# 1998 Burnley Borough Council election

The 1998 Burnley Borough Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Burnley Borough Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.
An issue in the election were allegations that there had been misuse of the procedure for allocating council housing. This saw 3 Labour councillors face disciplinary action, with the issue being described as "Burnleygate".
The results saw three seats change hands with each of the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Independents gaining one seat from Labour. The result in Lowerhouse ward saw former Labour councillor, Eddie Fisk, hold the seat as an independent. Fisk defeated his nephew Sam Holgate who was the Labour candidate but stopped campaigning due to ill health and then resigned from the party as well.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Labour 31
* Liberal Democrat 9
* Independent 6
* Conservative 2

## Election result

Burnley Local Election Result 1998 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes |
| Labour | 11 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 61.1 | 49.9 | 8,834 |
| Liberal Democrats | 4 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 22.2 | 29.5 | 5,228 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 11.1 | 8.9 | 1,570 |
| Conservative | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5.6 | 11.7 | 2,065 |

## Ward results

Bank Hall :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | R Chadwick | 501 | 54.9 |
| | Labour | A Aziz | 412 | 45.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 89 | 9.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 913 | 22.4 |
| | Independent gain from Labour | Independent gain from Labour | Swing | |
Barclay :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | S Wolski | 333 | 55.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | M Brown | 271 | 44.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 62 | 10.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 604 | 18.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Briercliffe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | MA Lishman | 683 | 67.8 |
| | Labour | SR Dumon | 325 | 32.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 358 | 35.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,008 | 22.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | |
Brunshaw :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | AJ Rae | 551 | 66.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | LK Whittaker | 280 | 33.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 271 | 32.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 831 | 22.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Brunshaw :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | P Walsh | 618 | 52.2 |
| | Conservative | D Heginbotham | 567 | 47.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 51 | 4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,185 | 27.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Coalclough with Deerplay :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | P McCann | 662 | 67.3 |
| | Labour | J Ormerod | 322 | 32.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 340 | 34.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 984 | 23.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | |
Daneshouse :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | RMA Khan | 1,255 | 50.5 |
| | Labour | SA Chaudhary | 1,231 | 49.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 24 | 1.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,486 | 61.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | |
Fulledge :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | DS Halsall | 626 | 75.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | CJ Thompson | 128 | 15.4 |
| | Conservative | DJ Tierney | 79 | 9.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 498 | 59.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 833 | 22.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Gawthorpe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | A Hudson | 546 | 62.4 |
| | Conservative | LA Dowding | 189 | 21.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | M McHugh | 140 | 16.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 367 | 40.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 875 | 19.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Hapton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | J Harbour | 532 | 58.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | C Howarth | 383 | 41.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 149 | 16.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 915 | 19.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Lanehead :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | J Cavanagh | 559 | 65.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | MJ McCann | 294 | 34.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 265 | 31.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 853 | 19.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Lowerhouse :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | E Fisk | 556 | 52.5 |
| | Labour | SK Holgate | 311 | 29.3 |
| | Conservative | B Robinson | 193 | 18.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 245 | 23.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,060 | 24.7 |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | |
Queensgate :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | PJ Kenyon | 497 | 54.3 |
| | Independent | AR Holder | 306 | 33.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | MN Islam | 113 | 12.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 191 | 20.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 916 | 21.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Rosehill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democrats | B Hill | 368 | 37.3 |
| | Conservative | P Jones | 327 | 33.1 |
| | Labour | N Miah | 292 | 29.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 41 | 4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 987 | 23.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | |
Trinity (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | A Lambert | 437 | |
| | Labour | M Winder | 419 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | DR Embra | 218 | |
| | Conservative | E Parker | 183 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,257 | 23.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Whittlefield with Ightenhill (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | I Fowler | 527 | |
| | Labour | C Barber | 441 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | PR Wright | 433 | |
| | Labour | M Martin | 382 | |
| | Independent | JA Holder | 207 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,990 | 21.4 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |