# 1998 Merton London Borough Council election

Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and a referendum on the Greater London Authority; in the latter, Merton voted in favour of creating the Greater London Authority by 72.2% on a 37.6% turnout.
The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council, despite losing one seat.
There were some minor ward boundary changes which came into effect in December 1994; these affected Merton's boundaries with Sutton and Croydon. However, the number of council seats remained at fifty-seven. This would be the last election under these boundaries: in 2002, the number of seats was increased by 3 and all ward boundaries were redrawn.

## Results

The incumbent Labour majority administration lost two seats to the Conservatives and gained one seat from Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association, whose last councillor was elected in 1994 and no longer sat for the party; the party did not contest the election.
Merton Park Ward Residents Association and the Liberal Democrats maintained their three seats each in Merton Park and West Barnes respectively.
Merton Local Election Result 1998 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Labour | 39 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 68.4 | 44.2 | 57,753 | 6.1 |
| Conservative | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 21.1 | 32.9 | 43,021 | 1.6 |
| Liberal Democrats | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 | 14.4 | 18,881 | 1.9 |
| Merton Park Residents | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 | 3.4 | 4,415 | 0.2 |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 6,301 | 2.3 |
| BNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 216 | New |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 205 | N/A |

## Ward results

Abbey (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Susan Assinen* | 1,162 | 46.6 | −3.8 |
| | Labour | John Carter | 1,138 | 45.6 | −7.0 |
| | Labour | Mohammad Karim | 1,101 | 44.1 | −4.4 |
| | Conservative | Margaret Connon | 578 | 23.2 | −1.2 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Leek | 535 | 21.5 | −3.6 |
| | Conservative | James Holmes | 523 | 21.0 | −2.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Elizabeth Barker | 478 | 19.2 | +7.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Roe | 349 | 14.0 | +3.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Houlihan | 319 | 12.8 | +4.9 |
| | Green | Jacqueline Barrow | 265 | 10.6 | −7.5 |
| | Green | Mark Coxon | 223 | 8.9 | N/A |
| | Green | Syed Naqvi | 156 | 6.3 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,827 | 34.2 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Cannon Hill (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Michael Mannion* | 1,354 | 44.5 | −1.5 |
| | Labour | Brian White* | 1,308 | 43.0 | −2.4 |
| | Labour | Charles Lucas* | 1,269 | 41.7 | −3.8 |
| | Conservative | Michael Grundy | 1,090 | 35.8 | +2.1 |
| | Conservative | David Gillmor | 1,088 | 35.8 | +3.9 |
| | Conservative | Joan Pethen | 1,060 | 34.8 | +2.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Larkin | 459 | 15.1 | −0.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christopher Oxford | 352 | 11.6 | −3.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mark Surey | 329 | 10.8 | −3.4 |
| | Green | John Barker | 166 | 5.5 | +0.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,475 | 45.7 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Colliers Wood (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Sheila Knight* | 1,298 | 47.9 | −8.9 |
| | Labour | George Reynolds | 1,293 | 47.8 | −16.5 |
| | Labour | Adrian Holt | 1,099 | 40.6 | −14.9 |
| | Green | Thomas Walsh | 960 | 35.5 | +9.3 |
| | Green | Jacqueline Ward | 597 | 22.1 | N/A |
| | Green | Lois Walters | 567 | 20.9 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Margaret Ali | 324 | 12.0 | −4.2 |
| | Conservative | Andrea Graham | 319 | 11.8 | −4.8 |
