1998 Harlow District Council election

1998 Harlow District Council election

←  1996 7 May 1998 1999  →
14 of the 42 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 39 3 0 Seats before 40 2 0 Seats won 13 1 1 Seats after 38 3 1 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 8,305 3,124 4,248 Percentage 53.0% 19.9% 27.1%
Map showing the results of contested wards in the 1998 Harlow District Council elections.
Council control before election Labour Council control after election Labour

The 1998 Harlow District Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 38
• Liberal Democrats 3
• Conservative 1 ^[2]

Background

Before the election Labour had 40 of the 42 seats on the council, with only 2 Liberal Democrat councillors forming the opposition. ^[3] 3 Labour councillors stood down at the election from Katherines with Sumners, Netteswell West and Tye Green wards. ^[3]

Each of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats had candidates for all 15 seats contested at the election, with 2 seats available in Old Harlow ward. ^[3]

Election result

Labour held 13 of the 15 seats they had been defending, but the council chairman John Young was defeated in Kingsmoor ward by 21-year-old Conservative Andrew Johnson, who became the youngest councillor on the council. ^[4] The Liberal Democrats also regained Stewards from Labour, a seat they had previously lost at a by-election. ^[4]

Harlow local election result 1998 ^{[1] [4]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	13	0	2	2	86.7	53.0	8,305	4.3
	Conservative	1	1	0	1	6.7	27.1	4,248	3.8
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	0	1	6.7	19.9	3,124	1.4

All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 1994 election.

Ward results

Brays Grove

Location of Brays Grove ward

Brays Grove ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Annie Howard	524	71.6
	Conservative	Ronald Tweed	119	16.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Jackson	89	12.2
Majority			405	55.3
Turnout			732
	Labour hold

Hare Street

Location of Hare Street ward

Hare Street ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Cave	422	65.9
	Conservative	David Roberts	114	17.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stanley Ward	104	16.3
Majority			308	48.1
Turnout			640
	Labour hold

Katherines with Sumners

Location of Katherines with Sumner ward

Katherines with Sumners ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Godfrey Hocking	445	44.2
	Conservative	Simon Carter	419	41.6
	Liberal Democrats	Harry Ackland-Snow	143	14.2
Majority			26	2.6
Turnout			1,007
	Labour hold

Kingsmoor

Location of Kingsmoor ward

Kingsmoor ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Andrew Johnson	576	43.4
	Labour	John Young	574	43.2
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Jones	178	13.4
Majority			2	0.2
Turnout			1,328
	Conservative gain from Labour

Latton Bush

Location of Latton Bush ward

Latton Bush ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Alan Frost	548	57.9
	Conservative	Pamela Norton	272	28.7
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Lawton	127	13.4
Majority			276	29.1
Turnout			947
	Labour hold

Little Parndon

Location of Little Parndon ward

Little Parndon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mavis Carter	648	67.6
	Conservative	Charles Ross	199	20.8
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Davis	111	11.6
Majority			449	46.9
Turnout			958
	Labour hold

Mark Hall North

Mark Location of Hall North ward

Mark Hall North ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Edith Morris	426	62.8
	Conservative	Anthony Gronland	164	24.2
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Atkinson	88	13.0
Majority			262	38.6
Turnout			678
	Labour hold

Mark Hall South

Location of Mark Hall South ward

Mark Hall South ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Caroline Vaughan	603	54.1
	Liberal Democrats	Glennis George	400	35.9
	Conservative	Dianne Crossingham	111	10.0
Majority			203	18.2
Turnout			1,114
	Labour hold

Netteswell West

Location of Netteswell West ward

Netteswell West ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Derek Eardley	396	66.4
	Liberal Democrats	Shiela Herbert	110	18.5
	Conservative	Sue Livings	90	15.1
Majority			286	48.0
Turnout			596
	Labour hold

Old Harlow (2 seats)

Location of Old Harlow ward

Old Harlow (2 seats) ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jonathan Simcox	780
	Labour	Jacqueline Sully	749
	Conservative	Michael Garnett	638
	Conservative	George Reynolds	603
	Liberal Democrats	Gareth Higgins	206
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Macy	173
Turnout			3,149
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Passmores

Locations of Passmores ward

Passmores ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Rob Collyer	574	63.6
	Conservative	Andrew Shannon	190	21.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Arnold	139	15.4
Majority			384	42.5
Turnout			903
	Labour hold

Potter Street

Location of Potter Street ward

Potter Street ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Feroz Khan	681	41.2
	Conservative	Ronald Cross	547	33.1
	Liberal Democrats	William Arnott	425	25.7
Majority			134	8.1
Turnout			1,653
	Labour hold

Stewards

Location of Stewards ward

Stewards ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Audrey Curran	704	64.9
	Labour	Gregory Peck	311	28.7
	Conservative	Stephen Butt	69	6.4
Majority			393	36.3
Turnout			1,084
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour

Tye Green

Location of Tye Green ward

Tye Green ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Margaret Hickey	624	70.3
	Conservative	Vivien Ross	137	15.4
	Liberal Democrats	Valerie Scott	127	14.3
Majority			487	54.8
Turnout			888
	Labour hold

References

1. "Local Elections results". The Times . 9 May 1998. p. 46.
2. "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.
3. "Let battle commence". Greater London, Kent, and Surrey Counties Publications. NewsBank. 9 May 1998.
4. "Results of Harlow local elections 1998". Greater London, Kent and Surrey County Publications. NewsBank. 9 May 1998.