| Election Name: | 1988 Hamilton District Council election |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1984 Hamilton District Council election |
| Previous Year: | 1984 |
| Next Election: | 1992 Hamilton District Council election |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
| Seats For Election: | All 20 seats to Hamilton District Council |
| Majority Seats: | 11 |
| Registered: | 80,029 |
| Turnout: | 48.8% |
| Image1: | Lab |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Seats1: | 15 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 21,235 |
| Percentage1: | 54.7% |
| Swing1: | 10.2 |
| Party2: | Scottish Social and Liberal Democrats |
| Seats2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 3,031 |
| Percentage2: | 7.8% |
| Swing2: | 8.6 |
| Image3: | SNP |
| Party3: | Scottish National Party |
| Seats3: | 1 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 7,700 |
| Percentage3: | 19.9% |
| Swing3: | 11.9 |
| Image4: | Con |
| Party4: | Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party |
| Seats4: | 1 |
| Popular Vote4: | 3,861 |
| Percentage4: | 10.0% |
| Swing4: | 0.7 |
| Image5: | ILab |
| Party5: | Independent Labour |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 2,592 |
| Percentage5: | 6.6% |
| Swing5: | New |
| Council Leader | |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Posttitle: | Council Leader after election |
| After Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
Elections to Hamilton District Council were held on 5 May 1988, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the fifth election to the district council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.
The election used the 20 wards created by the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1980. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.[1]
Despite losing two seats and their vote share falling by 10.2%, Labour maintained control of the district council as they won 15 of the 20 seats – taking 54.7% of the popular vote. In March 1988, the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party merged and the newly formed Scottish Social and Liberal Democrats (SSLD) matched the result of the SDP–Liberal Alliance at the previous election as they returned two councillors. The remaining seats were won by the Scottish National Party (SNP) – who gained one seat and had come second in the popular vote – and the Conservatives.