1998 Islington London Borough Council election

The 1998 Islington Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Islington London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.^[1]

Election result

The results saw the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties finish tied on 26 seats each, after the Liberal Democrats gained 12 seats.^[2] The Liberal Democrat gains included taking the ward of Barnsbury, where the then Prime Minister Tony Blair had lived before becoming prime minister.^[2] In the final seat Labour won by 3 votes after 5 recounts to prevent the Liberal Democrats from winning a majority.^[2] This meant Labour was able to continue as the administration, relying on the casting vote of the Labour mayor Pat Haynes.^[2]

Reasons for the losses for Labour were reported as being the council tax level, which was the highest in London, poor schools and the council's £800 million debt.^[2]

At the same as the election Islington voted 81.55% in favour of the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum and 18.45% against, on a 34.15% turnout.^[3][4]

Islington Local Election Result 1998^[5]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	26			+14	50.0	41.4	44,391	+15.3
	Labour	26			−13	50.0	40.6	43,388	−8.8
	Conservative	0			−1	0	6.3	6,369	−6.0
	Green	0				0	6.3	6,366
	Independent	0				0	0.3	266
	Socialist Labour	0				0	0.2	154

Ward results

* - Existing Councillor seeking re-election.

Barnsbury (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bridget Fox	1,725
	Liberal Democrats	Alastair Loraine	1,623
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Powell	1,575
	Labour	Paula Kahn	929
	Labour	Steven Barnett	914
	Labour	Lloyd Child	897
	Green	Robert Pearce	211
	Conservative	Christopher Cox	174
	Tenants & Residents	John Worker	131
	Conservative	Martin Moyes	111
	Conservative	Jonathan Small	96
Turnout			8,386
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Bunhill (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Joseph Trotter	1,317
	Liberal Democrats	Rosetta Wooding	1,236
	Liberal Democrats	Jyoti Vaja	1,176
	Labour	Ian Darby	555
	Labour	Theresa Debono	487
	Labour	Hassan Asmal	480
	Socialist Labour	Sharon Hayward	154
	Green	Denise Bennett	94
	Conservative	Peter Cuthbert	78
	Conservative	Doris Daly	76
	Conservative	Alam-Zeb Khan	71
Turnout			5,724
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Canonbury East (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Dearth	1,101
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Washington	1,026
	Labour	Andrew Bosi	750
	Labour	Peter Lewis	574
	Green	Judith Kleinman	92
	Conservative	Timothy Devlin	72
	Conservative	Duncan Reed	59
Turnout			3,674
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

—

Canonbury West (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Ribezzo	985
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Smith	955
	Labour	Diane Brace	544
	Labour	Nicholas Stewart	480
	Conservative	Carol-Anne Aitken	89
	Conservative	Richard Campbell	88
	Green	Robert Turner	54
Turnout			3,195
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Clerkenwell (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Ludford	1,783
	Liberal Democrats	Bruce Neave	1,449
	Liberal Democrats	George Allan	1,427
	Labour	Timothy Clark	762
	Labour	Harriet Quiney	672
	Labour	David Northcott	576
	Green	Raymond Cunningham	259
	Conservative	Gordon Dear	162
	Conservative	Nicholas Roberts	132
	Conservative	Margaret Reese	118
Turnout			7,340
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Gillespie (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Greening	966
	Labour	Nigel Mason	751
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Middleton	336
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Rorison	312
	Green	Sara Meidan	276
	Conservative	John Shields	101
	Conservative	Rifat Bairam	87
Turnout			2,829
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Highbury (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Creagh	1,107
	Labour	Maureen Leigh	1,052
	Labour	Jenny Rathbone	1,033
	Green	Christopher Ashby	748
	Green	Malcolm Powell	522
	Green	Patricia Tuson	513
	Liberal Democrats	Kathleen Williams	330
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Hornby	321
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Thornton	313
	Conservative	Andrew Brooke	227
	Conservative	Jean-Paul Floru	199
	Conservative	James Barbaras	191
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
Turnout			6,556

