1998 Tower Hamlets London Borough Council election

1998 Tower Hamlets London Borough Council election

←  1994 7 May 1998 (1998-05-07) 2002  →
All 50 seats up for election to Tower Hamlets London Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
Registered	123,433 [1]
Turnout	44,521, 36.07% ( 17.98) [1]
First party Second party   Leader Michael J. Keith Unknown Party Labour Liberal Democrats Leader since 1997 Unknown Leader's seat Shadwell Unknown Last election 43 seats, 55.42% 7 seats, 27.24% Seats before 42 7 Seats won 41 9 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 56,488 26,689 Percentage 54.47% 25.74% Swing 0.95 1.50   Third party Fourth party   Leader Unknown N/A Party Conservative Independent Leader since Unknown N/A Leader's seat Unknown N/A Last election 0 seats, 3.57% 0 seats, 0.74% Seats before 0 1 Seats won 0 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote 10,671 3,432 Percentage 10.29% 3.31% Swing 6.72 2.57
Council control before election Labour Council control after election Labour

Elections to Tower Hamlets London Borough Council were held on 7 May 1998. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party kept overall control of the council.

Background

In the years between the 1994 election and this election there were a total of 5 by-elections organised to replace councillors who either resigned from their seat or died while in office, these by-election however did not result in seats changing parties. ^[2] During the same period there was also a defection of a Labour councillor to a third party, which meant that the composition of the council just before the election was as follows: ^[3]

↓

42	7	1
Labour	Lib Dem	Other

Election result

1998 Tower Hamlets London Borough Council local elections ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	41 [n 1]	1	2	1	82.00	54.47	56,488	0.95
	Liberal Democrats	9	2	0	2	18.00	25.74	26,689	1.50
	Conservative	0	0	0		0.00	10.29	10,671	6.72
	Ind. Lib Dem	0	0	0		0.00	3.62	3,758	1.46
	Independent	0	0	1	1	0.00	3.31	3,432	2.57
	BNP	0	0	0		0.00	2.31	2,391	3.99
	National Front	0	0	0		0.00	0.26	270	New
Total		50						103,699

After the election the composition of the council was as follows:

↓

41	9
Labour	Lib Dem

Ward results

(*) - Indicates an incumbent candidate

(†) - Indicates an incumbent candidate standing in a different ward

Blackwall

Blackwall (2) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen L. Wright	701	64.56	6.42
	Labour	Khan A. Murshid	691
	Liberal Democrats	Jane M. Jackson	287	24.54	3.62
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia A. Ramsay	242
	Conservative	Crispin B. Hayhoe	128	10.90	2.80
	Conservative	Sarah Hoile	107
Registered electors			3,669		537
Turnout			1,256	34.23	18.69
Rejected ballots			32	2.55	1.46
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Bow

Bow (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Raymond G. Gipson*	1,138	52.87	0.71
	Liberal Democrats	Terry J. Stacy	1,063
	Liberal Democrats	Marian Williams	1,010
	Labour	Arthur W. Downes	797	37.64	2.53
	Labour	Arun K. Chattopadhyay	793
	Labour	Benjamin Leapman	696
	Conservative	Tafique A. Chowdhury	246	9.48	3.23
	Conservative	Simon M. Gordon-Clark	138
Registered electors			6,452		326
Turnout			2,222	34.44	9.80
Rejected ballots			15	0.68	0.17
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Bromley

Bromley (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur W. Downes*	2,040	62.22	6.22
	Labour	Carol M. Hinvest*	1,293
	Labour	Betheline Chattopadhyay	1.116
	Liberal Democrats	Bernard Cameron	666	28.51	10.15
	Liberal Democrats	Rosemarie Peters	580
	Liberal Democrats	Ron Converson	547
	Conservative	John S. Livingstone	239	9.27	4.72
	Conservative	Barbara J. Perrott	187
	Conservative	Gregory M. Price	157
Registered electors			7,225		1,005
Turnout			2,645	36.61	13.21
Rejected ballots			36	1.36	0.81
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

East India

East India (2) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian J. Son	826	61.28	3.20
	Labour	Rajib Ahmed	790
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel P. Huxted	432	28.93	8.98
	Liberal Democrats	Annabelle J. Steggles	331
	Conservative	Nathaniel Cross	129	9.78	5.77
Registered electors			4,606		352
Turnout			1,480	32.13	24.45
Rejected ballots			17	1.15	0.28
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Grove

