Bromsgrove Council election, 1999
Encyclopedia
The 1999 Bromsgrove Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Bromsgrove district council
in Worcestershire
, England
. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party
gained overall control of the council from the Labour party
.
over the last four years, including 9.73% in the last year. A proposed development on the local recreation ground for an arts and leisure centre was a major issue in the campaign, with Labour saying it would be good for Bromsgrove, while the Conservatives pledged to try and save the recreation ground. During the campaign the Conservative party leader William Hague
visited Bromsgrove with the local Member of Parliament
Julie Kirkbride
to rally party activists.
Before the election the Conservatives required a 7% swing to gain control of the council, with Bromsgrove seen as a key council in the local elections across England
. A by-election in October 1998 in Catshill
ward
was seen as a good sign for the Conservatives after they gained the seat with a swing of over 25%. In total 80 candidates stood in the election from the Labour party, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the Wythall Ratepayers' and Residents' Association. Candidates included seven couples and former Conservative councillors such as Joy Buchby and Nick Psirides. Meanwhile the only Liberal Democrat councillor, Sandra Docker, stood down at the election.
Just before the election there was controversy over Labour party leaflets that were sent to pensioners claiming that the Conservatives would abolish free bus passes for pensioners. The Conservatives denied they would end the bus passes and reported Labour to the Data Protection Registrar, claiming that confidential council records had been used to send the leaflets to target pensioners, although Labour denied this.
ward, and the council chairman, Trevor Crashley in Whitford ward. The Conservatives also made two wins in a ward where they had never won any seats before, with swings reaching up to 40% in some wards.
Defeated candidates saw a low turnout
and the plans to develop the recreation ground as responsible for their defeats, with the neighbouring Labour MP Michael John Foster
blaming the results on local, rather than national, issues. Following the election William Hague visited Bromsgrove again to celebrate the results, both in Bromsgrove and nationally. Overall turnout in the election was 37.4%.
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 with a small ethnic minority and is in Bromsgrove District.- History :Bromsgrove is first documented in the early 9th century...
in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, 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...
. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party
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...
gained overall control of the council from 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...
.
Campaign
The Labour party had won control of the council in the previous election in 1995 for the first time and were hopeful of staying in control of the council. They pledged to maintain bus passes for the elderly and press on with CCTV in the town centre. However the Conservatives attacked Labour for having increased council taxCouncil tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
over the last four years, including 9.73% in the last year. A proposed development on the local recreation ground for an arts and leisure centre was a major issue in the campaign, with Labour saying it would be good for Bromsgrove, while the Conservatives pledged to try and save the recreation ground. During the campaign the Conservative party leader William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
visited Bromsgrove with the local Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Julie Kirkbride
Julie Kirkbride
Julie Kirkbride is a British former politician. She was the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Conservative stronghold of Bromsgrove from 1997 until 2010-Early life:...
to rally party activists.
Before the election the Conservatives required a 7% swing to gain control of the council, with Bromsgrove seen as a key council in the local elections across England
United Kingdom local elections, 1999
Local elections took place in much of the United Kingdom on 6 May 1999. 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...
. A by-election in October 1998 in Catshill
Catshill
Not to be confused with Catshill, WalsallCatshill is a village in Worcestershire about 2.5 miles north of Bromsgrove and 10 miles south-west of Birmingham. The parish of Catshill was formed around the Turnpike Road in 1844....
ward
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
was seen as a good sign for the Conservatives after they gained the seat with a swing of over 25%. In total 80 candidates stood in the election from the Labour party, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the Wythall Ratepayers' and Residents' Association. Candidates included seven couples and former Conservative councillors such as Joy Buchby and Nick Psirides. Meanwhile the only Liberal Democrat councillor, Sandra Docker, stood down at the election.
Just before the election there was controversy over Labour party leaflets that were sent to pensioners claiming that the Conservatives would abolish free bus passes for pensioners. The Conservatives denied they would end the bus passes and reported Labour to the Data Protection Registrar, claiming that confidential council records had been used to send the leaflets to target pensioners, although Labour denied this.
Election result
The results in Bromsgrove were one of the first to come in across the country and saw the Conservatives retake control of the council gaining 17 seats. Conservative gains included the Labour leader on the council, Trevor Porter in SidemoorSidemoor
Sidemoor is a village within the urban area of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.The local school, Sidemoor First School, opened in 1884 and was relocated in 2007 to a new site on the edge of the village using money from a private finance initiative....
ward, and the council chairman, Trevor Crashley in Whitford ward. The Conservatives also made two wins in a ward where they had never won any seats before, with swings reaching up to 40% in some wards.
Defeated candidates saw a low turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
and the plans to develop the recreation ground as responsible for their defeats, with the neighbouring Labour MP Michael John Foster
Michael John Foster
Michael John Foster was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Worcester from 1997 until 2010, and was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development....
blaming the results on local, rather than national, issues. Following the election William Hague visited Bromsgrove again to celebrate the results, both in Bromsgrove and nationally. Overall turnout in the election was 37.4%.