The 2000 Torbay Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Torbay unitary authority

Torbay

Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...

 in 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

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...

 party gained overall control of the council from 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...

.

Campaign

The election was seen as being a straight fight between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Before the election the Conservatives were optimistic that Torbay would be one of the councils that they would gain in the 2000 local elections

United Kingdom local elections, 2000

Local elections took place in some parts of England on 4 May 2000. A third of the seats on each of the Metropolitan Boroughs were elected along with elections in many of the unitary authorities and district councils...

 and they targeted it as a council that they had to win. This emphasis on the council included two visits by 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...

 the Conservative party leader. Pre-election the Liberal Democrats only had control of the council based 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, while the Conservatives needed 5 gains to take control.

Conservative leaflets led with the theme of "Keep the Pound

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

" but locally they accused the Liberal Democrat administration of incompetence and attacked the 22% Council Tax

Council 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...

 rise over the previous two years. The Liberal Democrats were also attacked over the council's decision to not put on any floral displays

Floral design

Floral design is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create a pleasing and balanced composition. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of Ancient Egypt....

 in 1999 to save money, which was seen as being an error for an area dependent on tourism. However the Liberal Democrats accused the Conservatives of playing on voters fears about asylum seekers being housed in the area.

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives win 32 of the 36 seats on the council, with the Liberal Democrats reduced to just 4 seats after having run the council since 1991. Liberal Democrat losses included the leader of the council, Anne Williams, and the mayor, John Turner. 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...

 lost both their seats on the council blaming a poor 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...

 at 33% and the recent rise of only 75 pence in the state pension for their defeat.

Following the election William Hague flew to Torbay to celebrate the results and described them as having begun the revival of the party. The result was seen as being an omen for the next general election

United Kingdom general election, 2001

The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

, where the sitting Liberal Democrat member of parliament Adrian Sanders

Adrian Sanders

Adrian Mark Sanders is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He is the Member of Parliament for Torbay in Devon.-Personal life:...

 only had a majority of 12 over the Conservatives. However the 2001 general election would see the Liberal Democrats hold the parliamentary constituency

Torbay (UK Parliament constituency)

-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:-Elections in the 1980s:-Notes and references:...

with an increased majority.

Ward results