,485	59.7	+23.5
Turnout			2,488	28.3	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Thorpe ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Delaney	2,059	76.5	+8.0
	Labour	John Townsend	409	15.2	-6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Smith	224	8.3	-1.7
Majority			1,650	61.3	+14.2
Turnout			2,692	27.1	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Victoria ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Jones	922	45.9	+16.5
	Labour	David Norman	870	43.3	-15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Howes	217	10.8	-0.6
Majority			52	2.6
Turnout			2,009	21.8	-0.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Westborough ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Lubel	911	43.8	+2.6
	Conservative	Michael Samuel	661	31.8	+14.0
	Labour	Raymond Hales	507	24.4	-16.6
Majority			250	12.0	+11.8
Turnout			2,079	24.3	-5.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

1. "Southend-on-Sea". BBC News Online . Retrieved 1 April 2010.
2. "Election results: local councils". The Times . 5 May 2000. p. 4.
3. Salman, Saba (25 April 2000). "Local voters set to kick Blair over mayoral 'fix'". Evening Standard . p. 22.
4. "South Essex: Elections kick off..." Echo. 4 April 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
5. "Reporting from Southend". BBC News Online . 3 May 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
6. Sherwin, Adam (5 May 2000). "Hard line on refugees helps Southend Tories". The Times . p. 4.
7. "Southend: Labour says Tory leaflet is racist". Echo. 13 April 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
8. "Election round-up: Tories romp to victory in South Essex". Echo. 5 May 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
9. "Election round-up: Southend losers pledge to win next time". Echo. 5 May 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
10. "Southend: Tories axe charges for caring". Echo. 10 May 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
11. "Southend: Bus lanes ditched". Echo. 8 May 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
12. "Southend Borough Council: Borough Council Election" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 1 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}