Winchester City Council election, 2000

The 2000 Winchester Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Winchester District Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrat 36
• Conservative 10
• Independent 5
• Labour 4 ^[2]

Campaign

One third of the seats were being contested, with an extra seat being up for election in St Bartholomew ward after the sitting Conservative councillor, Flick Drummond, emigrated to the USA and thus failed to attend any council meetings in the required 6-month period. ^[3] The Liberal Democrats had a majority of 13 seats before the election and despite defending 9 seats were expected to remain in control of the council. ^[3] 3 sitting councillors, all Liberal Democrats, stood down at the election, Miranda Bulloch, Phrynette Dickens and Alan Laidlaw. ^[3]

The Conservatives campaigned on a promise to reduce council tax by 5% over the next 4 years and attacked the Liberal Democrats over the closure of car parks in the city centre. ^[3] However the Liberal Democrats alleged lies had been said about the car parks, and said the Conservatives would have to cut services if they were to reduce council tax. ^[3]

The Conservatives also complained about the Liberal Democrat controlled council publishing a newsletter during the campaign. ^[4] They claimed that it was propaganda for the Liberal Democrats and favoured sitting councillors, however the Liberal Democrats said that the Conservative leader on the council had approved the newsletter and that the Conservatives were avoiding the real issues. ^[4]

Election result

The results saw the Liberal Democrats increase their control of the council, making 2 nets gains to have an overall majority of 17. ^[5] They gained seats in Compton and Shawford, St Bartholomew and Wonston wards, but lost one back to the Conservatives in New Alresford. ^[5] Despite this the Conservatives said that they were pleased to have won more votes across the whole council than the Liberal Democrats, with many seats seeing very close results. ^[6] Meanwhile, one Labour candidate, Oliver de Peyer, only won 7 votes in Shedfield ward, the lowest by any major party candidate in elections for Winchester council and a repeat of his performance in Sparsholt in 1998. ^[6] Overall turnout in the election was 39.97%, with the highest turnout being recorded in Droxford, Soberton & Hambledon ward at 57.68%. ^[5]

Winchester Local Election Result 2000 ^{[2] [7]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrat	11	3	1	+2	57.9	39.3	9,756	-5.1%
	Conservative	3	0	2	-2	15.8	42.5	10,554	+3.0%
	Independent	3	0	0	0	15.8	6.8	1,678	+2.9%
	Labour	2	0	0	0	10.5	11.4	2,818	-0.7%

Ward results

Badger Farm ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Geraldine McKay	410	58.2
	Conservative	Peter Welburn	237	33.7
	Labour	Shelagh Bird	57	8.1
Majority			173	24.5
Turnout			704	36.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Bishop's Waltham ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Georgina Busher	1,013	63.5	+14.9
	Conservative	Alan Foster	469	29.4	+7.6
	Labour	Michael Chaplin	114	7.1	+2.7
Majority			544	34.1	+10.7
Turnout			1,596	31.9	-6.8
	Independent hold		Swing

Boarhunt & Southwick ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Kenneth Carter	263	61.2
	Conservative	Mike Roberts	133	30.9
	Labour	James Ross	34	7.9
Majority			130	30.3
Turnout			430	45.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Compton & Shawford ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Charlotte Bailey	338	50.9
	Conservative	Margaret Campbell-White	311	46.8
	Labour	Kevin Barrett	15	2.3
Majority			27	4.1
Turnout			664	55.8
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Denmead ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Donald Stewart	1,167	69.5	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Slade	450	26.8	+0.1
	Labour	Timothy Curran	61	3.6	-3.0
Majority			717	42.7	+2.7
Turnout			1,678	36.0	-2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Droxford, Soberton & Hambledon ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Diana Empson	918	64.2
	Liberal Democrat	Margaret Scriven	465	32.5
	Labour	Denis May	48	3.4
Majority			453	31.7
Turnout			1,431	57.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Littleton ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	George Fothergill	806	59.1	+4.1
	Conservative	Barry Lipscomb	516	37.8	-2.9
	Labour	Tessa Valentine	42	3.1	-1.2
Majority			290	21.3	+7.0
Turnout			1,364	50.9	+0.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

