1998 Hackney London Borough Council election

1998 Hackney London Borough Council elections
← 1994 2002 →
All 60 seats to Hackney London Borough Council; 31 seats needed for a majority
Registered	116,157
Turnout	38.24%
Council control before election; No overall control;	Subsequent council control ; No overall control;

The 1998 Hackney London Borough Council election took place on 7 May 1998. All 60 members of Hackney London Borough Council were up for election. The elections took place as part of the 1998 London local elections.

Despite the losses, the Labour Party remained the largest party, but the council continued with no overall control. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party both made gains.

The Labour Party retained overall control of the council but saw a significant reduction in seats, losing 16 seats. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives made gains, with the Liberal Democrats increasing their seat count by 10 and the Conservatives by six.

Simultaneously, a referendum was held on whether there was support for establishing a Greater London Authority^[1]

Background

Prior to the 1998 election, Labour had effectively lost control of Hackney Council, with no single party holding a majority. The election was part of a broader set of local elections across London and the UK, where several councils experienced shifts in control.

Electoral fraud

On March 9, 2001, two Hackney Borough Council councillors, Isaac Leibowitz, Conservative, and Zev Lieberman, Liberal Democrat were convicted of a major vote-rigging conspiracy related to the May 1998 local elections. They were found guilty of fraudulently adding names to the electoral roll to influence the election outcome in Hackney’s Northwold ward.

The fraud involved registering fake voters, including using disused properties and misrepresenting addresses. It also included manipulating proxy votes. This led to a significant increase in proxy voting from 12 in 1994 to 241 in 1998, with a majority of the proxies voting for the Liberal Democrats.

Leibowitz and Lieberman were convicted of forgery and conspiracy to defraud. The scale of the fraud raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process and the accuracy of the election results.^[2]

Election result

In the 1998 Hackney Council election, no single party gained overall control of the council. The result reflected a broader trend observed in other boroughs during the same election cycle, where several councils transitioned to no overall control. The outcome was consistent with changes observed in other boroughs, where Labour gained control of Harrow, Brent, Lambeth, and Waltham Forest from a state of no overall control. Labour lost control of Hillingdon, Islington, and Hackney, where they had previously held a majority or significant influence.

Ward result

Brownswood (2)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Peter G. Kenyon	855
Labour	Linda Smith	714
Liberal Democrats	Joyce Alexander	233
Green	Klaus Graichen	226
Liberal Democrats	Mark N. Smulan	198
Conservative	Joan Hillier	156
Conservative	Irene M. Lewington	153
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Clissold (2)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Lorraine Monk	937
Labour	John M. Hudson	916
Liberal Democrats	Sylvia Anderson	814
Labour	Brian N. Marsh	776
Liberal Democrats	David Mackey	669
Liberal Democrats	Abraham-Samuel Jacobson	596
Green	Ian B. Wingrove	457
Conservative	June R. Eaton	114
Conservative	David W. Balcombe	111
Conservative	John A.W. Moir	96
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing

Queensbridge (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal Democrats	Mark Williams	983
Liberal Democrats	Vernon E. Williams	959
Liberal Democrats	Hettie V. Peters	951
Liberal Democrats	Anthony S. Terrill	881
Labour	Nihal U. Fernando	870
Labour	Emma M. Plouviez	851
Green	Daphne U. Boyce	145
Conservative	Wendy Fuller	129
Conservative	Maureen Mgaza	116
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing

Chatham (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Ian Darbyshire	924
Labour	Naomi Russell	893
Labour	Sally Mulready	862
Liberal Democrats	Maryam Hafezji	396
Liberal Democrats	Menachem Beitél	387
Liberal Democrats	Mark B. Ukandu	370
Conservative	Elsie M. Baverstock	182
Conservative	Stephen Giff	145
Conservative	Alfred G. Suskin	124
Socialist Party (UK)	Paul Heron	109
Socialist Party (UK)	Christian Newby	70
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Dalston (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal Democrats	David A.J. Bentley	1,055
Liberal Democrats	Philip Pearson	937
Liberal Democrats	Meral H. Ece	838
Labour	Fiona E. Alderton	809
Labour	Samantha A. Lloyd	770
Labour	Richard Blanco	763
Green	Jack E. Easton	239
Conservative	Christopher J. Ballingall	122
Conservative	David C. Harmer	72
Conservative	Winston G. Henry	68
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing

