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The 2000 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Southend-on-Sea Unitary Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party gained overall control of the council from no overall control. After the election, the composition of the council was *Conservative 25 *Liberal Democrat 9 *Labour 5 ==Campaign== Before the election the council was run by a coalition between the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties, but the election was expected to see the Conservatives take control from them. 14 of the 39 seats were being contested,〔 〕 with the Conservatives only needing to gain one seat in order to have a majority. They only required a tiny swing to achieve this, which would give the Conservatives control of the council for the first time in 8 years.〔 The election was a high profile one with the Conservative leader, William Hague, campaigning in the area on the Monday before the election. A major issue in the election was the number of refugees in the town, which was estimated at up to 2,000.〔 The Conservatives said that the area had become a "dumping ground" and called on all asylum seekers to be detained upon entry into the country.〔 However Labour accused the Conservatives of "playing the race card"〔 and reported a Conservative leaflet to the Commission for Racial Equality.〔 〕 Other issues included Conservative plans to build a new bypass to ease traffic within the town.〔 Meanwhile the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties defended their record of investing £50 million in the town during their period in control of the council, while keeping council tax rises down, with the latest council tax level the second lowest in Essex.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election, 2000」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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