Highview (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ruairi McCourt	766
	Labour	Jennifer Sands	720
	Green	Michael Holloway	223
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Griffiths	177
	Green	Michele Wilson	169
	Liberal Democrats	Ursula Craig	148
	Conservative	Simon Matthews	58
	Conservative	Bruce Picking	55
Turnout			2,316
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Hillmarton (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Doreen Scott	1,028
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Featherstone	998
	Labour	Antonia Benedek	781
	Labour	Phil Kelly *	780
	Green	Mark Chilver	165
	Conservative	Roy Taft	82
	Conservative	Mahendra Oza	59
Turnout			3,893
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Hillrise (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Clinton	1,036
	Labour	Milton Babulall	948
	Labour	Sheila Camp	940
	Liberal Democrats	Heather Eggins	426
	Liberal Democrats	James Sanderson	371
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Vaughan	328
	Conservative	Maureen Campbell	255
	Green	Victoria Olliver	255
	Conservative	Simon Cooper	180
	Conservative	Bryan Wilsher	143
Turnout			4,882
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Holloway (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Margot Dunn	1,338
	Liberal Democrats	Barry Kempton	1,290
	Liberal Democrats	Douglas Taylor	1,262
	Labour	Catriona Munro	838
	Labour	David Sayer	830
	Labour	Robert Dowd	828
	Green	Sheena Etches	138
	Conservative	Alan Reese	99
	Conservative	Mark Rittner	94
	Conservative	James Rooke	91
Turnout			6,808
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Junction (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Burgess *	1,104
	Labour	Talal Karim	940
	Labour	Sandra Marks	934
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Lally	430
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Sidney	347
	Liberal Democrats	Alford Reeves	319
	Green	Angela Royston	284
	Green	Ajay Burlingham-Johnson	271
	Conservative	Charles Sharman	167
	Conservative	Anthea Ward	152
Turnout			4,948
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Mildmay (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Haynes	1,056
	Labour	Jennette Arnold	1,022
	Labour	Michael Boye-Anawomah	941
	Liberal Democrats	Anna Berent	621
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Crudgington	500
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Jackson	493
	Green	Grant Gilbert	290
	Conservative	Adam Duguid	277
	Conservative	Oriel Hutchinson	273
	Conservative	Gary Moores	252
	Independent	Margaret McDonnell	135
Turnout			5,860
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Quadrant (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Barnes *	1,161
	Liberal Democrats	Laura Willoughby	992
	Labour	Philip Bird	689
	Labour	Caspar Bowden	569
	Conservative	Rebecca Baty	274
	Conservative	Oliver Judge	239
	Green	Susan Wilkinson	141
	Green	Stefan Tobler	88
Turnout			4,153
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

St George's (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosemary Blackmore	1,357
	Labour	Walter Burgess	1,165
	Labour	Shonagh Methven	1,147
	Liberal Democrats	Jody Beveridge	503
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Fox	464
	Green	Mary Adshead	450
	Liberal Democrats	Julian Glover	411
	Conservative	Allan Saile	216
	Conservative	Rosemarie Totvanian	161
	Conservative	Glenn Timmermans	152
Turnout			6,026
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

St Mary (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Isobel Cox	1,299
	Liberal Democrats	Joan Coupland	1,298
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Heseltine	1,272
	Labour	Jessica Bawden	815
	Labour	Paul Convery	796
	Labour	Paul Jackson	796
	Green	Mjka Scott	149
	Conservative	Tracey Braddick	118
	Conservative	Stephen McMinnies	88
	Conservative	Lisa Ruffell	79
Turnout			6,710
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

St Peter (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Maria Powell	1,548
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Hitchins	1,480
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Pryce	1,373
	Labour	Paula Beattie	515
	Labour	Nicholas Butcher	460
	Labour	Jenina Pendry	350
	Green	Ura Kiefer	155
	Conservative	Thomas Duke	138
	Conservative	Peter Warren	94
	Conservative	Ian Sparham-Souter	90
Turnout			6,203
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Sussex (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Meg Hillier *	884
	Labour	Daniel Bonner	859
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Baker *	856
	Liberal Democrats	Hewa Jaff	719
	Green	Robin Latimer	99
	Green	Swadesh Poorun	54
	Conservative	Raymond Muggeridge	38
	Conservative	John Wilkin	33
Turnout			3,542
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Thornhill (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Perry	828
	Labour	Edna Griffiths	735
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Peel	411
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Aspell	376
	Green	Nicola Baird	143
	Conservative	Stanley Morris	142
	Conservative	Stephen Kreppel	139
Turnout			2,774
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Tollington (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger McKenzie	1,178
	Labour	Barbara Sidnell	1,149
	Labour	Derek Sawyer	1,103
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Macmillan	418
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Ryan	386
	Green	James Goggin	385
	Liberal Democrats	David Tibbs	358
Turnout			4,977
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.
2. Harding, Luke. "Mugging shock for Labour on leader's old patch". The Guardian. p. 15.
3. "How London voted for a mayor". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.
4. "London Borough Council Elections 7 May 1998 - including the Greater London Authority referendum results" (PDF). londondatastore-upload.s3.amazonaws.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 February 2015.
5. "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.