De Beauvoir (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	Christopher P. O'Leary	997
Labour	Andrew Windross	942
Labour	Frances E. Pearson	929
Labour	Peter J.I. Snell	891
Conservative	James A. Spencer	886
Conservative	Alexander Ellis	877
Liberal Democrats	John Bird	402
Liberal Democrats	Irene S. Fawkes	316
Liberal Democrats	Edward Garber	264
Conservative hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Eastdown (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Patrick Corrigan	803
Labour	Bharti Patel	702
Labour	Stephen Sartain	696
Labour	Linda A. Hibberd	666
Liberal Democrats	Kenneth E. Hanson	610
Liberal Democrats	Paula Granger	594
Conservative	Lilian Lonsdale	110
Conservative	Peter Lonsdale	82
Conservative	Pamela Y. Sills	72
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Haggerston (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	William G. Nicholson	731
Labour	David Young	668
Liberal Democrats	Anthony Goodchild	561
Liberal Democrats	Mark Pursey	488
Conservative	Andrew Boff	348
Conservative	Bruce Spenser	306
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Homerton (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Sharon R. Patrick	641
Labour	Robin J. Cornell	545
Liberal Democrats	Celya A. Maxted	194
Liberal Democrats	Melvin E.C. Minter	190
Green	Michael C. Walsh	172
Socialist Labour	Robert W. Adams	139
Conservative	Julia D. Cole	114
Conservative	Martin Summers	95
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Kings Park (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Simon B. Parkes	680
Labour	Mohammad S. Siddiqui	672
Conservative	Hyman Kern	136
Conservative	Giulio Rapaciulo	96
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Leabridge (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Bonnie Miller	928
Labour	Anthony H. Milton	846
Labour	Abdul G. Mulla	757
Conservative	Heather Whitewall	590
Conservative	Faruk Miah	587
Conservative	Shuja Shaikh	585
Green	Yesin Hussein	299
Liberal Democrats	Jeffrey Shenker	255
Socialist Labour	Peter J. Morton	229
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

New River (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	David J. Phillips	1,343
Conservative	Jacob M. Grosskopf	1,267
Conservative	Maureen B. Middleton	1,241
Labour	Michael B. Desmond	941
Labour	Rosa Gomez	917
Labour	John W. Small	841
Green	Catherine S. Murphy	262
Conservative gain from		Swing
Conservative gain from		Swing
Conservative gain from		Swing

North Defoe (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Green	Yen C. Chong	661
Green	Paul A. Carswell	554
Labour	James E. Carswell	455
Labour	John McGafferty	406
Labour	Ann V. McGinley	125
Conservative	Michael J. Donoghue	121
Socialist Alliance	Anne Murphy	52
Green gain from		Swing
Green gain from		Swing

Northfield (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	Medlin Lewis	1,058
Conservative	Bernard V. Peretz	1,048
Conservative	Christopher D. Sills	1,044
Labour	Victoria L. Murco	679
Labour	Michael I.G. Bartlet	647
Labour	Sunday A. Owogumbu	629
Green	Lucy Sommers	236
Conservative hold		Swing

South Defoe (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Ian C. Peacock	471
Labour	Jules Pipe	458
Green	Mischa A. Borris	226
Green	Jon George	212
Labour	Philip G. Stark	156
Liberal Democrats	Keith L. Sexton	127
Socialist Labour	Jennifer Burnett	98
Conservative	Paul Brenells	82
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Northwold (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal Democrats	Ian D. Scharer	1,098
Liberal Democrats	Shahid M. Ahchala	1,073
Liberal Democrats	Zev Lieberman	1,019
Labour	Daphne McAllister	887
Labour	Joko N. Mafcoy	810
Labour	Safeer A. Shaikh	774
Green	Julie A. Hathaway	316
Conservative	Gordon Bell	227
Conservative	Grace Forsythe	211
Conservative	Linda Hardy	184
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing
Liberal Democrats gain from		Swing

