| Election Name: | 1999 United Kingdom local elections |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Type: | legislative |
| Previous Election: | 1998 United Kingdom local elections |
| Previous Year: | 1998 |
| Next Election: | 2000 United Kingdom local elections |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
| Seats For Election: | All 36 metropolitan boroughs, 35 out of 46 unitary authorities, 237 out of 238 English districts, all 32 Scottish council areas and all 22 Welsh principal areas |
| Election Date: | 6 May 1999 |
| 1Blank: | Councils |
| 2Blank: | Councils +/- |
| 3Blank: | Councillors |
| 4Blank: | Councillors +/- |
| Leader2: | William Hague |
| Leader Since2: | 19 June 1997 |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Percentage2: | 34% |
| Swing2: | 2% |
| 1Data2: | 61 |
| 2Data2: | 48 |
| 3Data2: | 3,766 |
| 4Data2: | 1,348 |
| Leader1: | Tony Blair |
| Leader Since1: | 21 July 1994 |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Percentage1: | 36% |
| Swing1: | 2% |
| 1Data1: | 137 |
| 2Data1: | 32 |
| 3Data1: | 4,802 |
| 4Data1: | 1,150 |
| Leader3: | Paddy Ashdown |
| Leader Since3: | 16 July 1988 |
| Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Percentage3: | 24% |
| Swing3: | 1% |
| 1Data3: | 20 |
| 2Data3: | 11 |
| 3Data3: | 2,609 |
| 4Data3: | 90 |
The 1999 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 6 May 1999.[1] [2] All Scottish and Welsh unitary authorities had all their seats elected. In England a third of the seats on each of the Metropolitan Boroughs were elected along with elections in many of the unitary authorities and district councils. There were no local elections in Northern Ireland.
The elections saw Labour, now in their second year of government, suffer a setback as the opposition Conservatives gained ground. The councils up for election had last been contested in 1995, which saw Labour achieve record gains and the Conservatives lose over 2,000 seats.
| Party | Councils | Councillors | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gain | Loss | Change | Total | Gain | Loss | Change | Total | |||
| 3 | 35 | –32 | 137 | 89 | 1,239 | –1,150 | 4,802 | |||
| 48 | 0 | +48 | 61 | 1,391 | 43 | +1,348 | 3,766 | |||
| 7 | 18 | align="right" | -11 | 20 | 383 | 473 | align="right" | -90 | 2,609 | |
| 0 | 1 | align="right" | -1 | 1 | 41 | 24 | +17 | 208 | ||
| 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 | 89 | 7 | +81 | 205 | |||
| 2 | 5 | align="right" | -3 | 18 | 174 | 299 | align="right" | -125 | 1,551 | |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 145 | –79 | 191 | ||
| 40 | 42 | align="right" | -2 | 122 | — | — | — | — | ||
All 36 English Metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnsley | hold | Details | |||
| Birmingham | hold | Details | |||
| Bolton | hold | Details | |||
| Bradford | hold | Details | |||
| Bury | hold | Details | |||
| Calderdale | hold | Details | |||
| Coventry | hold | Details | |||
| Doncaster | hold | Details | |||
| Dudley | hold | Details | |||
| Gateshead | hold | Details | |||
| Kirklees | gain | Details | |||
| Knowsley | hold | Details | |||
| Leeds | hold | Details | |||
| Liverpool | hold | Details | |||
| Manchester | hold | Details | |||
| Newcastle upon Tyne | hold | Details | |||
| North Tyneside | hold | Details | |||
| Oldham | hold | Details | |||
| Rochdale | hold | Details | |||
| Rotherham | hold | Details | |||
| Salford | hold | Details | |||
| Sandwell | hold | Details | |||
| Sefton | hold | Details | |||
| Sheffield | gain | Details | |||
| Solihull | hold | Details | |||
| South Tyneside | hold | Details | |||
| St Helens | hold | Details | |||
| Stockport | gain | Details | |||
| Sunderland | hold | Details | |||
| Tameside | hold | Details | |||
| Trafford | hold | Details | |||
| Wakefield | hold | Details | |||
