The 2000 Basildon Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Basildon

Basildon (district)

Basildon is a local government district in south Essex in the East of England, centred around the town of Basildon. The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 from the former area of Basildon Urban District and the part of Thurrock Urban District that was within the...

 Borough

Borough status in the United Kingdom

Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...

 Council in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 lost overall control of the council to no overall control

No overall control

Within the context of local councils of the United Kingdom, the term No Overall Control refers to a situation in which no single party achieves a majority of seats and is analogous to a hung parliament...

.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour
  Labour Party (UK)
  The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
  
   20
• Conservative
  Conservative Party (UK)
  The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
  
   18
• Liberal Democrats 4

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 make gains from both Labour and Liberal Democrats to go from 11 to 18 seats on the council. This deprived Labour of a majority on the council after 5 years and reduced Labour's lead over the Conservatives to just 2 seats. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats lost half their seats to fall to have just 4 councillor

Councillor

A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

s, but were left with the balance of power.

The Conservatives gained marginal seats in Basildon

Basildon

Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...

 from Labour including Laindon

Laindon

Laindon is a town in the west of the Basildon district of Essex, England.It is north of Laindon railway station on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. South of the railway station and line is Langdon Hills. Laindon and Langdon Hills are part of the Basildon post town.Until its abolition in...

, Langdon Hills

Langdon Hills

Langdon Hills is a town located in the Basildon district of Essex, England. It is contiguous with the Basildon continuous urban area.It is located south of Laindon railway station on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. It is the location of the Langdon Hills Country Park, which is in the...

 and Pitsea

Pitsea

Pitsea is a small town in the east of the Basildon district of south Essex, England. It comprises five sub-districts: Eversley, Northlands Park Neighbourhood , Chalvedon, Pitsea Mount and Burnt Mills. Vange is located to the west of Pitsea, Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet to the east and Nevendon...

 East. They also took all the seats the Liberal Democrats had been defending in Billericay

Billericay

Billericay is a town and civil parish in the Basildon borough of Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, has a population of 40,000, and constitutes a commuter town east of central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces...

 and Wickford

Wickford

Wickford is a town in the south of the English county of Essex, with a population of more than 32,500. Located approximately 30 miles east of London, it falls within the District of Basildon along with Basildon, Billericay, Laindon and Pitsea....

.

Following the election the Liberal Democrat leader Geoff Williams said "issues will be decided on their merit and not on party politics".