The 1998 Wandsworth Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of

Wandsworth London Borough Council Wandsworth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Wandsworth is divided into 20 wards, eac ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The whole council was up for election and the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Party stayed in overall control of the council. At the same as the election Wandsworth saw 74.3% vote in favour of the

1998 Greater London Authority referendum The Greater London Authority referendum of 1998 was a referendum held in Greater London on 7 May 1998, asking whether there was support for the creation of a Greater London Authority, composed of a directly elected Mayor of London and a London A ...

and 25.7% against, on a 38.7% turnout.

Campaign

In the run up to the election a private Conservative

poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places o ...

was leaked which showed them 17% behind

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 ...

and likely to only win in 4 wards as compared to 18 for Labour. However Labour and the Liberal Democrats accused the Conservatives of leaking the poll in order to lower expectations. The Conservatives would have lost control of the council on a 7% swing from the 1994 election, or if the 1997 general election results in the area were repeated. However Wandsworth had low

council tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge, which in turn re ...

levels, the lowest in the country, and the Conservatives had recently cut the tax by 24%. This meant commentators expected the Conservatives to stay in control of what was described as their showpiece council. For the election 9 of the 22 wards that made up the council were seen as being marginal.

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives increase their control of the council gaining an extra 5 seats. This meant that with 50 seats the Conservatives had the most seats they had yet had on the council. Labour lost seats in St John and Roehampton wards, which was put down to the closure of the local Queen Mary's Hospital. Voter turnout at 40% was 10% down on the previous 1994 election.

Ward results

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1998 1998 London Borough council 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 s ...