2000 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election

The 2000 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Stratford-on-Avon District Council in Warwickshire, 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 28
• Liberal Democrat 18
• Independent 7
• Labour 2 ^[2]

Campaign

18 of the 55 seats on the council were contested in the election with the Conservatives defending 9, Liberal Democrats 5, Labour 2 and independents 2. ^[3] The Conservatives contested all 18 seats and needed to make 4 gains to take overall control of the council. ^[4]

The election in Stratford-on-Avon saw a trial of electronic voting in an attempt to increase turnout. ^[5] However, there were some computer problems and delays in closing polling stations, which meant that results were delayed by an hour. ^[6]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives achieve a majority on the council, 5 years after they lost the majority. ^[6] They gained the 4 seats they had required, after winning 2 seats from the Liberal Democrats in Bidford and Stratford New Town wards, and 2 from Labour in Southam and Studley. ^[4] As a result, the Conservative leader on the council, Bob Stevens, took over the leadership of the council from Liberal Democrat, Susan Juned. ^[6]

Stratford-on-Avon Local Election Result 2000 ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	13	4	0	+4	72.2	54.5	12,379
	Liberal Democrats	3	0	2	-2	16.7	28.5	6,469
	Independent	2	0	0	0	11.1	10.4	2,361
	Labour	0	0	2	-2	0	6.0	1,362
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.6	126

Ward results

Alcester ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Clifford Meade	1,001	53.5
	Conservative	Susan Adams	870	46.5
Majority			131	7.0
Turnout			1,871
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bidford ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Saville	560	51.1
	Independent	Graham Getgood	409	37.3
	Labour	Michael Gerrard	127	11.6
Majority			151	13.8
Turnout			1,096
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Compton ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Foster	446	66.3
	Liberal Democrats	Virginia Mason	227	33.7
Majority			219	32.6
Turnout			673
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Turner	882	56.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Booth	691	43.9
Majority			191	12.2
Turnout			1,573
	Conservative hold		Swing

Henley ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Atkinson	822	64.6
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Wright	450	35.4
Majority			372	29.2
Turnout			1,272
	Conservative hold		Swing

Moreton Morrell ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Davis	342	62.1
	Conservative	Edward Duckworth	209	37.9
Majority			133	24.2
Turnout			551
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Napton Priors ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Thomas	510	82.9
	Labour	Peter Hartland	105	17.1
Majority			405	65.8
Turnout			615
	Conservative hold		Swing

Salford Priors ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Kim James	336	69.7
	Conservative	David Harrison	146	30.3
Majority			190	39.4
Turnout			482
	Independent hold		Swing

Shipston ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trevor Russel	702	47.1
	Liberal Democrats	Robert White	686	46.0
	Labour	Ann Grosvenor	102	6.8
Majority			16	1.1
Turnout			1,490
	Conservative hold		Swing

Southam ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Akeister	1,131	59.8
	Labour	Martyn Ashford	760	40.2
Majority			371	19.6
Turnout			1,891
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Stratford Alverston ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Hyde	1,280	69.2
	Independent	Vincent Seaman	570	30.8
Majority			710	38.4
Turnout			1,850
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stratford Guild ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Giovanni Renna	858	57.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Roberts	629	42.3
Majority			229	15.4
Turnout			1,487
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stratford Market Hall ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Moorse	928	52.5
	Conservative	Richard Kingston	668	37.8
	Labour	Matthew Stephens	173	9.8
Majority			260	14.7
Turnout			1,769
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Stratford New Town ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Juliet Short	659	50.1
	Liberal Democrats	Dinah Hanlon	562	42.7
	Labour	Karen Parnell	95	7.2
Majority			97	7.4
Turnout			1,316
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Studley ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Desmond Maries	968	71.5
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Smith	385	28.5
Majority			583	43.0
Turnout			1,353
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Tredington ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Saint	642	62.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Wright	388	37.7
Majority			254	24.6
Turnout			1,030
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wellesbourne ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Roger Wright	1,046	60.2
	Conservative	Malcolm Littlewood	565	32.5
	Green	Michael Davies	126	7.3
Majority			491	27.7
Turnout			1,737
	Independent hold		Swing

Wooton Wawen ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Haddon	461	71.9
	Liberal Democrats	Lynn Bowring	180	28.1
Majority			281	43.8
Turnout			641
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Stratford-on-Avon". BBC News Online . Retrieved 12 March 2010.
2. "Local council results". Financial Times. 6 May 2000. p. 6.
3. "Voting goes hi-tech in county pilot scheme". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 4 May 2000. p. 3.
4. Keay, Rebecca (5 May 2000). "Tories snatch council power". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 16.
5. Game, Chris (10 April 2000). "This year your vote could count double, Chris Game says this year's local elections will be far more interesting for voters". Birmingham Post . p. 15.
6. Gibbons, Duncan; Keay, Rebecca (5 May 2000). "We're back, boast Tories: Local elections: Conservative glee follows true blue night of voting". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 1.
7. "Election results: local councils". The Times . 5 May 2000. p. 4.
8. Scott, Fiona; Cuthbertson, Hayley (5 May 2000). "Tory glee on a true blue night; Big shocks for Labour around the county". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 16.