1998 Merton London Borough Council election

Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and a referendum on the Greater London Authority; in the latter, Merton voted in favour of creating the Greater London Authority by 72.2% on a 37.6% turnout.^[2]

1998 Merton London Borough Council election

← 1994 7 May 1998 2002 →
All 57 council seats on Merton London Borough Council
Turnout	38.0% (11.5%)[1]
First party Second party   Party Labour Conservative Last election 40 seats, 50.3% 10 seats, 31.3% Seats won 39 12 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 57,753 43,021 Percentage 44.2% 32.9% Swing 6.1% 1.6%   Third party Fourth party   Party Liberal Democrats Merton Park Residents Last election 3 seats, 12.5% 3 seats, 3.6% Seats won 3 3 Seat change 0 0 Popular vote 18,881 4,415 Percentage 14.4% 3.4% Swing 1.9% 0.2%
Council leader before election Mike Brunt Labour Council leader after election Mike Brunt Labour

The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council, despite losing one seat.^[3]

There were some minor ward boundary changes which came into effect in December 1994; these affected Merton's boundaries with Sutton and Croydon.^[4] However, the number of council seats remained at fifty-seven. This would be the last election under these boundaries: in 2002, the number of seats was increased by 3 and all ward boundaries were redrawn.^[5]

Results

The incumbent Labour majority administration lost two seats to the Conservatives and gained one seat from Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association, whose last councillor was elected in 1994 and no longer sat for the party; the party did not contest the election.^[5][6]

Merton Park Ward Residents Association and the Liberal Democrats maintained their three seats each in Merton Park and West Barnes respectively.^[5]

Merton Local Election Result 1998^[7]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	39	1	2	1	68.4	44.2	57,753	6.1
	Conservative	12	2	0	2	21.1	32.9	43,021	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	3	0	0	0	5.3	14.4	18,881	1.9
	Merton Park Residents	3	0	0	0	5.3	3.4	4,415	0.2
	Green	0	0	0	0	0.0	4.8	6,301	2.3
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	216	New
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	205	N/A

