Elections to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

Council were held on 7 May 1998. One third of the council was up for election. Following the previous election there had been three by-elections held—in Aspull- Standish,

Ince Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...

and Hope Carr—with all three successfully defended by

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. Candidate numbers improved dramatically from the preceding election, thanks mostly to the first concerted effort by the

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

, having only tested the waters previously. The Liberal Democrats fielded were, on the other hand, the sparsest from them since

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, following a similarly poor effort the previous year—perhaps reflecting the party giving up on its previous ambitions. There were also an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

(formerly a Conservative candidate for Bryn in the 1995 election) and the first UKIP candidate fighting

Ashton Ashton may refer to: Names *Ashton (given name) *Ashton (surname) Places Australia * Ashton, Elizabeth Bay, a heritage-listed house in Sydney, New South Wales *Ashton, South Australia Canada *Ashton, Ontario New Zealand * Ashton, New Zealand ...

Golborne Golborne (pronounced or ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south-southeast of Wigan, northeast of Warrington and to the west of the city of Manchester. Combined with the village of Lowto ...

. In total all wards but Tydlesday East were contested. Far from recovering, turnout plummeted to new depths at 17.4%. There was a general apathy emerging across the country during this period, as well as a disillusionment among Conservative voters, but with Labour's complete dominance and the only competitive party standing in less than a quarter of seats, there were evidently other factors for the lack of enthusiasm. The dire turnout understandably had implications for the party votes, with Labour recording their second-lowest vote (the lowest being

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

), the Conservatives sinking below their rock-bottom set in 1995, and the Lib Dems gaining their worst vote since the aforementioned 1978 election—falling to fourth behind the Greens, who comfortably achieved their best vote. Voter shares were less dramatic for Labour and the Conservatives; however, the Lib Dems' share of 6.7% was their poorest since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and the Greens' share was more than two-and-a-half times larger than their previous peak. Labour survived substantial challenges against from the Independent in Ashton-Golborne and the Greens in Hope Carr, making the only gain of the night from the Lib Dems in Beech Hill. This reduced the Lib Dems to a sole councillor, losing their status as main opposition for the first time in near twenty years. With only a Liberal Democrat in another Beech Hill seat and an

Independent Labour An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

in Hindley remaining as opposition, Labour commanded a record majority of 68.

Election result

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:

Ward results

By-elections between 1998 and 1999

References

*"Council poll results", ''The Guardian'' 9 May 1998 page 16 {{Wigan Council elections, state=expanded 1998 English local elections

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

1990s in Greater Manchester