| Election Name: | 1988 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Country: | England |
| Flag Image: | Coat_of_arms_of_Trafford_Metropolitan_Borough_Council.png |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1987 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 1987 |
| Next Election: | 1990 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Seats For Election: | 22 of 63 seats to Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council |
| Majority Seats: | 32 |
| 3Blank: | Swing (pp)--> |
| Leader of the Council | |
| Before Election: | Barry Brotherton |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Posttitle: | Leader of the Council after election |
| After Election: | Colin Warbrick |
| After Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Seats Before1: | 28 |
| Seats1: | 13 |
| Seats After1: | 32 |
| Popular Vote1: | 39,639 |
| Percentage1: | 48.9% |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Seats Before2: | 28 |
| Seats2: | 8 |
| Seats After2: | 27 |
| Popular Vote2: | 29,169 |
| Percentage2: | 36.0% |
| Party3: | Social and Liberal Democrats |
| Seats Before3: | 7 |
| Seats3: | 1 |
| Seats After3: | 4 |
| Popular Vote3: | 11,743 |
| Percentage3: | 14.5% |
Elections to Trafford Council in the United Kingdom were held on 5 May 1988. One-third of the council was up for election, with each successful candidate to serve a four-year term of office, expiring in 1992. The Conservative party gained overall control of the council, from no overall control.[1]
| Party | Votes | Seats | Full Council | |||||||
| Conservative Party | 39,639 (48.9%) | 1.2 | 13 (59.1%) | 4 | 32 (50.8%) | |||||
| Labour Party | 29,169 (36.0%) | 5.4 | 8 (36.4%) | 1 | 27 (42.9%) | |||||
| SLD | 11,536 (14.2%) | 6.8 | 1 (4.5%) | 3 | 4 (6.3%) | |||||
| Green Party | 494 (0.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | |||||||
| SDP | 207 (0.3%) | N/A | 0 (0.0%) | N/A | 0 (0.0%) | |||||
| 27 | 4 | 32 |