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
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]
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]