| Walsall | gain | Details | |||
| Wigan | hold | Details | |||
| Wirral | hold | Details | |||
| Wolverhampton | hold | Details | |||
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath and North East Somerset ‡ | hold | Details | |||
| Brighton and Hove | hold | Details | |||
| Bristol ‡ | hold | Details | |||
| Bournemouth | hold | Details | |||
| Darlington | hold | Details | |||
| East Riding of Yorkshire | hold | Details | |||
| Leicester | hold | Details | |||
| Luton | hold | Details | |||
| Middlesbrough | hold | Details | |||
| Milton Keynes | hold | Details | |||
| North East Lincolnshire | hold | Details | |||
| North Lincolnshire | hold | Details | |||
| North Somerset ‡ | gain | Details | |||
| Poole | gain | Details | |||
| Redcar and Cleveland | hold | Details | |||
| Rutland | hold | Details | |||
| South Gloucestershire ‡ | gain | Details | |||
| Stockton-on-Tees | hold | Details | |||
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburn with Darwen | hold | Details | |||
| Derby | hold | Details | |||
| Halton | hold | Details | |||
| Hartlepool | hold | Details | |||
| Kingston upon Hull | hold | Details | |||
| Peterborough | hold | Details | |||
| Portsmouth | hold | Details | |||
| Reading | hold | Details | |||
| Slough | hold | Details | |||
| Southampton | hold | Details | |||
| Southend-on-Sea | hold | Details | |||
| Stoke-on-Trent | hold | Details | |||
| Swindon | hold | Details | |||
| Thurrock | hold | Details | |||
| Warrington | hold | Details | |||
| Wokingham | hold | Details | |||
| York | hold | Details | |||
See main article: 1999 Scottish local elections.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | hold | Details | |||
| Aberdeenshire | hold | Details | |||
| Angus | hold | Details | |||
| Argyll and Bute | hold | Details | |||
| Clackmannanshire | gain | Details | |||
| Dumfries and Galloway | hold | Details | |||
| Dundee | gain | Details | |||
| East Ayrshire | hold | Details | |||
| East Dunbartonshire | hold | Details | |||
| East Lothian | hold | Details | |||
| East Renfrewshire | hold | Details | |||
| Edinburgh | hold | Details | |||
| Falkirk | gain | Details | |||
| Fife | hold | Details | |||
| Glasgow | hold | Details | |||
| Highland | hold | Details | |||
| Inverclyde | hold | Details | |||
| Midlothian | hold | Details | |||
| Moray | gain | Details | |||
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | hold | Details | |||
| North Ayrshire | hold | Details | |||
| North Lanarkshire | hold | Details | |||
| Orkney Islands | hold | Details | |||
| Perth and Kinross | hold | Details | |||
| Renfrewshire | gain | Details | |||
| Scottish Borders | hold | Details | |||
| Shetland Islands | hold | Details | |||
| South Ayrshire | hold | Details | |||
| South Lanarkshire | hold | Details | |||
| Stirling | hold | Details | |||
| West Dunbartonshire | hold | Details | |||
| West Lothian | hold | Details | |||
See main article: 1999 Welsh local elections.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaenau Gwent | hold | Details | |||
| Bridgend | hold | Details | |||
| Caerphilly | gain | Details | |||
| Cardiff | hold | Details | |||
| Carmarthenshire | hold | Details | |||
| Ceredigion | gain | Details | |||
| Conwy | hold | Details | |||
| Denbighshire | hold | Details | |||
| Flintshire | hold | Details | |||
| Gwynedd | hold | Details | |||
| Isle of Anglesey | hold | Details | |||
| Merthyr Tydfil | gain | Details | |||
| Monmouthshire | gain | Details | |||
| Neath Port Talbot | hold | Details | |||
| Newport | hold | Details | |||
| Pembrokeshire | hold | Details | |||
| Powys | hold | Details | |||
| Rhondda Cynon Taf | gain | Details | |||
| Swansea | hold | Details | |||
| Torfaen | hold | Details | |||
| Vale of Glamorgan | gain | Details | |||
| Wrexham | gain | Details | |||