1978 United Kingdom local elections

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1978 United Kingdom local elections
← 1977 2 May 1978 (Scotland)
4 May 1978 (England)		 1979 →
All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs,
44 out of 296 English districts and all 12 Scottish regions
  Majority party Minority party Third party
  Margaret Thatcher at White House (cropped).jpg Persconferentie na afloop Overleg van de 9 , Den Haag Callaghan (oa met Enge, Bestanddeelnr 928-9157 (crop).jpg
Leader Margaret Thatcher James Callaghan David Steel
Party Conservative Labour Liberal
Leader since 11 February 1975 5 April 1976 7 July 1976
Councillors 12,645 6,644 923
Councillors +/- Increase 275 Decrease 461 Decrease 163

Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1978. Elections took place in the London boroughs and metropolitan districts.[1][2]

The main opposition Conservative Party gained 275 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 12,645. They gained Oldham and Havering from no overall control, and Ealing, Hillingdon, Wandsworth and Sandwell from Labour.

The governing Labour Party lost 461 seats, leaving them with 6,644 councillors. In addition to their losses to the Conservatives they also lost South Tyneside, Hammersmith and Fulham and Wolverhampton to no overall control.

The Liberal Party lost 163 seats in total, leaving them with 923 councillors.

Summary of results[]

England[]

London boroughs[]

Main article: 1978 London local elections

In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Barking ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Barnet ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bexley ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Brent ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Bromley ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Camden ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Croydon ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Ealing ‡ Labour Conservative gain Details
Enfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Greenwich ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Hackney ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Hammersmith ‡ Labour No overall control gain Details
Haringey ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Harrow ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Havering ‡ No overall control Conservative gain Details
Hillingdon ‡ Labour Conservative gain Details
Hounslow ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Islington ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Kensington and Chelsea ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Kingston upon Thames ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Lambeth ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Lewisham ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Merton ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Newham ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Redbridge ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Richmond upon Thames ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Southwark ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Sutton ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tower Hamlets ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Waltham Forest ‡ Labour Labour hold Details
Wandsworth ‡ Labour Conservative gain Details
Westminster ‡ Conservative Conservative hold Details

‡ New ward boundaries

Metropolitan boroughs[]

All 36 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Barnsley Labour Labour hold Details
Birmingham Conservative Conservative hold
Bolton Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bradford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bury Conservative Conservative hold
Calderdale Conservative Conservative hold
Coventry Labour Conservative gain
Doncaster Labour Labour hold
Dudley Conservative Conservative hold
Gateshead Labour Labour hold
Kirklees Conservative Conservative hold
Knowsley Labour Labour hold
Leeds Conservative Conservative hold Details
Liverpool No overall control No overall control hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Labour Labour hold
North Tyneside Labour Labour hold
Oldham No overall control Conservative gain
Rochdale Conservative Conservative hold
Rotherham Labour Labour hold
Salford Labour Labour hold
Sandwell Labour Conservative gain
Sefton Conservative Conservative hold
Sheffield Labour Labour hold Details
Solihull Conservative Conservative hold
South Tyneside Labour No overall control gain
St Helens Labour Labour hold
Stockport Conservative Conservative hold
Sunderland Labour Labour hold
Tameside Conservative Conservative hold
Trafford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold
Walsall No overall control No overall control hold
Wigan Labour Labour hold Details
Wirral Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wolverhampton Labour No overall control gain Details

District councils[]

In 44 districts one third of the council was up for election.

These were the first councils which had passed a resolution under section 7 (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972, requesting a system of elections by thirds. They could do so because they had had their new ward boundaries introduced at the 1976 elections.

Council Previous control Result Details
Basingstoke and Deane Conservative Conservative hold
Bath Conservative Conservative hold Details
Brentwood Conservative Conservative hold
Broxbourne Conservative Conservative hold Details
Burnley Labour Labour hold
Cambridge Conservative Conservative hold
Cannock Chase Labour Labour hold
Chorley Conservative Conservative hold
Colchester Conservative Conservative hold Details
Congleton Conservative Conservative hold
Eastbourne Conservative Conservative hold
Eastleigh Conservative Conservative hold
Ellesmere Port and Neston Labour Labour hold
Elmbridge Conservative Conservative hold
Fareham Conservative Conservative hold
Halton Labour Labour hold
Harlow Labour Labour hold Details
Hart Independent Independent hold
Hartlepool No overall control No overall control hold
Havant No overall control Conservative gain
Hertsmere Conservative Conservative hold
Huntingdon Conservative Conservative hold
Milton Keynes Conservative Conservative hold
Mole Valley No overall control No overall control hold
Pendle Conservative Conservative hold
Peterborough Conservative No overall control gain
Preston Conservative Conservative hold
Rochford Conservative Conservative hold
Rossendale Conservative Conservative hold
Runnymede Conservative Conservative hold
Shrewsbury and Atcham Conservative Conservative hold
South Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold
South Cambridgeshire Independent Independent hold
Southend-on-Sea Conservative Conservative hold
Tamworth No overall control Conservative gain
Tandridge Conservative Conservative hold
Thamesdown No overall control Labour gain
Three Rivers Conservative Conservative hold
Tunbridge Wells Conservative Conservative hold
Watford Labour Labour hold
Welwyn Hatfield Conservative Conservative hold
West Lancashire Conservative Conservative hold
Winchester No overall control No overall control hold
Woking Conservative Conservative hold

Scotland[]

Regional councils[]

Main article: 1978 Scottish regional elections
Council Previous control Result Details
Borders Independent Independent hold
Central Labour Labour hold
Dumfries and Galloway Independent Independent hold Details
Fife Labour Labour hold Details
Grampian Conservative Conservative hold
Highland Independent Independent hold Details
Lothian No overall control Labour gain Details
Orkney Independent Independent hold
Shetland Independent Independent hold Details
Strathclyde Labour Labour hold Details
Tayside No overall control Conservative gain Details
Western Isles Independent Independent hold

References[]

  1. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1978. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
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