Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election, 1998

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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. [1]

Wolverhampton City and Metropolitan borough in England

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 249,470. The demonym for people from the city is 'Wulfrunian'.

Metropolitan borough type of local government district in England

A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts. However, all of them have been granted or regranted royal charters to give them borough status. Metropolitan boroughs have been effectively unitary authority areas since the abolition of the metropolitan county councils by the Local Government Act 1985. However, metropolitan boroughs pool much of their authority in joint boards and other arrangements that cover whole metropolitan counties, such as combined authorities.

West Midlands (county) County of England

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western-central England with a 2014 estimated population of 2,808,356, making it the second most populous county in England after Greater London. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The county itself is a NUTS 2 region within the wider NUTS 1 region of the same name. The county consists of seven metropolitan boroughs: the City of Birmingham, the City of Coventry and the City of Wolverhampton, as well as the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall.

Contents

After the election, the composition of the council was

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. [3] 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. [3] 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. [3] [4] As well as the 3 main parties the only other candidates were 3 Liberals and 2 Labour Independents. [4]

Conservative Party (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. The governing party since 2010, it is the largest in the House of Commons, with 313 Members of Parliament, and also has 249 members of the House of Lords, 18 members of the European Parliament, 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 12 members of the Welsh Assembly, eight members of the London Assembly and 8,916 local councillors.

Liberal Democrats (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Liberal Democrats are a centrist, liberal political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Vince Cable. It has 11 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 96 members of the House of Lords, one member of the European Parliament, five Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Assembly and London Assembly. At the height of its influence, the party served as junior partners in a coalition government with the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2015.

A Councillor is a member of a local government council.

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. [5] 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%. [6]

William Hague British politician

William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond, is a British Conservative politician and life peer. He represented Richmond, Yorkshire, as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1989 to 2015 and was the Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001. He was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2010 to 2014 and was the Leader of the House of Commons from 2014 to 2015.

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. [7] Overall turnout in the election was 29.95%, [8] but reached a low of only 18% in Low Hill. [9]

Voter turnout percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Eligibility varies by country, and the voting-eligible population should not be confused with the total adult population. Age and citizenship status are often among the criteria used to determine eligibility, but some countries further restrict eligibility based on sex, race, or religion.

Wolverhampton Local Election Result 1998 [2] [8]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 1302-265.047.125,940
  Conservative 620+230.037.920,906
  Liberal Democrat 10005.012.97,112
  Liberal 000001.7960
  Independent Labour 000000.4200