| | Conservative | Kenneth Butt | 315 | 11.6 | −2.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Laura Kirwan | 288 | 10.6 | −1.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Marek Siemaszko | 161 | 5.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,221 | 36.8 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Dundonald (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Barbara Bampton | 1,233 | 47.8 | −4.9 |
| | Labour | Michael Brunt* | 1,128 | 43.8 | −9.3 |
| | Labour | John Pickover* | 1,000 | 38.8 | −7.8 |
| | Conservative | John Elvidge | 661 | 25.6 | −4.8 |
| | Conservative | David Daly | 609 | 23.6 | −5.4 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Hall | 587 | 22.8 | −5.0 |
| | Green | David Bezkorowajny | 446 | 17.3 | +6.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jennifer Taylor | 388 | 15.1 | +2.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Blaise Eglington | 369 | 14.3 | +2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rosamund Packer | 364 | 14.1 | +2.7 |
| | Green | Jennifer Barrow | 285 | 11.1 | N/A |
| | Green | Christina Langley | 240 | 9.3 | −1.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,310 | 41.2 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Durnsford (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Joyce Paton* | 813 | 43.3 | −1.7 |
| | Labour | Mark Thompson | 805 | 42.9 | −0.9 |
| | Conservative | Elisabeth Mitchell | 668 | 35.6 | +0.5 |
| | Conservative | Tariq Ahmad | 635 | 33.8 | −1.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sally Harlow | 280 | 14.9 | +1.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Harbron | 193 | 10.3 | −2.6 |
| | Green | John Garrett | 119 | 6.3 | +0.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,878 | 43.3 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Figge's Marsh (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Geraldine Stanford* | 1,396 | 59.6 | +5.3 |
| | Labour | Daniel Connellan* | 1,298 | 55.4 | +0.7 |
| | Labour | Andrew Judge* | 1,285 | 54.9 | −1.2 |
| | Conservative | Richard Aitken-Davies | 596 | 25.5 | −4.6 |
| | Conservative | Kathleen Lewis | 526 | 22.5 | −7.0 |
| | Conservative | Mohammed Qureshi | 450 | 19.2 | −8.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Malcolm Geldart | 339 | 14.5 | +5.0 |
| | Green | Francis Cluer | 172 | 7.3 | +1.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,062 | 31.1 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Graveney (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Linda Kirby* | 908 | 62.2 | −0.9 |
| | Labour | Joseph Abrams* | 898 | 61.5 | +1.7 |
| | Conservative | Maureen Jewson | 240 | 16.4 | −4.4 |
| | Conservative | Anton Nadarajah | 229 | 15.7 | −3.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | James McKenna | 194 | 13.3 | +2.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Marc Plessier | 120 | 8.2 | −1.2 |
| | Green | Emma-Ruth Crowhurst | 77 | 5.3 | +1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,666 | 33.7 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Hillside (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Harwood | 1,254 | 47.7 | +1.3 |
| | Conservative | David Williams* | 1,222 | 46.5 | +0.4 |
| | Conservative | Christopher Grayling | 1,194 | 45.4 | −0.7 |
| | Labour | Christine Bickerstaff | 804 | 30.6 | +0.6 |
| | Labour | Brian Luff | 683 | 26.0 | −3.7 |
| | Labour | Laurence North | 649 | 24.7 | −2.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carmel Fowler | 521 | 19.8 | +1.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joan Pyke-Lees | 479 | 18.2 | +0.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kamaljit Sood | 377 | 14.3 | −4.1 |
| | Green | Margaret Garrett | 231 | 8.8 | +1.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,414 | 36.9 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Lavender (2) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Edith Macauley | 971 | 62.3 | −4.4 |
| | Labour | Malcolm Searle* | 862 | 55.3 | −5.1 |
| | Conservative | John Jewson | 302 | 19.4 | +1.1 |
| | Conservative | Michael Miles | 264 | 16.9 | +0.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Bernard Conway | 242 | 15.5 | +3.6 |
| | Green | Sarah Miskin | 139 | 8.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,780 | 28.8 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Longthornton (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John Cairns | 1,371 | 50.4 | +10.6 |