Ward results

Abbey (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Assinen*	1,162	46.6	−3.8
	Labour	John Carter	1,138	45.6	−7.0
	Labour	Mohammad Karim	1,101	44.1	−4.4
	Conservative	Margaret Connon	578	23.2	−1.2
	Conservative	Andrew Leek	535	21.5	−3.6
	Conservative	James Holmes	523	21.0	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Barker	478	19.2	+7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Roe	349	14.0	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	John Houlihan	319	12.8	+4.9
	Green	Jacqueline Barrow	265	10.6	−7.5
	Green	Mark Coxon	223	8.9	N/A
	Green	Syed Naqvi	156	6.3	N/A
Turnout			6,827	34.2
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Cannon Hill (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Mannion*	1,354	44.5	−1.5
	Labour	Brian White*	1,308	43.0	−2.4
	Labour	Charles Lucas*	1,269	41.7	−3.8
	Conservative	Michael Grundy	1,090	35.8	+2.1
	Conservative	David Gillmor	1,088	35.8	+3.9
	Conservative	Joan Pethen	1,060	34.8	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Larkin	459	15.1	−0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Oxford	352	11.6	−3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Surey	329	10.8	−3.4
	Green	John Barker	166	5.5	+0.3
Turnout			8,475	45.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Colliers Wood (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sheila Knight*	1,298	47.9	−8.9
	Labour	George Reynolds	1,293	47.8	−16.5
	Labour	Adrian Holt	1,099	40.6	−14.9
	Green	Thomas Walsh	960	35.5	+9.3
	Green	Jacqueline Ward	597	22.1	N/A
	Green	Lois Walters	567	20.9	N/A
	Conservative	Margaret Ali	324	12.0	−4.2
	Conservative	Andrea Graham	319	11.8	−4.8
	Conservative	Kenneth Butt	315	11.6	−2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Laura Kirwan	288	10.6	−1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Marek Siemaszko	161	5.9	N/A
Turnout			7,221	36.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Dundonald (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Bampton	1,233	47.8	−4.9
	Labour	Michael Brunt*	1,128	43.8	−9.3
	Labour	John Pickover*	1,000	38.8	−7.8
	Conservative	John Elvidge	661	25.6	−4.8
	Conservative	David Daly	609	23.6	−5.4
	Conservative	Andrew Hall	587	22.8	−5.0
	Green	David Bezkorowajny	446	17.3	+6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Taylor	388	15.1	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Blaise Eglington	369	14.3	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Rosamund Packer	364	14.1	+2.7
	Green	Jennifer Barrow	285	11.1	N/A
	Green	Christina Langley	240	9.3	−1.1
Turnout			7,310	41.2
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Durnsford (2)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joyce Paton*	813	43.3	−1.7
	Labour	Mark Thompson	805	42.9	−0.9
	Conservative	Elisabeth Mitchell	668	35.6	+0.5
	Conservative	Tariq Ahmad	635	33.8	−1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Harlow	280	14.9	+1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Harbron	193	10.3	−2.6
	Green	John Garrett	119	6.3	+0.5
Turnout			2,878	43.3
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Figge's Marsh (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geraldine Stanford*	1,396	59.6	+5.3
	Labour	Daniel Connellan*	1,298	55.4	+0.7
	Labour	Andrew Judge*	1,285	54.9	−1.2
	Conservative	Richard Aitken-Davies	596	25.5	−4.6
	Conservative	Kathleen Lewis	526	22.5	−7.0
	Conservative	Mohammed Qureshi	450	19.2	−8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Geldart	339	14.5	+5.0
	Green	Francis Cluer	172	7.3	+1.3
Turnout			6,062	31.1
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Graveney (2)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Linda Kirby*	908	62.2	−0.9
	Labour	Joseph Abrams*	898	61.5	+1.7
	Conservative	Maureen Jewson	240	16.4	−4.4
	Conservative	Anton Nadarajah	229	15.7	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	James McKenna	194	13.3	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Marc Plessier	120	8.2	−1.2
	Green	Emma-Ruth Crowhurst	77	5.3	+1.7
Turnout			2,666	33.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Hillside (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Harwood	1,254	47.7	+1.3
	Conservative	David Williams*	1,222	46.5	+0.4
	Conservative	Christopher Grayling	1,194	45.4	−0.7
	Labour	Christine Bickerstaff	804	30.6	+0.6
	Labour	Brian Luff	683	26.0	−3.7
	Labour	Laurence North	649	24.7	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Carmel Fowler	521	19.8	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Joan Pyke-Lees	479	18.2	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Kamaljit Sood	377	14.3	−4.1
	Green	Margaret Garrett	231	8.8	+1.3
Turnout			7,414	36.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lavender (2)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edith Macauley	971	62.3	−4.4
	Labour	Malcolm Searle*	862	55.3	−5.1
	Conservative	John Jewson	302	19.4	+1.1
	Conservative	Michael Miles	264	16.9	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Bernard Conway	242	15.5	+3.6
	Green	Sarah Miskin	139	8.9	N/A
Turnout			2,780	28.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Longthornton (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Cairns	1,371	50.4	+10.6
	Labour	Abdus Chaudhry	1,314	48.3	+9.5
	Labour	Karen Livingstone	1,279	47.0	+10.8
	Conservative	David Jeffreys	910	33.4	+17.9
	Conservative	Geraldine Kirby	843	31.0	+17.5
	Conservative	Ramdehol Dookhie	790	29.0	+15.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tariq Ahmad	318	11.7	+5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Dean Juster	298	10.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Heather Hurst	297	10.9	N/A
Turnout			7,420	37.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Longthornton and Tamworth Residents		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Lower Morden (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Daniels	1,424	47.3	+6.7
	Conservative	Janet Jones*	1,397	46.4	+5.6
	Conservative	Peter Morss	1,310	43.5	+6.8
	Labour	Cyril Gallant*	1,051	34.9	−7.9
	Labour	Nicholas Draper*	1,012	33.6	−7.6
	Labour	Anna Monks	973	32.3	−7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Pearce	357	11.8	−4.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Holloway	357	11.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Stacey	268	8.9	N/A
	Green	Stephen Boulding	137	4.5	−4.2
Turnout			8,286	45.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Merton Park (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Merton Park Residents	Desmonde Child*	1,506	51.6	−5.3
	Merton Park Residents	Bridget Smith*	1,496	51.2	−5.8
	Merton Park Residents	John Nelson-Jones	1,413	48.4	−9.2
	Conservative	Mark Coote	811	27.8	+8.4
	Conservative	Ronald Cox	775	26.5	+8.0
	Conservative	Gavin Muncey	739	25.3	+6.8
	Labour	Michael Fitzgerald	531	18.2	−1.3
	Labour	Aejaz Khan-Zada	473	16.2	−2.7
	Labour	Roger Stephens	468	16.0	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	John O'Boyle	202	6.9	+2.3
Turnout			8,414	43.0
	Merton Park Residents hold		Swing
	Merton Park Residents hold		Swing
	Merton Park Residents hold		Swing

