Elections to Tower Hamlets London Borough Council were held on 7 May 1998. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party kept overall control of the council.
In the years between the 1994 election and this election there were a total of 5 by-elections organised to replace councillors who either resigned from their seat or died while in office, these by-election however did not result in seats changing parties. During the same period there was also a defection of a Labour councillor to a third party, which meant that the composition of the council just before the election was as follows:
After the election the composition of the council was as follows:
(*) - Indicates an incumbent candidate
(â ) - Indicates an incumbent candidate standing in a different ward