1998 Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English 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.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Labour 44
• Conservative 14
• Liberal Democrat 2

Campaign

20 of the 60 seats on the council were up for election with Labour defending 15, the Conservatives 4 and the Liberal Democrats 1. 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. 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. As well as the 3 main parties the only other candidates were 3 Liberals and 2 Labour Independents.

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. 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%.

Election result

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. Overall turnout in the election was 29.95%, but reached a low of only 18% in Low Hill.

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Wolverhampton Local Election Result 1998

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−

Ward results

Bilston East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Norman Davies	1,117	65.3
		Mark Blakeley	334	19.5
		William Beard	259	15.1
Majority			783	45.8
Turnout			1,710	20.7

Bilston North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Trudy Bowen	1,381	54.2
		Wayne Lawley	954	37.5
		Michael Rowan	212	8.3
Majority			427	16.7
Turnout			2,547	24.1

Blakenhall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Rowley	2,118	76.4
		Brenda Wilson	477	17.2
		June Hemsley	177	6.4
Majority			1,641	59.2
Turnout			2,772	31.3

Bushbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Charles Brueton	1,337	51.0
		Patricia Wesley	1,051	40.1
		David Buckley	233	8.9
Majority			286	10.9
Turnout			2,621	29.4

East Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Keith Inston	1,344	66.7
		Maxine Bradley	462	22.9
		Ann Whitehouse	209	10.4
Majority			882	43.8
Turnout			2,015	24.2

Ettingshall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Shelley	1,248	70.3
		Christopher Haynes	382	21.5
		Michael Heap	146	8.2
Majority			866	48.8
Turnout			1,776	21.4

Fallings Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Joyce Hill	1,218	48.9
		Kenneth Hodges	952	38.2
		Anthony Bourke	321	12.9
Majority			266	10.7
Turnout			2,491	30.0

Graiseley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Reynolds	1,812	51.7
		David Jack	1,249	35.6
		Mary Millar	320	9.1
		Amrik Sekhon	127	3.6
Majority			563	16.1
Turnout			3,508	37.8

Heath Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Greg Brackenridge	1,244	60.7
		Colin Hallmark	526	25.6
		Sham Sharma	281	13.7
Majority			781	35.1
Turnout			2,051	25.3

Low Hill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Peter Bilson	1,116	66.4
		Peter Topliss	382	22.7
		Ian Jenkins	182	10.8
Majority			734	43.7
Turnout			1,680	18.8

Merry Hill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Robert Hart	1,752	55.3
		Colin Matthews	996	31.5
		Paul Hodson	418	13.2
Majority			756	23.8
Turnout			3,166	32.9

Oxley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Christine Irvine	1,280	48.0
		David Meredith	998	37.4
		David Isles	318	11.9
		David Watson	73	2.7
Majority			282	10.6
Turnout			2,669	27.7

Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Neville Patten	1,753	46.8
		John Potts	1,592	42.5
		Brian Lewis	402	10.7
Majority			161	4.3
Turnout			3,747	35.8

Penn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Benjamin Carpenter	2,249	55.4
		Barry Thomas	1,459	35.9
		Paul Beeston	355	8.7
Majority			790	19.5
Turnout			4,063	40.9

St Peter's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Tersaim Singh	1,580	64.8
		Nicholas Allen	518	21.2
		Roger Gray	340	13.9
Majority			1,062	43.6
Turnout			2,438	25.0

Spring Vale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Malcolm Gwinnett	2,055	59.3
		Rachel Shanks	1,178	34.0
		Giuseppe Corbelli	234	6.7
Majority			877	25.3
Turnout			3,467	34.2

Tettenhall Regis

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Robert Ward	1,832	55.9
		Laurence Mclean	841	25.7
		Carl Smith	602	18.4
Majority			991	30.2
Turnout			3,275	35.2

Tettenhall Wightwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Wendy Thompson	2,444	72.0
		James O'Grady	658	19.4
		Philip Bennett	294	8.7
Majority			1,786	52.6
Turnout			3,396	36.7

Wednesfield North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Philip Bateman	1,589	53.5
		John Jones	1,147	38.6
		Carole Jenkins	121	4.1
		Kate Hallmark	113	3.8
Majority			442	14.9
Turnout			2,970	32.4

Wednesfield South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Helen King	1,357	49.2
		Simon Jevon	1,169	42.4
		John Steatham	230	8.3
Majority			188	6.8
Turnout			2,756	30.9