1999 Epping Forest District Council election

1999 Epping Forest District Council election
6 May 1999
20 seats to Epping Forest District Council
29 seats needed for a majority
Turnout29.0% 0.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour
Last election 14 seats, 36.7% 15 seats, 20.1% 18 seats, 29.6%
Seats before 16 14 17
Seats won 18 16 14
Seat change 4 1 4
Popular vote 8,173 4,818 5,060
Percentage 42.7% 25.1% 26.4%
Swing 6.0% 5.0% 3.2%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Loughton Residents Independent Epping Residents
Last election 7 seats, 9.0% 3 seats, N/A 1 seat, 1.6%
Seats before 7 3 1
Seats won 7 3 0
Seat change 1
Popular vote 503 607 N/A
Percentage 2.6% 3.2% N/A
Swing 13.2% N/A N/A
Winner of each seat at the 1999 Epping Forest District Council election
Council control before election

No overall control
Labour largest party

Council control after election

No overall control
Labour largest party

Elections to Epping Forest Council were held on 6 May 1999. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control. Overall turnout was 29%. This was the last time the Epping Residents Association had representation on the district council.

Background

The 1999 Epping Forest District Council election would prove to be a turning point in Epping Forest’s political history. Labour, which had steadily grown its strength during the 1990s, remained the largest party on the council in 1999 — the last time it would ever do so. The party’s national popularity under Tony Blair had filtered down into district politics, giving Labour unprecedented prominence in a council traditionally dominated by Conservatives and local resident groups. However, warning signs for Labour’s long-term position were already present. The party lost all three Waltham Abbey seats it had been defending, foreshadowing its future decline in the district. By 2011, Labour would hold no seats on the council, ending a once significant local presence.

For the Conservatives, the 1999 results offered modest reassurance after a difficult decade. Though still some way from their former dominance, they made inroads in traditional strongholds, particularly in Waltham Abbey, where Labour’s losses provided an opening. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats maintained a steady base, continuing to perform well in areas such as Buckhurst Hill and parts of Loughton, while the various residents’ associations retained their footholds, reflecting the district’s distinctive pattern of localist politics.

The 1999 election, therefore, stands as both a high-water mark and the beginning of a long decline for Labour in Epping Forest, as the council chamber would gradually revert to competition between Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and local independents in the decades that followed.

By-elections

Waltham Abbey East by-election

Waltham Abbey East By-Election 22 October 1998
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Dickins 633 60.2 8.6
Labour 336 31.9 9.9
Liberal Democrats 83 7.9 1.3
Majority 297 28.3 N/A
Turnout 1,052 18.2 8.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Sheering by-election

Councillor Yeo who previously represented Sheering died in early 1999 prompting a by-election which was subsequently won by the Conservatives' John Harrington who completed Yeo's term until being elected to a full term in 2000.

Sheering by-election 25 February 1999
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Harrington 371 50.9 23.3
Liberal Democrats 276 37.9 10.4
Labour 82 11.2 13.0
Majority 95 13.0 N/A
Turnout 729 32.9 1.5
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing

Summary

[1]
1996 Epping Forest District Council election
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Conservative 6 4 31.5 12 18 30.5 8,173 42.7 6.0
  Liberal Democrats 7 1 36.8 9 16 27.1 4,818 25.9 5.0
  Labour 4 4 13.7 9 14 28.8 5,060 26.4 3.2
  Loughton Residents 1 5.2 6 7 11.8 503 2.6 13.2
  Independent 2 10.4 2 3 6.7 607 3.2 N/A
  Chigwell Residents 0 0.0 1 1 1.6 N/A N/A N/A
  Epping Residents 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 N/A N/A N/A

Ward results

[2]

Buckhurst Hill East

Buckhurst Hill East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Woollard 580 64.8 0.6
Conservative George Denny 207 23.1 0.5
Labour Lynn Baddock 108 12.1 1.1
Majority 373 41.7 0.1
Turnout 895 26.1 5.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Buckhurst Hill West

Buckhurst Hill West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Michael Heavens 889 53.0 6.6
Conservative Richard Watts 713 42.5 8.5
Labour Janice Croke 74 4.4 2.0
Majority 176 10.5 15.1
Turnout 1,676 32.7 0.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Chipping Ongar

Chipping Ongar
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Keith Wright 290 50.0 7.2
Conservative Frank Love 212 36.6 6.9
Labour Sheila Spring 78 13.4 12.4
Majority 78 13.4 0.3
Turnout 580 44.3 31.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Debden Green

Debden Green
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gillian Huckle 635 75.5 0.6
Conservative Derek Knight 206 24.5 0.6
Majority 429 51.0 1.2
Turnout 841 21.1 2.8
Labour hold Swing