Grove (2) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Ludlow*	874	52.20	1.05
	Liberal Democrats	Frederick C. Hunn*	848
	Labour	Olwen M. Jacobs	704	40.95	2.33
	Labour	Jonathan Swain	674
	Conservative	Syed E. Hoque	113	6.85	2.88
Registered electors			4,183		226
Turnout			1,770	42.31	8.94
Rejected ballots			15	0.85	0.41
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Albert J. Snooks	1,358	44.11	20.34
	Liberal Democrats	Barrie C. Duffey	1,342
	Labour	Salim Ullah	1,314	40.56	5.52
	Liberal Democrats	Rosina S. Tucker	1,270
	Labour	Judith A. Gardiner† [n 2]	1,181
	Labour	Anthony J. Sharpe	1,156
	Conservative	Mustak Syed	313	10.43	New
	BNP	Paul Costello	147	4.90	14.58
Registered electors			7,483		1,216
Turnout			2,992	39.98	18.28
Rejected ballots			21	0.70	0.40
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour
	Labour hold

Lansbury

Lansbury (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Diana R. Johnson*	1,082	40.75	4.84
	Labour	Michael C. Keating* [n 3]	1,023
	Labour	Kevin V. Morton*	964
	Liberal Democrats	Barry A. Blandford	692	23.95	12.07
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Carlin	604
	Liberal Democrats	Russell P. Neale	508
	Independent	David A. Hemingway	499	19.88	4.38
	National Front	Lynda Miller	270	10.76	New
	Conservative	Harry C. Benham	137	4.66	1.77
	Conservative	Sharon Jones	107
	Conservative	James Mclachlan	107
Registered electors			6,255		484
Turnout			2,548	40.74	16.01
Rejected ballots			30	1.18	0.72
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Limehouse

Limehouse (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helal U. Abbas	928	26.35	32.51
	Labour	David J. Edgar*	778
	Labour	Soyful Alom*	771
	Independent	William E. Wakefield* [n 4]	520	16.59	New
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy J. McNally	443	13.54	20.59
	Independent	Maurice Caplan	441	14.07	New
	Liberal Democrats	Stewart G. Rayment	431
	Independent	Abu H. M. E. Hossain	425	13.56	New
	Independent	Parvin Begum	402	12.83	New
	Liberal Democrats	Martin J. Pantling	399
	Independent	Derek England	388	12.38	New
	Conservative	Motiur Rahman	260	4.73	1.39
	Conservative	Pamela Drew	101
	Conservative	Paul A. Goodman	84
Registered electors			6,175		984
Turnout			2,406	38.96	15.73
Rejected ballots			27	1.12	0.42
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Independent
	Labour hold

Millwall

Millwall (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julia Mainwaring*	2,315	61.18	10.84
	Labour	Martin F. Young*	2,315
	Labour	Stephen J. Molyneaux*	2,279
	BNP	David J. Hill	665	16.89	9.77
	BNP	Gordon F. Callow	637
	BNP	Steven R. Harrington	606
	Conservative	Philip W. Groves	495	12.86	9.24
	Conservative	Jennifer Kendall-Tobias	489
	Conservative	William G. D. Norton	468
	Liberal Democrats	Richard D. Flowers	371	9.07	2.94
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander I. M. C. Wilcock	335
	Liberal Democrats	Linda C. Hunn	318
Registered electors			12,191		1,659
Turnout			4,130	33.88	32.62
Rejected ballots			21	0.51	0.35
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Park

Park (2) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Baunton*	1,076	71.52	12.80
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Charles	958
	Labour	Alan T. Amos	418	28.48	8.50
	Labour	Philip N. Royal	392
Registered electors			4,067		202
Turnout			1,603	39.41	10.06
Rejected ballots			16	1.00	0.22
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Redcoat

Redcoat (2) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ataur Rahman† [n 5]	922	55.04	2.88
	Labour	David P. Bayat	906
	Liberal Democrats	James Lanagan	636	37.19	1.45
	Liberal Democrats	Josephine G. Harriott	599
	Conservative	Bob Neill	129	7.77	4.33
Registered electors			4,639		54
Turnout			1,793	38.65	18.10
Rejected ballots			14	0.78	0.57
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

St Dunstans

St Dunstans (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John R. Biggs*	1,412	68.14	3.59
	Labour	Shahab U. Ahmed	1,231
	Labour	Mohammed S. Uddin*	1,220
	Conservative	Edna Hill	602	31.86	New
Registered electors			6,224		6
Turnout			2,077	33.37	18.86
Rejected ballots			42	2.02	0.27
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

St James'

St James' (2) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mark E. Taylor*	941	45.39	2.41
	Labour	Lorraine K. Melvin*	889
	Liberal Democrats	Barrie P. Martin	847	41.87	11.62
	Liberal Democrats	John D. M. Griffiths	841
	BNP	Paul Maxwell	168	8.33	13.62
	BNP	Paul E. McHale	168
	Conservative	Mohammed H. Ullah	89	4.41	New
Registered electors			5,234		409
Turnout			2,136	40.81	20.08
Rejected ballots			23	1.08	0.67
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

