1998 Harlow District Council election

1998 Harlow District Council election

← 1996 7 May 1998 1999 →
14 of the 42 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 39 3 0 Seats before 40 2 0 Seats won 13 1 1 Seats after 38 3 1 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 8,305 3,124 4,248 Percentage 53.0% 19.9% 27.1%
Map showing the results of contested wards in the 1998 Harlow District Council elections.
Council control before election Labour Council control after election Labour

The 1998 Harlow District Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, 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

• Labour 38
• Liberal Democrats 3
• Conservative 1^[2]

Before the election Labour had 40 of the 42 seats on the council, with only 2 Liberal Democrat councillors forming the opposition.^[3] 3 Labour councillors stood down at the election from Katherines with Sumners, Netteswell West and Tye Green wards.^[3]

Each of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats had candidates for all 15 seats contested at the election, with 2 seats available in Old Harlow ward.^[3]

Labour held 13 of the 15 seats they had been defending, but the council chairman John Young was defeated in Kingsmoor ward by 21-year-old Conservative Andrew Johnson, who became the youngest councillor on the council.^[4] The Liberal Democrats also regained Stewards from Labour, a seat they had previously lost at a by-election.^[4]

Harlow local election result 1998^[1][4]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	13	0	2	2	86.7	53.0	8,305	4.3
	Conservative	1	1	0	1	6.7	27.1	4,248	3.8
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	0	1	6.7	19.9	3,124	1.4

All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 1994 election.