Milton Keynes Council election, 2000
Encyclopedia
The 2000 Milton Keynes Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Milton Keynes
Unitary
Council in Buckinghamshire
, England
. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control
.
After the election, the composition of the council was
Tony Blair
came to Milton Keynes to launch his party's local election campaign. Labour were defending control of Milton Keynes council, but before the election were relying on the casting vote
of the mayor to keep control, after 2 Labour councillors left the party to become independents
.
The election in Milton Keynes saw a relaxation of the rules for requesting a postal vote, allowing anyone who wanted to vote by post. As a results the number of postal vote requests increased from the normal 1,100 to 3,600.
.
Milton Keynes (borough)
The Borough of Milton Keynes is a unitary authority and borough in south central England, at the northern tip of the South East England Region. For ceremonial purposes, it is in the county of Buckinghamshire...
Unitary
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
Council in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, 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 council stayed under 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
- LabourLabour 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...
22 - Liberal Democrat 20
- ConservativeConservative 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...
8 - IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
1
Campaign
The Labour Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
came to Milton Keynes to launch his party's local election campaign. Labour were defending control of Milton Keynes council, but before the election were relying on the casting vote
Casting vote
A casting vote is a vote given to the presiding officer of a council or legislative body to resolve a deadlock and which can be exercised only when such a deadlock exists...
of the mayor to keep control, after 2 Labour councillors left the party to become independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
.
The election in Milton Keynes saw a relaxation of the rules for requesting a postal vote, allowing anyone who wanted to vote by post. As a results the number of postal vote requests increased from the normal 1,100 to 3,600.
Election result
The results saw no party win a majority on the council, with Labour losing seats, including 3 to the ConservativesConservative 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...
.