New Alresford ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Ernest Jeffs	876	44.4	-2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Simon Cook	772	39.1	+4.9
	Labour	Robin Atkins	324	16.4	-2.4
Majority			104	5.3	-7.4
Turnout			1,972	47.2	-6.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Owslebury & Colden Common ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Cecily Sutton	652	49.2
	Conservative	Peter Facey	589	44.4
	Labour	Pamela Smith	85	6.4
Majority			63	4.8
Turnout			1,326	37.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Shedfield ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Paul Hoare	325	56.5
	Conservative	Roger Huxstep	181	31.5
	Liberal Democrat	Pauline Longcroft	62	10.8
	Labour	Oliver De Peyer	7	1.2
Majority			144	25.0
Turnout			575	47.8
	Independent hold		Swing

St Barnabas ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Higgins	770	51.1	-8.0
	Conservative	Michael Whatley	576	38.2	+8.8
	Labour	Simon Woolfenden	161	10.7	-0.8
Majority			194	12.9	-16.8
Turnout			1,507	38.0	-0.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

St Bartholomew ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	James Maynard	840	46.7	-5.8
	Conservative	Ian Jones	769	42.8	+5.4
	Labour	Stephen Wyeth	188	10.5	+0.4
Majority			71	3.9	-11.2
Turnout			1,797	42.1	-0.4
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

St John and All Saints ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Chris Pines	616	42.7	-0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Signe-Maria Higgins	458	31.7	-4.2
	Conservative	Sally Goodman	370	25.6	+4.8
Majority			158	11.0	+3.6
Turnout			1,444	30.9	-1.3
	Labour hold		Swing

St Luke ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Patrick Davies	595	38.7	+1.8
	Conservative	Stanley Trussler	504	32.7	-2.4
	Liberal Democrat	Colin Norris	440	28.6	+0.5
Majority			91	6.0	+4.2
Turnout			1,539	34.1	+4.7
	Labour hold		Swing

St Michael ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	John Beveridge	865	48.4	+5.2
	Conservative	Elizabeth Osborne	806	45.1	-2.3
	Labour	Antony De Peyer	115	6.4	-3.0
Majority			59	3.3	-0.9
Turnout			1,786	45.6	+2.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

St Paul ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Raymond Love	864	47.6	-0.7
	Conservative	Jacqueline Pitman	823	45.3	+3.0
	Labour	Adrian Field	129	7.1	-2.3
Majority			41	2.3	-3.7
Turnout			1,816	41.4	+0.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

The Worthys ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Graham Hutton	657	49.5
	Conservative	Barbara Jeffs	571	43.0
	Labour	Elaine Fullaway	99	7.5
Majority			86	6.5
Turnout			1,327	37.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Waltham Chase ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Andrew Archard	340	50.9
	Conservative	Richard Bates	185	27.7
	Liberal Democrat	Philippa Currie	84	12.6
	Labour	David Jones	59	8.8
Majority			155	23.2
Turnout			668	36.6
	Independent hold		Swing

Wonston ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Bayley	560	47.4	-5.8
	Conservative	Michael Pocock	553	46.8	+8.5
	Labour	Alan Drury	69	5.8	-2.8
Majority			7	0.6	-14.3
Turnout			1,182	39.0	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. "Winchester". BBC News Online . Retrieved 2010-01-28. 
2. "Election results: local councils". The Times. 2000-05-05. p. 4. 
3. "Gearing up for a good, clean fight". Southern Daily Echo . 2000-04-19. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 
4. "Propaganda under attack". Southern Daily Echo . 2000-04-14. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 
5. "Local Elections Results - 4th May 2000". Winchester City Council. Archived from the original on 2000-09-25. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 
6. "Little headway on the lond road back". Southern Daily Echo . 2000-05-05. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 
7. "Winchester City Council District Elections - 4 May 2000" (PDF). Winchester City Council. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 
8. "Local council elections - Winchester". Basingstoke Gazette . 2000-05-05. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 

Preceded by Winchester Council election, 1999

Winchester local elections

Succeeded by Winchester Council election, 2002