West Oxfordshire District Council election, 1998

The 1998 West Oxfordshire District Council election took place on 7 May 1998 to elect members of West Oxfordshire District Council in Oxfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 14
• Independent 13
• Liberal Democrats 12
• Labour 10^[2]

Background

Before the election there were 15 independent councillors, the Liberal Democrats had 14 seats, Labour had 11 and the Conservatives had 9.^[3] An alliance between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party controlled the council with a majority of one seat.^[3]

Among the councillors who stood down at the election was independent David Walker, who had quit the Conservatives in the early 1990s over the poll tax, as well as Patrick Madden, Peg McWilliam, Elizabeth Mortimer and Susan Swann.^[3] 49 candidates stood for the 18 seats that were contested in 1998, including one candidate from the Green party, with the Liberal Democrats defending the most seats at eight.^[3]

Election result

The Conservatives became the largest group on the council after gaining five seats.^[4]

West Oxfordshire local election result 1998[1][5]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	5	0	+5	50.0	39.0	5,758
	Liberal Democrat	6	0	2	-2	33.3	28.9	4,262
	Independent	2	0	2	-2	11.1	6.4	949
	Labour	1	0	1	-1	5.6	25.4	3,752
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	27

Ward results

Ascott and Shipton[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Robert Barrett	295	45.9
	Conservative	Rodney Rose	240	37.3
	Labour	Frances Ashworth	108	16.8
Majority			55	8.6
Turnout			643	41.4
	Independent hold		Swing

Aston Bampton and Standlake[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Brenda Smith	576	74.7
	Conservative	Martin Chapman	153	19.8
	Labour	Christine Ainsley-Cowlishaw	42	5.4
Majority			423	54.9
Turnout			771	38.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Bampton[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jonathan Phillips	480	83.2
	Labour	Duncan Enright	59	10.2
	Liberal Democrat	Gareth Epps	38	6.6
Majority			421	73.0
Turnout			577	28.9
	Independent hold		Swing

Bartons[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Goffe	243	56.1
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Noviss	117	27.0
	Labour	Matthew Deans	73	16.9
Majority			126	29.1
Turnout			433	29.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bladon and Cassington[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Louise Chapman	306	58.4
	Labour	Laurence Whitehead	218	41.6
Majority			88	16.8
Turnout			524	43.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Brize Norton and Curbridge[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Verena Hunt	462	60.8
	Labour	William Tumbridge	204	26.8
	Liberal Democrat	David Rossiter	94	12.4
Majority			258	33.9
Turnout			760	25.7
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Burford[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher Davis	383	49.5
	Conservative	Mary Sanderson	329	42.5
	Labour	Alison Bettle	35	4.5
	Green	Ann Edmonds	27	3.5
Majority			54	7.0
Turnout			774	46.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Carterton North[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Marlow	502	49.5
	Labour	William Stevenson	188	18.5
	Independent	Keith Stone	174	17.1
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Harold	151	14.9
Majority			314	30.9
Turnout			1,015	20.7
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Carterton South[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Wesson	331	49.3
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Madden	200	29.8
	Labour	John Rowe	141	21.0
Majority			131	19.5
Turnout			672	22.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Charlbury[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher Tatton	686	60.2
	Labour	Reginald James	252	22.1
	Conservative	Brian Stacey	201	17.6
Majority			434	38.1
Turnout			1,139	49.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Chipping Norton[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Evelyn Coles	717	60.6
	Conservative	Rosalind Stroud	466	39.4
Majority			251	21.2
Turnout			1,183	26.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Clanfield and Shilton[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angela Neale	286	68.6
	Labour	Sally Webster	131	31.4
Majority			155	37.2
Turnout			417	28.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eynsham[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Harry Wyatt	675	60.5
	Conservative	Stephen Hayward	239	21.4
	Labour	Christopher Miles	202	18.1
Majority			436	39.1
Turnout			1,116	30.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Filkins and Langford[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Seale	307	74.3
	Labour	Michael Enright	106	25.7
Majority			201	48.7
Turnout			413	41.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Freeland and Hanborough[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David James	527	43.4
	Conservative	David Dawes	522	43.0
	Labour	Kim Simkin	165	13.6
Majority			5	0.4
Turnout			1,214	37.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

Witney North[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Robertson	218	36.2
	Liberal Democrat	Brenda Churchill	207	34.3
	Labour	John Ryall	178	29.5
Majority			11	1.8
Turnout			603	25.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Witney South[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Harvey	686	54.1
	Labour	Frederick Saxby	582	45.9
Majority			104	8.2
Turnout			1,268	23.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Woodstock[3][5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Julian Cooper	608	49.6
	Labour	Ian Baxter	351	28.6
	Conservative	Sandra Rasch	267	21.8
Majority			257	21.0
Turnout			1,226	49.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

References

1. "Local Elections results". The Times (NewsBank). 9 May 1998. p. 46.
2. "Local government election results". The Independent (NewsBank). 8 May 1998.
3. "Majority of one". Oxfordshire County Publications (NewsBank). 8 April 1998.
4. "Lord Mayor beats Greens". Oxfordshire County Publications (NewsBank). 8 May 1998.
5. "West Oxfordshire District Council Election Results 1998 - 2010" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. Retrieved 2 August 2015.