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.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Liberal Democrats 18
• Conservative 12

Election result

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

Eastbourne local election result 1998

Party		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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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. Conservative Barbara Goodall gained the seat from the Liberal Democrats.

Ratton by-election 3 September 1998

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