1998 Wyre Forest District Council election

The 1998 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, England. One-third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

14 seats were contested at the election with Labour defending 7, the Liberal Democrats 4 and the Conservatives, Liberals and independents 1 seat each.^[2] Labour was confident of defending the majority of 10 they held over the other parties before the election.^[2]

Election result

The results saw Labour increase their majority on the council after gaining two seats, one each from an independent and Liberal Democrat.^[3] The other change in the election saw the Conservatives gain a seat in Bewdley ward from the Liberal Democrats.^[3] Labour attributed their performance to the capable candidates they had stood but were disappointed by the turnout.^[4]

Wyre Forest local election result 1998^[4]^[5]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %
Labour	9	2	0	+2	64.3
Liberal Democrats	2	0	2	-2	14.3
Conservative	2	1	0	+1	14.3
Liberal	1	0	0	0	7.1
Independent	0	0	1	-1	0

By-elections between 1998 and 1999

Oldington and Foley Park

A by-election was held in Oldington and Foley Park after the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Adrian Beavis after he was found guilty of false accounting.^[6] The seat was gained for Labour by Barry McFarland with a majority of 27 votes over Conservative Justin Tomlinson.^[6]^[7]

Oldington and Foley Park by-election 3 December 1998^[6]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barry McFarland	354	35.8	−6.7
	Conservative	Justin Tomlinson	327	33.0	+27.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Kendall	309	31.2	−17.5
Majority			27	2.7
Turnout			990	23.3
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Chaddesley

A by-election was held in Chaddesley after the death of Conservative councillor Harry Purcell.^[8]

Chaddesley by-election 18 February 1999^[9]
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	490	89.3	+6.4
	Labour	59	10.7	−6.4
Majority		431	78.5
Turnout		549	30.6
	Conservative hold	Swing

References

^ ^a ^b "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.
^ ^a ^b Smith, Sue (7 April 1998). "Labour confident of retaining majority". Birmingham Mail. p. 25.
^ ^a ^b Probert, Andy (8 May 1998). "Tight grip maintained by Labour". Birmingham Mail. p. 5.
^ ^a ^b Howarth, Jayne (8 May 1998). "Midlands gives Blair thumbs-up". Birmingham Post. p. 3.
^ "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Labour Gain In Wyre By-election". Birmingham Post. NewsBank. 4 December 1998.
^ ^a ^b "Local Authority Byelection Results - December 1998". Local Authority Byelection Results. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
^ "Tributes as leading Tory dies". Birmingham Mail. NewsBank. 11 December 1998. p. 4.
^ "Local Authority Byelection Results - February 1999". Local Authority Byelection Results. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.

[policy-1] "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.

[confident-2] Smith, Sue (7 April 1998). "Labour confident of retaining majority". Birmingham Mail. p. 25.

[tight-3] Probert, Andy (8 May 1998). "Tight grip maintained by Labour". Birmingham Mail. p. 5.

[thumbs-4] Howarth, Jayne (8 May 1998). "Midlands gives Blair thumbs-up". Birmingham Post. p. 3.

[local-5] "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.

[gain-6] "Labour Gain In Wyre By-election". Birmingham Post. NewsBank. 4 December 1998.

[oldington-7] "Local Authority Byelection Results - December 1998". Local Authority Byelection Results. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.

[tributes-8] "Tributes as leading Tory dies". Birmingham Mail. NewsBank. 11 December 1998. p. 4.

[chaddesley-9] "Local Authority Byelection Results - February 1999". Local Authority Byelection Results. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]