Maidstone Borough Council election, 2000

The 2000 Maidstone Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Maidstone Borough Council in Kent, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Liberal Democrat 22
• Conservative 16
• Labour 12
• Independent 5^[2]

Campaign

Before the election no party had a majority, with the Liberal Democrats the largest party on the council.^[3] Asylum seekers was reported as being a big issue in the election, after a rise in council tax from Kent County Council was partly put down to asylum seekers in the county.^[3] The Conservative party said it was boosted in the election by pledges of a "crackdown" made by the national party leader William Hague.^[3]

Election result

Overall turnout in the election was 27.1%.^[4]

Maidstone Local Election Result 2000[4][5]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrat	7	1	1	0	36.8	31.4	7,155	-1.0%
	Conservative	6	1	0	+1	31.6	45.9	10,463	+8.7%
	Labour	4	1	2	-1	21.1	17.6	4,012	-8.4%
	Independent	2	0	0	0	10.5	4.0	920	+0.5%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	229	+0.1%

Ward results

Allington[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Cynthia Robertson	1,188	68.5	-4.4
	Conservative	Valerie Parker	397	22.9	+8.7
	Labour	Richard Coates	149	8.6	-4.4
Majority			791	45.6	-13.1
Turnout			1,734	30.0	+0.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Barming[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Oldham	883	90.6
	Liberal Democrat	Shona Stevens	59	6.1
	Labour	Patrick Coates	33	3.4
Majority			824	84.5
Turnout			975	52.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bearsted[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Ash	1,251	76.4	+9.3
	Labour	Jeanne Gibson	213	13.0	-3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Chittenden	173	10.6	-5.7
Majority			1,038	63.4	+13.0
Turnout			1,637	32.2	+0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boughton Monchelsea[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Michael Fitzgerald	433	50.2
	Conservative	Frank Holding	377	43.7
	Labour	Jacqueline Lyons	52	6.0
Majority			56	6.5
Turnout			862	41.5
	Independent hold		Swing

Boxley[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Yates	1,062	67.2
	Labour	Stephen Gibson	278	17.6
	Liberal Democrat	John Doherty	240	15.2
Majority			784	49.6
Turnout			1,580	25.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bridge[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Merello D'Souza	668	39.6	+2.6
	Conservative	Derek Nicholson	546	32.3	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat	Trevor Matthews	403	23.9	-7.0
	Green	Ian McDonald	71	4.2	+0.2
Majority			122	7.2	+1.1
Turnout			1,688	26.4	+3.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Coxheath[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Mortimer	573	53.8
	Conservative	Alan Larcombe	419	39.3
	Labour	Susan Burfield	73	6.9
Majority			154	14.5
Turnout			1,065	34.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Detling[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Daphne Parvin	440	83.3
	Liberal Democrat	James Bartrick	53	10.0
	Labour	Raymond Huson	35	6.6
Majority			387	73.3
Turnout			528	34.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

East[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Patrick Sellar	834	54.5	+1.7
	Conservative	Scott Hahnefeld	544	35.5	+3.0
	Labour	Karen Forbes	153	10.0	-4.8
Majority			290	18.9	-1.4
Turnout			1,531	25.6	-0.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Farleigh[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Williams	385	57.0
	Conservative	Bryan Ransom	290	43.0
Majority			95	14.1
Turnout			675	45.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Headcorn[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jenefer Gibson	1,011	75.4
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Fryd	224	16.7
	Labour	Elizabeth Stevens	106	7.9
Majority			787	58.7
Turnout			1,341	36.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heath[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	John Watson	700	49.5	-1.3
	Labour	John Tolputt	361	25.5	+1.5
	Conservative	Malcolm Parker	352	24.9	+1.3
Majority			339	24.0	-2.7
Turnout			1,413	24.0	+1.7
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing

High Street[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Clive English	514	49.9	+6.4
	Conservative	Alex Hunter	241	23.4	+2.9
	Labour	Leonard Burfield	236	22.9	-9.4
	Green	Sheila Kennedy	39	3.8	+0.1
Majority			273	26.5	+15.3
Turnout			1,030	22.1	-2.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Marden[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Elizabeth McGannan	487	41.2
	Conservative	Simon Anthonisz	445	37.6
	Labour	Michael Casserley	172	14.6
	Liberal Democrat	Patricia Gerrish	77	6.5
Majority			42	3.6
Turnout			1,182	31.2
	Independent hold		Swing

North[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Jennifer Paterson	762	59.3	+2.2
	Conservative	John Brooks	341	26.5	-2.9
	Labour	Keith Adkinson	136	10.6	-0.6
	Green	James Shalice	46	3.6	+1.3
Majority			421	32.8	+5.1
Turnout			1,285	22.9	-2.9
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Park Wood[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morrison	497	57.4	-4.5
	Conservative	Sandra Nahab	239	27.6	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Jeanne Harwood	102	11.8	-1.7
	Green	David Currer	28	3.2	-0.2
Majority			258	29.8	-11.0
Turnout			866	18.7	+0.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Shepway East[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Daniel Murphy	281	41.1	-13.9
	Conservative	Claire Watts	274	40.1	+16.7
	Liberal Democrat	Ian Chittenden	129	18.9	-2.6
Majority			7	1.0	-30.6
Turnout			684	16.1	-0.5
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Shepway West[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frances Brown	394	48.0	-17.0
	Conservative	Peter Veal	381	46.5	+11.5
	Green	Stephen Muggeridge	45	5.5	+5.5
Majority			13	1.6	-28.3
Turnout			820	18.8	-0.4
	Labour hold		Swing

South[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Chell	970	51.5	+8.2
	Liberal Democrat	Sarah Gould	739	39.2	+1.2
	Labour	Rosemary Long	175	9.3	-9.4
Majority			231	12.3	+7.0
Turnout			1,884	27.9	+1.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

References

1. "Maidstone". BBC News Online. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
2. "Local council results". Financial Times. 6 May 2000. p. 6.
3. Sherwin, Adam (20 April 2000). "Asylum crisis threatens Labour votes". The Times. p. 19.
4. "Maidstone Borough Council Election Results - 4 May 2000". Maidstone Borough Council. Archived from the original on 2002-06-25. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
5. "Election results: local councils". The Times. 6 May 2000. p. 10.