Springfield (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	Heinz I. Lobenstein	1,406
Conservative	Isaac Leibowitz	1,330
Conservative	Eric Ollenhauser	1,323
Labour	Linda A. Kelly	790
Labour	Dennis Sawyer	728
Labour	Ian S. Thompson	704
CPI	Monty Goldman	92
Conservative hold		Swing
Conservative hold		Swing
Conservative hold		Swing

Victoria (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal Democrats	Howard Hyman	1,046
Liberal Democrats	Patricia McGuiness	994
Liberal Democrats	Lindsay Montgomery	980
Labour	Jason Cox	965
Labour	Geoffrey Horn	897
Labour	Faizullah Khan	847
Conservative	Barbara Campbell	122
Conservative	Patricia Birgell	109
CPI	Doris E. Snelgrove	81
BNP	Victor J. Dooley	65
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Wenlock (2)
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal Democrats	Kevin N. Daws	809
Liberal Democrats	Kay M. Stone	716
Labour	Emma F. Burnell	373
Labour	Patricia M.L. Webster	312
BNP	Kate McKay	89
Conservative	Caroline I. Fazzani	47
Conservative	Rita Than	18
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Westdown (2)
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Julie P. Grimble	596
Labour	David H. Manion	493
Liberal Democrats	Kevin Brock	162
Green	Nicholas Lee	151
Liberal Democrats	Jerry H. Parana-Hetty	134
Conservative	Angela Kilmartin	62
Conservative	Peter Fazzani	58
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Wick (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal Democrats	Neil Hughes	1,233
Liberal Democrats	Andrew J. Bridgwater	1,154
Liberal Democrats	Adrian J. Gee-Turner	1,108
Labour	Elizabeth Clowes	608
Labour	Allan Hilton	589
Labour	William O'Connor	513
Conservative	Ann B. Brenells	117
Conservative	Yann Leclercq	100
Conservative	Irene C. Wonderling	84
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Moorfields (2)
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	David J. Candlin	887
Conservative	Lorraine C. Fahey	830
Labour	Ian W. Blunt	349
Labour	Dylan Jeffery	306
Liberal Democrats	John Henderson	146
Liberal Democrats	Tat C. Kong	136
Conservative hold		Swing
Conservative hold		Swing

Wenlock (2)
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal Democrats	Kevin N. Daws	809
Liberal Democrats	Kay M. Stone	716
Labour	Emma F. Burnell	373
Labour	Patricia M.L. Webster	312
BNP	Kate McKay	89
Conservative	Caroline I. Fazzani	47
Conservative	Rita Than	18
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

^ "1998 Greater London Authority referendum", Wikipedia, 13 April 2024, retrieved 25 July 2024
^ "Vote-rigging councillors face jail". 9 March 2001. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

^[1]

1998 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1999)

London boroughs

Metropolitan boroughs

Unitary authorities

District councils
(England)

National Assembly elections

Northern Ireland

Referendums

^ Minors, Grenham, Michael, Dennis (1998). London Borough Council Elections 7 May 1998 including the Greater London Authority Referendum results (1st ed.). London: London Research Centre. pp. Hackney. ISBN 1 85261 2762.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1] "1998 Greater London Authority referendum", Wikipedia, 13 April 2024, retrieved 25 July 2024

[2] "Vote-rigging councillors face jail". 9 March 2001. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[3] Minors, Grenham, Michael, Dennis (1998). London Borough Council Elections 7 May 1998 including the Greater London Authority Referendum results (1st ed.). London: London Research Centre. pp. Hackney. ISBN 1 85261 2762.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1]

[2]

[1]

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