Wyre Forest District Council election, 1999

The 1999 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 6 May 1999 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 18
• Health Concern 7
• Conservative 5
• Independent 5
• Liberal Democrats 4
• Liberal 3^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the council was composed of 24 Labour, 5 Liberal Democrats, 5 independent Labour, 4 Conservatives, 3 Liberals and 1 independent councillors.^[3] The election saw the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern contest seats for the first time in protest against attempts to downgrade Kidderminster General Hospital.^[4] They put up candidates for 11 of the 14 seats which were up for election claiming that they had the backing of 100,000 people.^[5][6] As well as the Health Concern candidates, one independent and three Liberal party candidates also stood on the issue.^[3] However sitting councillors, including the Labour party who controlled the council, said that they had done everything they could to preserve services at the hospital but that the council could have no effect on decisions over the hospital made by the National Health Service.^[6] Labour said that other issues in the election included a redevelopment of Kidderminster town centre and a proposed transfer of council housing to a non-profit organisation.^[3]

Election result

Labour lost their majority on the council after Health Concern won 7 of the seats contested, gaining 6 of them from Labour.^[7] The local Labour MP David Lock accused the Health Concern campaigners of having gained support by scaremongering over the closure of Kidderminster Hospital, which he said had never been an option.^[8]

References

Council elections in Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 Abolished (1974) Restored (1997) 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017
Bromsgrove District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
Malvern Hills District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1997 2000 2003 2007 2011 2015
Redditch Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Worcester City Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Wychavon District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015
Wyre Forest District Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Hereford and Worcester County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

(1998 ←) United Kingdom local elections, 1999 (→ 2000)
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