2000 Worcester City Council election

The 2000 Worcester City Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Worcester City 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:

• Conservative 16
• Labour 15
• Independent 4
• Liberal Democrat 1

Background

Before the election, Labour held 20 seats as against 11 for the Conservatives, 3 independents and 2 Liberal Democrats. ^[2] 12 seats were up for election with Labour defending 7 as against 3 for the Conservatives. ^[2]

Election result

The results saw the Labour Party lose their majority on the council, ^[3] after losing 4 seats to the Conservatives and 1 to the independents. ^[4] They also failed to regain St John ward where Margaret Layland held the seat as an independent by 31 votes. ^[4] She had been elected for Labour in 1996 before leaving the party in 1998. ^[4]

The results meant that the Conservatives became the largest party on the council for the first time since 1979. ^[5]

Worcester Local Election Result 2000 ^[6]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	8			+5	66.7
	Labour	2			-5	16.7
	Independent	2			+1	16.7
	Liberal Democrats	0			-1	0

References

1. "Worcester". BBC News Online . Retrieved 3 January 2010.
2. "Local Elections: Tories hope for a 20-year shock result: Worcester". Birmingham Mail. 5 April 2000. p. 13.
3. Gray, Chris (5 May 2000). "Tories win Solihull City socialists axed Knowles out as Labour crumbles". Birmingham Post . p. 1.
4. "Tories jubilant as Labour feels backlash". Birmingham Post . 5 May 2000. p. 4.
5. Game, Chris (6 May 2000). "Why there's still reason to be blue Were the Tories' election gains as sensational as they say? asksChris Game". Birmingham Post . p. 39.
6. "Election results: local councils". The Times . 5 May 2000. p. 4.