Phipps Bridge (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Munn*	1,386	57.3	−1.3
	Labour	Paul Harper*	1,362	56.3	−2.1
	Labour	Judith Saunders*	1,176	48.6	−4.9
	Conservative	Sally Lundie	598	24.7	+3.2
	Conservative	Barbara Mansfield	584	24.2	+4.5
	Conservative	Roger Farrance	521	21.5	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Pizey	328	13.6	+2.7
	Green	Robin Bannister	258	10.7	N/A
Turnout			5,629	31.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Pollards Hill (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Cole*	1,248	61.3	−0.4
	Labour	Russell Makin	1,065	52.4	−10.0
	Labour	Mohammad Syed	1,026	50.4	−1.9
	Conservative	Pauline Blythe	552	27.1	+2.9
	Conservative	Jason Garbutt	418	20.5	−2.0
	Conservative	Harris Chong	317	15.6	−5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Wren	204	10.0	−5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Whitehead	191	9.4	N/A
	Green	Keith O'Neill	130	6.4	N/A
Turnout			5,151	33.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Ravensbury (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Jones*	1,294	55.9	−8.2
	Labour	Peter Smith*	1,229	52.3	−10.3
	Labour	Peter McCabe*	1,215	51.7	−10.8
	Conservative	Thelma Earnshaw	560	23.8	+4.2
	Conservative	Roderick McLeod	508	21.6	+3.2
	Conservative	Cyril Mitchell	479	20.4	+3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Violet Jennings	330	14.0	+1.6
	Independent	Terence Sullivan	205	8.7	+5.9
	Green	Nicholas Miskin	143	6.1	−0.5
	BNP	Ian Dell	88	3.7	N/A
Turnout			6,051	36.2
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Raynes Park (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Brierly*	1,375	44.1	−2.2
	Conservative	Robert Bell*	1,310	42.0	−2.1
	Conservative	Neville Beddoe	1,272	40.8	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	David Hurst	965	30.9	+11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Gail Moss	922	29.6	+8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Louise Pugh	915	29.3	+9.9
	Labour	Shoshana Foster	725	23.2	−10.1
	Labour	Anne Taulbut	662	21.2	−8.9
	Labour	Haribhai Patel	580	18.6	−11.2
	Green	Brian Parkin	191	6.1	−1.0
Turnout			8,890	43.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

St. Helier (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dennis Pearce	1,178	52.3	−10.0
	Labour	Eunice Martin	1,083	48.1	−10.0
	Labour	Michael Spacey*	1,025	45.5	−10.7
	Conservative	Keith Guy	696	30.9	+7.6
	Conservative	Gordon Raymond	566	25.1	+2.7
	Conservative	Anne Williams	565	25.1	+4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Plessier	346	15.4	+4.6
	Green	Susan Boulding	233	10.3	+5.0
	BNP	Robert Andrews	128	5.7	N/A
Turnout			5,806	35.6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Trinity (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Vivien Guy	1,082	46.0	+1.7
	Labour	Kingsley Abrams*	1,061	45.1	−1.8
	Labour	Paul Barasi*	981	41.7	−2.4
	Conservative	Dorothy Kilsby	696	29.6	−0.7
	Conservative	Nicholas Brewer	689	29.3	+0.2
	Conservative	Alan Hogg	657	27.9	−1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Hutchison	411	17.5	−0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Rennie	368	15.6	−1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Bonita Ralph	360	15.3	−1.5
	Green	Stephen Gardiner	230	9.8	+2.8
Turnout			6,535	37.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Village (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Jones*	1,337	57.8	+1.4
	Conservative	Samantha George	1,330	57.5	−0.8
	Conservative	Christopher Houseden	1,328	57.4	−0.6
	Labour	Martin Holman	534	23.1	+4.9
	Labour	Denise Leggett	494	21.4	+2.8
	Labour	Kenneth Wilshire	467	20.2	+3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Rumney	317	13.7	−8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Dix	300	13.0	−6.4
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Tibbetts	298	12.9	−5.1
	Green	Ernest Dennis	191	8.3	+1.9
Turnout			6,596	36.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Barnes (3)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Willott	1,360	42.4	+5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Dysart*	1,317	41.1	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Harris*	1,251	39.0	+5.4
	Labour	Barry Edwards	916	28.6	+0.1
	Labour	Stephen Nixon	882	27.5	±0.0
	Labour	Patrick Loughran	855	26.7	−2.1
	Conservative	Linda Batchelor	816	25.4	−2.7
	Conservative	David Jessop	799	24.9	−2.8
	Conservative	Roderick Scott	780	24.3	−2.7
	Green	Julian Davidson	145	4.5	−0.8
Turnout			9,121	46.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

1. "London Borough of Merton Election Results – May 1998" (PDF). Merton Council. May 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
2. "Policy and politics: Local elections: How London voted for a mayor". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.
3. "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.
4. "The Croydon, Merton and Sutton (London Borough Boundaries) Order 1993". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
5. "London Borough of Merton Election Results – May 2002" (PDF). Merton Council. May 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
6. "London Borough of Merton Election Results – May 1998" (PDF). Merton Council. May 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
7. "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.
8. "Borough council election" (PDF). London Borough of Merton. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2009.