Epping Hemnall

Epping Hemnall
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jonathan Whitehouse 968 50.1 9.2
Conservative Diana Collins 784 40.6 11.2
Labour Vivien Cave 181 9.4 1.9
Majority 184 9.5 20.4
Turnout 1,933 40.7 5.6
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing

Epping Lindsey

Epping Lindsey
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Penny Smith 704 49.4 13.1
Labour Barry Johns 435 30.5 3.6
Liberal Democrats Joanne Whitehouse 287 20.1 8.4
Majority 269 18.9 9.5
Turnout 1,426 30.2 0.8
Conservative gain from Epping Residents Association Swing

Grange Hill

Grange Hill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Peter Spencer 638 54.9 6.3
Conservative Hilary Wood 422 36.3 15.1
Labour Ronald Rodwell 102 8.8 8.8
Majority 216 18.6
Turnout 1,162 26.0 1.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Greensted and Marden Ash

Greensted and Marden Ash
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Derek Jacobs 393 53.8 8.8
Conservative Nicola Deller 172 23.5 4.9
Labour Robert MacDonald 166 22.7 4.1
Majority 221 30.3 13.5
Turnout 731 39.8 3.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

High Beech

High Beech
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Norma Green 578 78.6 21.6
Labour Sidney Miller 102 13.9 10.8
Liberal Democrats Lucille Thompson 55 7.5 10.8
Majority 476 64.7 32.4
Turnout 735 34.2 9.2
Conservative hold Swing

Lambourne

Lambourne
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Kenneth Easlea 357 54.0 7.5
Conservative Stephen Metcalfe 304 46.0 20.4
Majority 53 8.0 27.6
Turnout 661 37.8 21.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing

Loughton Broadway

Loughton Broadway
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joan Davis 703 77.6 1.3
Conservative Lorne Daniel 203 22.4 1.3
Majority 500 55.2 2.6
Turnout 906 22.3 4.3
Labour hold Swing

Loughton Roding

Loughton Roding
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maureen Boatman 629 61.2 8.7
Conservative Norma Pearce 300 29.2 18.4
Liberal Democrats Peter Netherclift 99 9.6 5.0
Majority 329 32.0 23.2
Turnout 1,028 24.6 8.8
Labour hold Swing

Loughton St. John's

Loughton St John's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Loughton Residents Brian Moore 503 53.6 0.3
Conservative Ian Locks 309 32.9 8.6
Labour Thomas Owen 126 13.4 8.3
Majority 194 20.7 8.9
Turnout 938 22.5 5.0
Loughton Residents hold Swing

Moreton and Matching

Moreton and Matching
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Richard Morgan Unopposed
Majority N/A 100% 24.6
Turnout N/A N/A N/A
Independent hold Swing

Nazeing

Nazeing
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent John Carr 607 70.3 N/A
Conservative Michael Alldis 256 29.7 34.2
Majority 351 40.6 14.1
Turnout 863 23.5 3.0
Independent hold Swing

North Weald Bassett

North Weald Bassett
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dave Stallan 816 65.5 1.1
Labour Derek Clark 337 27.0 8.6
Liberal Democrats Monica Richardson 93 7.5 7.5
Majority 479 38.5 9.7
Turnout 1,246 27.7 0.9
Conservative hold Swing

Shelley

Shelley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ronald Barnes 261 79.6 8.2
Conservative Jeremy Dean 67 20.4 8.2
Majority 194 59.2 14.8
Turnout 328 23.8 12.5
Labour hold Swing

Waltham Abbey East

Waltham Abbey East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Dickins 791 60.8 9.2
Labour Stanley Riley 405 31.1 10.7
Liberal Democrats Ingrid Black 106 8.1 1.5
Majority 386 29.7 19.9
Turnout 1,302 22.8 4.1
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Waltham Abbey Paternoster

Waltham Abbey Paternoster
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Reginald Chidley 561 63.5 26.5
Labour Fitzherbert Harewood 283 32.0 26.2
Liberal Democrats Olive Dunseath 40 4.5 0.3
Majority 278 31.5 19.1
Turnout 884 25.9 4.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

Waltham Abbey West

Waltham Abbey West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Harold Taylor 515 50.2 11.4
Labour John Langer 435 42.4 10.7
Liberal Democrats Susan Hutchings 76 7.4 0.7
Majority 80 7.8
Turnout 1,026 24.9 0.8
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

References

  1. ^ Elections Centre. "Epping Forest District Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF).
  2. ^ BBC News. "BBC News | UK Politics | Local Elections 2000 | Epping Forest".
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