1998 United Kingdom local elections
Local elections took place in many parts of England on 7 May 1998.[1][2] All London borough council seats were elected as well a third of the seats on each of the Metropolitan Boroughs. Some unitary authorities and District councils also had elections. There were no local elections in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
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All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 10 out of 46 unitary authorities and 88 out of 238 English districts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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These elections took place on the same day as the referendum on establishing the Greater London Authority.
The governing Labour Party, contesting its first national elections since returning to government 12 months previously, enjoyed great success, now having control of 94 councils, with the second placed Liberal Democrats now controlling 14 and the opposition Conservatives (now led by William Hague) a mere eight.
Summary of results
| Party | Councils | Councillors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gain | Loss | Change | Total | Gain | Loss | Change | Total | ||
| Labour | +2 | 94 | -88 | 2,240 | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | -7 | 14 | -114 | 853 | |||||
| Conservative | +1 | 8 | +256 | 1,085 | |||||
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -57 | 146 | |||
| No overall control | +4 | 50 | — | — | — | — | |||
England
London boroughs
In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election.
Metropolitan boroughs
All 36 English Metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
Whole council
The whole of the Isle of Wight council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isle of Wight | Liberal Democrats | No overall control gain | Details | ||
Third of council
In 9 English Unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Derby | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Hartlepool | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Kingston upon Hull | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Milton Keynes | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Portsmouth | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Southampton | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Stoke-on-Trent | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Swindon | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
District councils
In 88 English district authorities one third of the council was up for election.
‡ New ward boundaries
References
- Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1998 (PDF). Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- Vote 1998 BBC News
- The local elections of 7 May 1998 and the London referendum. House of Commons Library Research Paper 98/59.
- "Local Elections results", The Times 9 May 1998 page 46
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