Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election, 1999

Map of the results of the 1999 Wigan council election.

Elections to Wigan Council were held on 6 May, 1999. One-third of the council was up for election. Prior to the election, the Liberal Democrats had gained the seat being fought in Beech Hill from Labour in a by-election, and long-time Labour councillor for Atherton, Jack Sumner, had defected to independent.

All wards were fought for the first time since 1992, and the election boasted the highest number of candidates excepting the all-out elections of 1973 and 1980. The increase came from the Green Party standing a full-slate, seemingly energised by their third place the previous year, with both Labour and the Conservatives repeating their recent contesting rates. The Lib Dem's showing of six candidates, conversely, resembled a party resigned to fourth place. Elsewhere the aforementioned Independent was fighting Leigh East, and an incumbent Independent Labour candidate sought her fourth term in Hindley.

The previous year had brought about the worst turnout recorded, and this election did little to improve upon it, increasing by just one percent to 18.4%. The general picture too was one of little difference to the preceding election. All three main parties managed to improve their vote upon the previous year's historic lows, but none were able to in a significant manner, and as such, their figures remained at historically poor levels. The party shares were also little changed, with a modest recovery of the Lib Dems and the Greens achieving a new peak mainly at the expense of Labour.

Labour, however, made a net gain as they retook their seat in Beech Hill from last year's by-election victors the Lib Dems, and finally ousted the Independent Labour who'd held her seat in Hindley for more than a decade. Their solitary loss was a shock defeat in their previously safe seat of Hindsford, as the Lib Dems surged on a 21.6% swing to displace Samuel Little from the council – whose incumbency had been uninterrupted in the 25-year-long history of the council up to that point. The comparable record of the independent was ended as he made little progress in Leigh East and the Greens looked no more competitive than the previous year – and actually less in certain areas.^[1][2]

Election result

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:

Ward results

By-elections between 1999 and 2000

References

(1998 ←) United Kingdom local elections, 1999 (→ 2000)
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District councils (England)	Adur Allerdale Alnwick Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Aylesbury Vale Babergh Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bedford Berwick-upon-Tweed Blaby Blyth Valley Bolsover Boston Braintree Breckland Brentwood Bridgnorth Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Caradon Carlisle Carrick Castle Morpeth Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cheltenham Cherwell Chesterfield Chester-le-Street Chester Chichester Chiltern Chorley Christchurch Colchester Congleton Copeland Corby Cotswold Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Dacorum Dartford Daventry Derbyshire Dales Derwentside Dover Durham Easington East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Dorset East Hampshire East Hertfordshire East Lindsey East Northamptonshire East Staffordshire Eastbourne Eastleigh Eden Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fareham Fenland Forest Heath Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gloucester Gosport Gravesham Great Yarmouth Guildford Hambleton Harborough Harlow Harrogate Hart Hastings Havant Hertsmere High Peak Hinckley and Bosworth Horsham Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Kennet Kerrier Kettering King's Lynn and West Norfolk Lancaster Lewes Lichfield Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Maldon Mansfield Melton Mendip Mid Bedfordshire Mid Devon Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex Mole Valley New Forest Newark and Sherwood Newcastle-under-Lyme North Cornwall North Devon North Dorset North East Derbyshire North Hertfordshire North Kesteven North Norfolk North Shropshire North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire North Wiltshire Northampton Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oadby and Wigston Oswestry Oxford Pendle Penwith Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Restormel Ribble Valley Richmondshire Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushcliffe Rushmoor Ryedale Salisbury Scarborough Sedgefield Sedgemoor Selby Sevenoaks Shepway Shrewsbury and Atcham Spelthorne South Bedfordshire South Bucks South Cambridgeshire South Derbyshire South Hams South Holland South Lakeland South Kesteven South Norfolk South Northamptonshire South Oxfordshire South Ribble South Shropshire South Somerset South Staffordshire St Albans St Edmundsbury Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Suffolk Coastal Surrey Heath Swale Tamworth Tandridge Taunton Deane Teesdale Teignbridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Thanet Three Rivers Tonbridge and Malling Torridge Tunbridge Wells Tynedale Uttlesford Vale of White Horse Vale Royal Wansbeck Warwick Watford Waveney Waverley Wealden Wear Valley Wellingborough Welwyn Hatfield West Devon West Dorset West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire West Somerset West Wiltshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wychavon Wycombe Wyre Wyre Forest
Welsh councils	Blaenau Gwent Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Gwynedd Isle of Anglesey Merthyr Tydfil Monmouthshire Neath Port Talbot Newport Pembrokeshire Powys Rhondda Cynon Taf Swansea Torfaen Vale of Glamorgan Wrexham
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National Assembly elections	Scotland Wales
See also: European Parliament election

Council elections in Greater Manchester
Mayor	2017
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See also: Wards Boundary changes