Before the election Labour ran the council with 32 seats compared to 25 for the Liberal Democrats who were the main opposition party on the council.[3] However the 1999 election had seen the Liberal Democrats win more votes than Labour, 42.5% compared to 38%, and they were confident of at least depriving Labour of a majority on the council in the election.[3]
Issues in the election included crime, education, employment, health and litter.[4]Unemployment was down at around 5%, but still above the national average and was much higher in some of the inner city areas.[4]
In the week before the election Labour suffered a blow when a councillor, Margaret Kelly, defected to the Green Party.[4] She had been a Labour member for 30 years, but said that the national Labour government was not what she had fought for in opposition.[4]
Election result
The results saw the Liberal Democrats gain control of the council from the Labour party.[5] Labour, who had run the council for the previous 20 years, suffered a number of losses including the council leader John Battye in Failsworth East ward.[5] Battye, who had been leader of the council for the previous 15 years, was defeated by 1,605 votes by a 23-year-old Liberal Democrat candidate Charles Glover in the most high-profile contest in the election.[6]
The swing to the Liberal Democrats was over 8% since 1996,[4] enabling them to gain control of the council for the first time.[6] They now had an overall majority of 2,[7] after they gained seats in Coldhurst, Hollinwood, Royton North and Royton South in addition to Failsworth East.[6] The Liberal Democrats also regained a seat in Crompton, where the independent Liberal Democrat councillor, Michael Hambley, stood down at the election.[6] Meanwhile, the Conservatives doubled the number of seats they held on the council to 2, after gaining a seat in Chadderton North from Labour.[6]
The national Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy described the results in Oldham as a "fantastic result, showing the inroads that Liberal Democrats were making into Labour's heartlands".[8] However the local Labour Member of ParliamentPhil Woolas said that the election was down to local issues and had "nothing to do with the national political situation".[8]
Following the election there were allegations of vote rigging in the election.[9] After a police investigation, 11 people were convicted of election fraud in July 2001.[9] They were convicted after police found evidence of voters using dead people's names to vote and impersonating other voters.[9] The offences had taken place in the wards of the Coldhurst, St Mary's and Werneth and those convicted were both Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters.[9] Another defendant, Liberal Democrat councillor Mohib Uddin, who had been elected in Coldhurst, was acquitted.[9]
^ ab"Election results: local councils". The Times. 5 May 2000. p. 4.
^ abPike, Alan (27 April 2000). "Poll fears linger, despite Blair's pat on the back: Doubts over its heartland vote mean that Labour faces real concerns in next week's local elections". Financial Times. p. 6.
^ abcde"Battlground Oldham: Disillusionment and defection may be deciders". Financial Times. 5 May 2000. p. 6.
^ abJenkins, Russell (5 May 2000). "Lib Dems jubilant at taking Oldham". The Times. p. 4.