1998 Eastbourne Borough Council election

The 1998 Eastbourne Borough Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Eastbourne Borough Council in East Sussex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Liberal Democrats 18
Conservative 12^[1]

Election result

2 seats were contested in Langney and Roselands wards after the resignation of the councillors Lesley Morris and John Ungar respectively.^[2] Overall turnout at the election was 31.77%, down from 36.35% in 1996.^[2]

Eastbourne local election result 1998^[2]^[3]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes
Liberal Democrats	6	0	3	-3	50.0	48.2	11,993
Conservative	6	3	0	+3	50.0	40.0	9,949
Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	10.2	2,549
Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.0	250
Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.5	133

Ward results

Devonshire^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sheila Charlton	737	42.8
	Liberal Democrats	Beverley Berry	735	42.7
	Labour	Jacqueline Frisby	249	14.5
Majority			2	0.1
Turnout			1,721	31.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Downside^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Albert Leggett	1,337	69.5
	Conservative	Christian Usher	399	20.7
	Labour	Robert Rossetter	188	9.8
Majority			938	48.8
Turnout			1,924	32.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Hampden Park^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Pooley	1,039	59.6
	Labour	Alan French	453	26.0
	Conservative	Jeanie Sowerby	251	14.4
Majority			586	33.6
Turnout			1,743	28.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Langney (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Potter	1,413
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Kerr	1,383
	Conservative	Ronald Hedger	478
	Conservative	Leonard Meladio	412
	Labour	Agnes Reid	307
	Independent	Steven Wallis	250
Turnout			4,243	23.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Meads^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Barry Taylor	1,875	74.0
	Liberal Democrats	Shirley Bloom	658	26.0
Majority			1,217	48.0
Turnout			2,533	38.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ocklynge^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Mark Neeham	995	48.6
	Liberal Democrats	Walter James	900	43.9
	Labour	John Morrison	154	7.5
Majority			95	4.6
Turnout			2,049	37.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Ratton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Frederick Higgins	1,384	62.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Harris	444	20.0
	Labour	John Pettigrew	256	11.5
	Liberal	Mona-Theresia Williamson	133	6.0
Majority			940	42.4
Turnout			2,217	35.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Roselands (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Beryl Healy	1,269
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Stanley	1,070
	Conservative	Roger Gristwood	434
	Conservative	Roger Wesson	383
	Labour	Emile Habets	222
	Labour	Jonathan Pettigrew	216
Turnout			3,594	28.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

St Anthony's^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Robert Backhouse	1,419	54.1
	Liberal Democrats	James Gleeson	907	34.6
	Labour	John Carmody	295	11.3
Majority			512	19.5
Turnout			2,621	33.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Upperton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Robert Lacey	1,182	53.0
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Whitby	838	37.6
	Labour	Eileen Cronin	209	9.4
Majority			344	15.4
Turnout			2,229	33.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

By-elections between 1998 and 1999

A by-election was held on 3 September 1998 in Ratton ward after the resignation of Scott Stevens.^[2] Conservative Barbara Goodall gained the seat from the Liberal Democrats.^[2]

Ratton by-election 3 September 1998^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Barbara Goodall	1,183	57.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jon Harris	741	36.0
	Labour	Robert Rossetter	134	6.5
Majority			442	21.4
Turnout			2,058	32.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b "Policy and politics: Local Elections: Analysis: Council poll results". The Guardian. 9 May 1998. p. 16.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Borough elections". Eastbourne Borough Council. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
^ "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.

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

[results-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Borough elections". Eastbourne Borough Council. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.

[local-3] "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Council elections in East Sussex
East Sussex County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Brighton and Hove City Council	1996 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Eastbourne Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Hastings Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2021 2022 2024
Lewes District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Rother District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Wealden District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Brighton Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 Abolished
Hove Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

v t e (1997 ←) 1998 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1999)
London boroughs	Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth Westminster
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities	Bristol Derby Hartlepool Isle of Wight Kingston upon Hull Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire Portsmouth Southampton Stoke-on-Trent Swindon
District councils (England)	Adur Amber Valley Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bedford Brentwood Broadland Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Carlisle Cheltenham Cherwell Chester Chorley Colchester Congleton Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Daventry Eastbourne Eastleigh Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Exeter Fareham Gloucester Gosport Great Yarmouth Harlow Harrogate Hart Hastings Havant Hertsmere Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Mole Valley Newcastle-under-Lyme North Hertfordshire Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oxford Pendle Penwith Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Lakeland St Albans Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Three Rivers Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wyre Forest
National Assembly elections	Northern Ireland
Referendums	Greater London Authority Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement