[9] According to the Lincolnshire Echo, the Liberal Democrats were hoping to become "power brokers" and stated that they were open to discuss supporting either the Conservatives or Labour.
"[10] Labour's campaign focused on crime and education, proposing a greater police presence on the streets and a higher number of nursery places.
[12][n 1] In the aftermath, Parker (who had won his seat with an increased majority of 819 votes[14]) entered into negotiations with the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Maurice French, to form a joint administration.
[15] Parker listed this among his proudest achievements[16] and French stated at the time that they hoped the new university would lead to "high-tech companies" starting "to come to Lincolnshire and you will begin to get more young people moving in".
Parker at least held his own seat, with an increased majority (1,081); he remained leader of the Labour group in opposition and was re-elected to the County Council at subsequent ballots in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013.
[22] Parker wrote to the Audit Commission in 1999 to complain about what he called the "systematic abuse of power and process for a number of years".
[28] After Bowles resigned, Parker called on the council to leave a nine-month "period of reflection" before appointing a successor.
[29] Another Audit Commission investigation into the council's management led Croft and his cabinet to resign in March 2005; Parker called for a "rainbow coalition" of all the main parties to form an administration in the six weeks before the 2005 local elections,[30] but in the event Croft's successor Martin Hill opted for a Conservative-only administration.
[31] After returning to the Labour group's leadership in 2017, Parker campaigned for greater action on environmental issues[32] and has called on the Conservative-led council to use its some of its reserves to fund essential public services.
[33] In 2011, Parker was named "Scrutineer of the Year" by the Local Government Information Unit in their annual awards ceremony at Westminster City Hall.