Ward results

Bilston East [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Norman Davies1,11765.3
Conservative Mark Blakeley33419.5
Liberal Democrat William Beard25915.1
Majority78345.8
Turnout 1,71020.7
Bilston North [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Trudy Bowen1,38154.2
Conservative Wayne Lawley95437.5
Liberal Democrat Michael Rowan2128.3
Majority42716.7
Turnout 2,54724.1
Blakenhall [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour John Rowley2,11876.4
Conservative Brenda Wilson47717.2
Liberal Democrat June Hemsley1776.4
Majority1,64159.2
Turnout 2,77231.3
Bushbury [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative Charles Brueton1,33751.0
Labour Patricia Wesley1,05140.1
Liberal Democrat David Buckley2338.9
Majority28610.9
Turnout 2,62129.4
East Park [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Keith Inston1,34466.7
Conservative Maxine Bradley46222.9
Liberal Democrat Ann Whitehouse20910.4
Majority88243.8
Turnout 2,01524.2
Ettingshall [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour John Shelley1,24870.3
Conservative Christopher Haynes38221.5
Liberal Democrat Michael Heap1468.2
Majority86648.8
Turnout 1,77621.4
Fallings Park [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Joyce Hill1,21848.9
Conservative Kenneth Hodges95238.2
Liberal Democrat Anthony Bourke32112.9
Majority26610.7
Turnout 2,49130.0
Graiseley [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour John Reynolds1,81251.7
Conservative David Jack1,24935.6
Liberal Democrat Mary Millar3209.1
Independent Labour Amrik Sekhon1273.6
Majority56316.1
Turnout 3,50837.8
Heath Town [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Greg Brackenridge1,24460.7
Liberal Colin Hallmark52625.6
Conservative Sham Sharma28113.7
Majority78135.1
Turnout 2,05125.3
Low Hill [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Peter Bilson1,11666.4
Conservative Peter Topliss38222.7
Liberal Democrat Ian Jenkins18210.8
Majority73443.7
Turnout 1,68018.8
Merry Hill [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative Robert Hart1,75255.3
Labour Colin Matthews99631.5
Liberal Democrat Paul Hodson41813.2
Majority75623.8
Turnout 3,16632.9
Oxley [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Christine Irvine1,28048.0
Conservative David Meredith99837.4
Liberal Democrat David Isles31811.9
Independent Labour David Watson732.7
Majority28210.6
Turnout 2,66927.7
Park [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative Neville Patten1,75346.8
Labour John Potts1,59242.5
Liberal Democrat Brian Lewis40210.7
Majority1614.3
Turnout 3,74735.8
Penn [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative Benjamin Carpenter2,24955.4
Labour Barry Thomas1,45935.9
Liberal Democrat Paul Beeston3558.7
Majority79019.5
Turnout 4,06340.9
St Peter's [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Tersaim Singh1,58064.8
Conservative Nicholas Allen51821.2
Liberal Democrat Roger Gray34013.9
Majority1,06243.6
Turnout 2,43825.0
Spring Vale [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Liberal Democrat Malcolm Gwinnett2,05559.3
Labour Rachel Shanks1,17834.0
Conservative Giuseppe Corbelli2346.7
Majority87725.3
Turnout 3,46734.2
Tettenhall Regis
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative Robert Ward1,83255.9
Liberal Democrat Laurence Mclean84125.7
Labour Carl Smith60218.4
Majority99130.2
Turnout 3,27535.2
Tettenhall Wightwick
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative Wendy Thompson2,44472.0
Labour James O'Grady65819.4
Liberal Democrat Philip Bennett2948.7
Majority1,78652.6
Turnout 3,39636.7
Wednesfield North
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Philip Bateman1,58953.5
Conservative John Jones1,14738.6
Liberal Democrat Carole Jenkins1214.1
Liberal Kate Hallmark1133.8
Majority44214.9
Turnout 2,97032.4
Wednesfield South
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Helen King1,35749.2
Conservative Simon Jevon1,16942.4
Liberal Democrat John Steatham2308.3
Majority1886.8
Turnout 2,75630.9

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References

  1. ↑ "Local Elections results". The Times . 1998-05-09. p. 46.
  2. 1 2 "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian . 1998-05-09. p. 16.
  3. 1 2 3 Deeley, Tony (1998-04-07). "Battle of the giants: Wolverhampton". Birmingham Mail . p. 25.
  4. 1 2 Harrison, Stephen (1998-05-04). "Maverick group can spoil Socialists' party Voters across the West Midlands go to the polls in council elections on Thursday. Today, Local Government Correspondent Stephen Harrison looks at the fight for power in Walsall and Wolverhampton". Birmingham Post . p. 4.
  5. ↑ Gray, Chris (1998-04-24). "'Labour will betray you' Hague warns council voters". Birmingham Post . p. 1.
  6. ↑ Aston, Paul (1998-04-25). "Tory 'heavies' weigh in as council elections loom". Birmingham Post . p. 3.
  7. ↑ Hardy, Simon (1998-05-08). "Labour rebels are crushed". Birmingham Mail . p. 7.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Council Election Results - 7 May 1998". Wolverhampton Council. Archived from the original on 14 January 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  9. ↑ "Wilderness years end for rebel Nellist". Birmingham Post . 1998-05-08. p. 3.
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