St Katharines

St Katharines (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denise Jones*	1,582	46.33	0.72
	Labour	Abdul Asad*	1,496
	Labour	Anamul Hoque	1,333
	Conservative	Jane E. Emmerson	1,206	36.05	28.60
	Conservative	Mostofa Miah	1,082
	Liberal Democrats	Gyles R. Glover	610	17.62	7.77
	Liberal Democrats	Hilal Miah	540
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Snooks	528
Registered electors			10,689		1,507
Turnout			3,469	32.45	15.35
Rejected ballots			42	1.21	0.79
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

St Mary's

St Mary's (2) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Motin Uz-Zaman	826	69.67	2.99
	Labour Co-op	Alexander K. Heslop	819
	Conservative	Habibur R. Choudhury	358	30.33	25.97
Registered electors			4,360		28
Turnout			1,312	30.09	25.02
Rejected ballots			42	3.20	2.44
	Labour hold
	Labour Co-op hold

St Peter's

St Peter's (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jusna Begum	1,405	46.71	1.86
	Labour	Raja Miah	1,223
	Labour	Raymond V. Marney*	1,218
	Liberal Democrats	Mohammed J. U. Chowdhury	802	20.68	7.45
	Ind. Lib Dem	Kathleen E. Cook	798	23.97	4.97
	Ind. Lib Dem	Brian K. Lafferty	590
	Ind. Lib Dem	Betty Wright	586
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy O'Flaherty	460
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Elston	441
	Conservative	Joy M. Tarbey	237	8.63	5.42
Registered electors			8,260		150
Turnout			3,036	36.76	16.33
Rejected ballots			23	0.76	0.46
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Shadwell

Shadwell (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael J. Keith* [n 6]	1,346	48.62	2.76
	Labour	Bodrul M. Alom† [n 7]	1,229
	Labour	Abdus Shukur*	1,112
	Independent	Abdul Malik	757	29.94	New
	Conservative	Richard H. Powell	589	21.44	12.65
	Conservative	Paul W. E. Ingham	547
	Conservative	Lawrence Ailreu-Thomas	490
Registered electors			8,014		1,182
Turnout			2,552	31.84	19.54
Rejected ballots			41	1.61	0.76
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Spitalfields

Spitalfields (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syed A. Mizan*	1,454	70.39	22.89
	Labour	Ghulam Mortuza*	1,435
	Labour	Ala Uddin† [n 8]	1,316
	Conservative	Eaoyor Shaikh	621	29.61	20.82
	Conservative	David Webb	558
Registered electors			6,451		381
Turnout			2,183	33.84	17.54
Rejected ballots			46	2.11	1.26
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Weavers

Weavers (3) ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammed Ali* [n 9]	1,229	40.96	2.72
	Labour	Christopher G. Creegan	985
	Labour	Catherine Tuitt	922
	Liberal Democrats	Kofi B. Appiah	776	29.55	3.11
	Ind. Lib Dem	Terry B. Milson	770	23.30	7.58
	Liberal Democrats	Abdul M. Khan	748
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan P. Mathews	738
	Ind. Lib Dem	Kathleen Caulfield	705
	Ind. Lib Dem	Justin Sillman	309
	Conservative	Mohammed S. Uddin	158	6.19	New
Registered electors			7,256		511
Turnout			2,911	40.12	12.96
Rejected ballots			31	1.06	0.52
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Notes

1. Results include those from a St Mary's ward councillor standing under the Labour and Co-operative Party banner
2. Gardiner was a sitting Councillor representing the St Mary's ward. She was elected in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Amanda Linton in 1996 ^[2]
3. Keating was elected in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Eric A. Commons in 1994 ^[2]
4. Wakefield was elected in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Cllr. John P. Ryan in 1995. Wakefield was elected as a Labour councillor but was not selected to represent Labour in this election ^[2]
5. Rahman was a sitting councillor representing the Spitalfields ward
6. Keith was elected in a by-election triggered by the death of Cllr. Lilley Albert in 1994 ^[2]
7. Alom was a sitting councillor representing the St Mary's ward
8. Uddin was a sitting councillor representing the St Peter's ward
9. Ali was ekected in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Vanessa L. Peters in 1995 ^[2]

References

1. Minors, Michael; Grenham, Dennis. "London Borough Council Elections - 7 May 1998 - Including the Greater London Authority referendum results - Ward voting statistics" (PDF). London Datastore. London Research Centre. p. 216. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
2. Minors, Michael; Grenham, Dennis. "London Borough Council Elections - 7 May 1998 - including the Greater London Authority referendum results - By-elections" (PDF). London Datastore. London Research Centre. p. 169. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
3. Minors, Michael; Grenham, Dennis. "London Borough Council Elections - 7 May 1998 - including the Greater London Authority referendum results - Changes 1994-98" (PDF). London Datastore. London Research Centre. p. 165. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
4. Minors, Michael; Grenham, Dennis. "London Borough Council Elections - 7 May 1998 - Including the Greater London Authority referendum results" (PDF). London Datastore. London Research Centre. pp. 167–169, 214, 216–217. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
5. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "London Borough of Tower Hamlets Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). Elections Centre. Plymouth University. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 17 November 2024.