# 1998 Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election

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.
Wolverhampton Local Election Result 1998 :
| 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

Bilston East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Norman Davies | 1,117 | 65.3 |
| | Conservative | Mark Blakeley | 334 | 19.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | William Beard | 259 | 15.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 783 | 45.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,710 | 20.7 |
Bilston North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Trudy Bowen | 1,381 | 54.2 |
| | Conservative | Wayne Lawley | 954 | 37.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Rowan | 212 | 8.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 427 | 16.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,547 | 24.1 |
Blakenhall :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | John Rowley | 2,118 | 76.4 |
| | Conservative | Brenda Wilson | 477 | 17.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | June Hemsley | 177 | 6.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,641 | 59.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,772 | 31.3 |
Bushbury :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 286 | 10.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,621 | 29.4 |
East Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Keith Inston | 1,344 | 66.7 |
| | Conservative | Maxine Bradley | 462 | 22.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ann Whitehouse | 209 | 10.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 882 | 43.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,015 | 24.2 |
Ettingshall :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | John Shelley | 1,248 | 70.3 |
| | Conservative | Christopher Haynes | 382 | 21.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Michael Heap | 146 | 8.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 866 | 48.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,776 | 21.4 |
Fallings Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Joyce Hill | 1,218 | 48.9 |
| | Conservative | Kenneth Hodges | 952 | 38.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Anthony Bourke | 321 | 12.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 266 | 10.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,491 | 30.0 |
Graiseley :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 563 | 16.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,508 | 37.8 |
Heath Town :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Greg Brackenridge | 1,244 | 60.7 |
| | Liberal | Colin Hallmark | 526 | 25.6 |
| | Conservative | Sham Sharma | 281 | 13.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 781 | 35.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,051 | 25.3 |
Low Hill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Peter Bilson | 1,116 | 66.4 |
| | Conservative | Peter Topliss | 382 | 22.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Jenkins | 182 | 10.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 734 | 43.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,680 | 18.8 |
Merry Hill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Robert Hart | 1,752 | 55.3 |
| | Labour | Colin Matthews | 996 | 31.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Hodson | 418 | 13.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 756 | 23.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,166 | 32.9 |
Oxley :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 282 | 10.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,669 | 27.7 |
Park :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 161 | 4.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,747 | 35.8 |
Penn :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 790 | 19.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,063 | 40.9 |
St Peter's :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tersaim Singh | 1,580 | 64.8 |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Allen | 518 | 21.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Roger Gray | 340 | 13.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,062 | 43.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,438 | 25.0 |
Spring Vale :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 877 | 25.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,467 | 34.2 |
Tettenhall Regis :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Robert Ward | 1,832 | 55.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Laurence Mclean | 841 | 25.7 |
| | Labour | Carl Smith | 602 | 18.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 991 | 30.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,275 | 35.2 |
Tettenhall Wightwick :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 1,786 | 52.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,396 | 36.7 |
Wednesfield North :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 442 | 14.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,970 | 32.4 |
Wednesfield South :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 188 | 6.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,756 | 30.9 |