| | Labour | Abdus Chaudhry | 1,314 | 48.3 | +9.5 |
| | Labour | Karen Livingstone | 1,279 | 47.0 | +10.8 |
| | Conservative | David Jeffreys | 910 | 33.4 | +17.9 |
| | Conservative | Geraldine Kirby | 843 | 31.0 | +17.5 |
| | Conservative | Ramdehol Dookhie | 790 | 29.0 | +15.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tariq Ahmad | 318 | 11.7 | +5.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dean Juster | 298 | 10.9 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Heather Hurst | 297 | 10.9 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,420 | 37.4 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour gain from Longthornton and Tamworth Residents | Labour gain from Longthornton and Tamworth Residents | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Lower Morden (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Terence Daniels | 1,424 | 47.3 | +6.7 |
| | Conservative | Janet Jones* | 1,397 | 46.4 | +5.6 |
| | Conservative | Peter Morss | 1,310 | 43.5 | +6.8 |
| | Labour | Cyril Gallant* | 1,051 | 34.9 | −7.9 |
| | Labour | Nicholas Draper* | 1,012 | 33.6 | −7.6 |
| | Labour | Anna Monks | 973 | 32.3 | −7.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Patricia Pearce | 357 | 11.8 | −4.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Holloway | 357 | 11.8 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Graham Stacey | 268 | 8.9 | N/A |
| | Green | Stephen Boulding | 137 | 4.5 | −4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,286 | 45.0 | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Merton Park (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Merton Park Residents | Desmonde Child* | 1,506 | 51.6 | −5.3 |
| | Merton Park Residents | Bridget Smith* | 1,496 | 51.2 | −5.8 |
| | Merton Park Residents | John Nelson-Jones | 1,413 | 48.4 | −9.2 |
| | Conservative | Mark Coote | 811 | 27.8 | +8.4 |
| | Conservative | Ronald Cox | 775 | 26.5 | +8.0 |
| | Conservative | Gavin Muncey | 739 | 25.3 | +6.8 |
| | Labour | Michael Fitzgerald | 531 | 18.2 | −1.3 |
| | Labour | Aejaz Khan-Zada | 473 | 16.2 | −2.7 |
| | Labour | Roger Stephens | 468 | 16.0 | −2.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John O'Boyle | 202 | 6.9 | +2.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,414 | 43.0 | |
| | Merton Park Residents hold | Merton Park Residents hold | Swing | | |
| | Merton Park Residents hold | Merton Park Residents hold | Swing | | |
| | Merton Park Residents hold | Merton Park Residents hold | Swing | | |
Phipps Bridge (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Thomas Munn* | 1,386 | 57.3 | −1.3 |
| | Labour | Paul Harper* | 1,362 | 56.3 | −2.1 |
| | Labour | Judith Saunders* | 1,176 | 48.6 | −4.9 |
| | Conservative | Sally Lundie | 598 | 24.7 | +3.2 |
| | Conservative | Barbara Mansfield | 584 | 24.2 | +4.5 |
| | Conservative | Roger Farrance | 521 | 21.5 | +3.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nicholas Pizey | 328 | 13.6 | +2.7 |
| | Green | Robin Bannister | 258 | 10.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,629 | 31.7 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Pollards Hill (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John Cole* | 1,248 | 61.3 | −0.4 |
| | Labour | Russell Makin | 1,065 | 52.4 | −10.0 |
| | Labour | Mohammad Syed | 1,026 | 50.4 | −1.9 |
| | Conservative | Pauline Blythe | 552 | 27.1 | +2.9 |
| | Conservative | Jason Garbutt | 418 | 20.5 | −2.0 |
| | Conservative | Harris Chong | 317 | 15.6 | −5.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nicholas Wren | 204 | 10.0 | −5.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Whitehead | 191 | 9.4 | N/A |
| | Green | Keith O'Neill | 130 | 6.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,151 | 33.7 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Ravensbury (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Philip Jones* | 1,294 | 55.9 | −8.2 |
| | Labour | Peter Smith* | 1,229 | 52.3 | −10.3 |
| | Labour | Peter McCabe* | 1,215 | 51.7 | −10.8 |
| | Conservative | Thelma Earnshaw | 560 | 23.8 | +4.2 |
| | Conservative | Roderick McLeod | 508 | 21.6 | +3.2 |
