Before (end of 1997) (66 seats, Elections Centre)
Labour 50 · Liberal Democrats 13 · Other 2 · Conservative 1
After (end of 1998) (66 seats, Elections Centre)
Labour 51 · Liberal Democrats 15 · Conservative 0 · Other 0
Ward results
Birtley1 seat
| N. Weatherley | Labour | 907 ✓ |
| D Collier | Liberal Democrats | 281 |
| S. Wilson | Conservative | 80 |
Crawcrook & Greenside1 seat
| C. Ball | Liberal Democrats | 1,265 ✓ |
| P Driver | Labour | 1,228 |
| P Capon | Green | 96 |
| Wilson P. | Conservative | 48 |
Deckham1 seat
| June Joyce | Labour | 612 ✓ |
| C. Budgen | Liberal Democrats | 137 |
| R Shaw | Conservative | 77 |
| E. Brunskill | SOC | 51 |
Dunston1 seat
| D. Bollands | Labour | 1,178 ✓ |
| Glenys Goodwill | Liberal Democrats | 186 |
| Isabel Mary Blanchflower | Green | 143 |
| John Callanan | Conservative | 130 |
High Fell1 seat
| W Maddison | Labour | 1,063 ✓ |
| P Reilly | Liberal Democrats | 100 |
| June Murray | Conservative | 72 |
Lamesley1 seat
| N. O'Neil | Labour | 1,126 ✓ |
| S. Lowes | Liberal Democrats | 331 |
| Karen Sludden | Conservative | 92 |
Ryton1 seat
| Christine Margaret McHatton | Liberal Democrats | 1,641 ✓ |
| J. Hancock | Labour | 1,035 |
| H Wilson | Conservative | 77 |
Teams1 seat
| L. Carr | Labour | 1,081 ✓ |
| M. Dowling | Liberal Democrats | 246 |
| Margaret Bell | Conservative | 84 |
Whickham North1 seat
| P. Maughan | Liberal Democrats | 1,649 ✓ |
| Margaret Duddin | Labour | 916 |
| Elizabeth Robertson | Conservative | 121 |