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1998 Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election

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The 1998 Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party kept overall control of the council.[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Campaign

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20 of the 60 seats on the council were up for election with Labour defending 15, the Conservatives 4 and the Liberal Democrats 1.[3] All three parties leaders on the council were defending their seats in the election, Labour's Norman Davies, Conservative Jim Carpenter and the Liberal Democrats Malcolm Gwynnett.[3] However Labour were guaranteed to remain in control of the council as they had 46 councillors before the election, compared to 12 Conservatives and 2 Liberal Democrats.[3][4] As well as the 3 main parties the only other candidates were 3 Liberals and 2 Labour Independents.[4]

The Conservative national leader William Hague attacked the Labour council as he said they lowered the education budget while setting one of the highest metropolitan council taxes in the country.[5] However Labour's council leader joined with other local leaders to make a joint response and said that when the Conservatives were in control taxes in Wolverhampton had gone up by 57%.[6]

Election Result

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Labour retained control of the council after the election with a majority of 28, but lost 2 seats to the Conservatives in Bushbury and Park wards.[7] Overall turnout in the election was 29.95%,[8] but reached a low of only 18% in Low Hill.[9]

Wolverhampton Local Election Result 1998[2][8]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 13 0 2 -2 65.0 47.1 25,940
  Conservative 6 2 0 +2 30.0 37.9 20,906
  Liberal Democrats 1 0 0 0 5.0 12.9 7,112
  Liberal 0 0 0 0 0 1.7 960
  Independent Labour 0 0 0 0 0 0.4 200

Ward results

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Bilston East[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norman Davies 1,117 65.3
Conservative Mark Blakeley 334 19.5
Liberal Democrats William Beard 259 15.1
Majority 783 45.8
Turnout 1,710 20.7
Bilston North[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Trudy Bowen 1,381 54.2
Conservative Wayne Lawley 954 37.5
Liberal Democrats Michael Rowan 212 8.3
Majority 427 16.7
Turnout 2,547 24.1
Blakenhall[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Rowley 2,118 76.4
Conservative Brenda Wilson 477 17.2
Liberal Democrats June Hemsley 177 6.4
Majority 1,641 59.2
Turnout 2,772 31.3
Bushbury[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Brueton 1,337 51.0
Labour Patricia Wesley 1,051 40.1
Liberal Democrats David Buckley 233 8.9
Majority 286 10.9
Turnout 2,621 29.4
East Park[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Keith Inston 1,344 66.7
Conservative Maxine Bradley 462 22.9
Liberal Democrats Ann Whitehouse 209 10.4
Majority 882 43.8
Turnout 2,015 24.2
Ettingshall[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Shelley 1,248 70.3
Conservative Christopher Haynes 382 21.5
Liberal Democrats Michael Heap 146 8.2
Majority 866 48.8
Turnout 1,776 21.4
Fallings Park[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joyce Hill 1,218 48.9
Conservative Kenneth Hodges 952 38.2
Liberal Democrats Anthony Bourke 321 12.9
Majority 266 10.7
Turnout 2,491 30.0
Graiseley[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Reynolds 1,812 51.7
Conservative David Jack 1,249 35.6
Liberal Democrats Mary Millar 320 9.1
Independent Labour Amrik Sekhon 127 3.6
Majority 563 16.1
Turnout 3,508 37.8
Heath Town[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Greg Brackenridge 1,244 60.7
Liberal Colin Hallmark 526 25.6
Conservative Sham Sharma 281 13.7
Majority 781 35.1
Turnout 2,051 25.3
Low Hill[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Peter Bilson 1,116 66.4
Conservative Peter Topliss 382 22.7
Liberal Democrats Ian Jenkins 182 10.8
Majority 734 43.7
Turnout 1,680 18.8
Merry Hill[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Hart 1,752 55.3
Labour Colin Matthews 996 31.5
Liberal Democrats Paul Hodson 418 13.2
Majority 756 23.8
Turnout 3,166 32.9
Oxley[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christine Irvine 1,280 48.0
Conservative David Meredith 998 37.4
Liberal Democrats David Isles 318 11.9
Independent Labour David Watson 73 2.7
Majority 282 10.6
Turnout 2,669 27.7
Park[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Neville Patten 1,753 46.8
Labour John Potts 1,592 42.5
Liberal Democrats Brian Lewis 402 10.7
Majority 161 4.3
Turnout 3,747 35.8
Penn[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Benjamin Carpenter 2,249 55.4
Labour Barry Thomas 1,459 35.9
Liberal Democrats Paul Beeston 355 8.7
Majority 790 19.5
Turnout 4,063 40.9
St Peter's[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tersaim Singh 1,580 64.8
Conservative Nicholas Allen 518 21.2
Liberal Democrats Roger Gray 340 13.9
Majority 1,062 43.6
Turnout 2,438 25.0
Spring Vale[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Gwinnett 2,055 59.3
Labour Rachel Shanks 1,178 34.0
Conservative Giuseppe Corbelli 234 6.7
Majority 877 25.3
Turnout 3,467 34.2
Tettenhall Regis
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Ward 1,832 55.9
Liberal Democrats Laurence Mclean 841 25.7
Labour Carl Smith 602 18.4
Majority 991 30.2
Turnout 3,275 35.2
Tettenhall Wightwick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Wendy Thompson 2,444 72.0
Labour James O'Grady 658 19.4
Liberal Democrats Philip Bennett 294 8.7
Majority 1,786 52.6
Turnout 3,396 36.7
Wednesfield North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Philip Bateman 1,589 53.5
Conservative John Jones 1,147 38.6
Liberal Democrats Carole Jenkins 121 4.1
Liberal Kate Hallmark 113 3.8
Majority 442 14.9
Turnout 2,970 32.4
Wednesfield South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Helen King 1,357 49.2
Conservative Simon Jevon 1,169 42.4
Liberal Democrats John Steatham 230 8.3
Majority 188 6.8
Turnout 2,756 30.9

References

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  1. ^ "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.
  2. ^ a b "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c Deeley, Tony (7 April 1998). "Battle of the giants: Wolverhampton". Birmingham Mail. p. 25.
  4. ^ a b Harrison, Stephen (4 May 1998). "Maverick group can spoil Socialists' party Voters across the West Midlands go to the polls in council elections on Thursday. Today, Local Government Correspondent Stephen Harrison looks at the fight for power in Walsall and Wolverhampton". Birmingham Post. p. 4.
  5. ^ Gray, Chris (24 April 1998). "'Labour will betray you' Hague warns council voters". Birmingham Post. p. 1.
  6. ^ Aston, Paul (25 April 1998). "Tory 'heavies' weigh in as council elections loom". Birmingham Post. p. 3.
  7. ^ Hardy, Simon (8 May 1998). "Labour rebels are crushed". Birmingham Mail. p. 7.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Council Election Results - 7 May 1998". Wolverhampton Council. Archived from the original on 14 January 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Wilderness years end for rebel Nellist". Birmingham Post. 8 May 1998. p. 3.
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