| | Conservative | Cyril Mitchell | 479 | 20.4 | +3.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Violet Jennings | 330 | 14.0 | +1.6 |
| | Independent | Terence Sullivan | 205 | 8.7 | +5.9 |
| | Green | Nicholas Miskin | 143 | 6.1 | −0.5 |
| | BNP | Ian Dell | 88 | 3.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,051 | 36.2 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Raynes Park (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Brierly* | 1,375 | 44.1 | −2.2 |
| | Conservative | Robert Bell* | 1,310 | 42.0 | −2.1 |
| | Conservative | Neville Beddoe | 1,272 | 40.8 | −2.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Hurst | 965 | 30.9 | +11.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gail Moss | 922 | 29.6 | +8.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Louise Pugh | 915 | 29.3 | +9.9 |
| | Labour | Shoshana Foster | 725 | 23.2 | −10.1 |
| | Labour | Anne Taulbut | 662 | 21.2 | −8.9 |
| | Labour | Haribhai Patel | 580 | 18.6 | −11.2 |
| | Green | Brian Parkin | 191 | 6.1 | −1.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,890 | 43.4 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
St. Helier (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Dennis Pearce | 1,178 | 52.3 | −10.0 |
| | Labour | Eunice Martin | 1,083 | 48.1 | −10.0 |
| | Labour | Michael Spacey* | 1,025 | 45.5 | −10.7 |
| | Conservative | Keith Guy | 696 | 30.9 | +7.6 |
| | Conservative | Gordon Raymond | 566 | 25.1 | +2.7 |
| | Conservative | Anne Williams | 565 | 25.1 | +4.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Caroline Plessier | 346 | 15.4 | +4.6 |
| | Green | Susan Boulding | 233 | 10.3 | +5.0 |
| | BNP | Robert Andrews | 128 | 5.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,806 | 35.6 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Trinity (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Vivien Guy | 1,082 | 46.0 | +1.7 |
| | Labour | Kingsley Abrams* | 1,061 | 45.1 | −1.8 |
| | Labour | Paul Barasi* | 981 | 41.7 | −2.4 |
| | Conservative | Dorothy Kilsby | 696 | 29.6 | −0.7 |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Brewer | 689 | 29.3 | +0.2 |
| | Conservative | Alan Hogg | 657 | 27.9 | −1.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Hutchison | 411 | 17.5 | −0.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neil Rennie | 368 | 15.6 | −1.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Bonita Ralph | 360 | 15.3 | −1.5 |
| | Green | Stephen Gardiner | 230 | 9.8 | +2.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,535 | 37.8 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
Village (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Allan Jones* | 1,337 | 57.8 | +1.4 |
| | Conservative | Samantha George | 1,330 | 57.5 | −0.8 |
| | Conservative | Christopher Houseden | 1,328 | 57.4 | −0.6 |
| | Labour | Martin Holman | 534 | 23.1 | +4.9 |
| | Labour | Denise Leggett | 494 | 21.4 | +2.8 |
| | Labour | Kenneth Wilshire | 467 | 20.2 | +3.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Philip Rumney | 317 | 13.7 | −8.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anthony Dix | 300 | 13.0 | −6.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Richard Tibbetts | 298 | 12.9 | −5.1 |
| | Green | Ernest Dennis | 191 | 8.3 | +1.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,596 | 36.4 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
West Barnes (3) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jennifer Willott | 1,360 | 42.4 | +5.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Iain Dysart* | 1,317 | 41.1 | +6.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nicholas Harris* | 1,251 | 39.0 | +5.4 |
| | Labour | Barry Edwards | 916 | 28.6 | +0.1 |
| | Labour | Stephen Nixon | 882 | 27.5 | ±0.0 |
| | Labour | Patrick Loughran | 855 | 26.7 | −2.1 |
| | Conservative | Linda Batchelor | 816 | 25.4 | −2.7 |
| | Conservative | David Jessop | 799 | 24.9 | −2.8 |
| | Conservative | Roderick Scott | 780 | 24.3 | −2.7 |
| | Green | Julian Davidson | 145 | 4.5 | −0.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,121 | 46.0 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |