An election to Essex County Council took place on 7 June 2001 as part of the 2001 United Kingdom local elections. 79 councillors were elected from various electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were the same as those used at the previous election in 1997. The Conservative Party retained control of Essex County Council in the 2001 local elections, with an increased majority. Summary Going in to the election the Conservatives had run the Council in a minority government since 2000. Previous composition 1997 election Composition of council seats before election Results |-bgcolor=#F6F6F6 | colspan=2 style="text-align: right; margin-right: 1em" | Total | style="text-align: right;" | 79 | colspan=5 | | style="text-align: right;" | 618,785 | style="text-align: right;" | |- |} Election of Group Leaders Paul White (Stock) was re elected leader of the Conservative Group, Paul Sztumpf (Harlow North) was elected leader of the Labour Group and Kenneth Jones (Park) was re elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Group. Election of Leader of the Council Paul White the leader of the conservative group was duly elected leader of the council and formed a conservative administration. Results by Electoral Divisions Basildon District summary Division results Between 1997 and 2001, the seat was won by Labour in a by-election, however it is shown as a Conservative hold as it is compared to the previous full council election. Braintree District summary Division results Brentwood District summary Division results Castle Point District summary Division results Chelmsford District summary Division results Colchester District summary Division results No Independent candidate as previous (−24.3). Epping Forest District summary Division results Harlow District summary Division results Maldon District summary Division results Rochford District summary Division results Tendring District summary Division results Uttlesford District summary Division results References Essex County Council elections 2001 English local elections 2000s in Essex June 2001 events in the United Kingdom