1985 Wiltshire County Council election

Elections to Wiltshire County Council were held on 2 May 1985. The whole council of seventy-five members was up for election and the result was that the Conservatives lost their majority, winning only thirty seats, resulting in no overall control. The Liberals gained seats, winning seventeen, the Social Democrats won eight seats, the first time they had been represented in the council, while Labour had losses, finishing like the Liberals with seventeen members. Three Independents, including one Ratepayer, were also elected.^[1]

In an editorial on 4 May headed "Local Lessons", The Times commented that "The Conservatives predominate as the single largest party in the counties still. Generalizations from such elections are always flawed by local factors. Intra-party disputes help explain the loss of Conservative seats in Wiltshire".^[2]

Following the elections, an informal agreement between the leader of the Liberal group, Jack Ainslie, and the leader of the Labour members, Mary Salisbury, led to the formation of a minority SDP–Liberal Alliance administration. Salisbury commented to The Times "Where the Liberals put forward what seem to be measures which are beneficial to the people of Wiltshire, we will support them."^[3]

Election result[]

Wiltshire Local Election Result 1985^[1]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %
Conservative	30	- 10	40.0
Liberal	17	+ 5	22.7
Labour	17	- 3	22.7
SDP	8	+ 8	10.7
Independent	3	+ 1	4.0

Results by divisions[]

Aldbourne and Ramsbury[]

Aldbourne and Ramsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Alliance	John Bernard Ainslie	2,012	67.0
	Conservative	K. Eaton	855	28.5
	Labour	W. Barlow	136	4.5
Majority			1157
	Alliance hold		Swing

Alderbury[]

Alderbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A. W. M. Christie-Miller	1,438	64.8
	Alliance	A. Maclachan	664	29.9
	Labour	I. Tomes	117	5.3
Majority			774
	Conservative hold		Swing

Amesbury[]

Amesbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Alliance	A. J. F. Haywood	1,193	55.9
	Conservative	T. Heffernan	943	44.1
Majority			250
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Bedwyn[]

Bedwyn
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	H. D. Rogers	1,199	74.1
	Alliance	T. Williams	418	25.9
Majority
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blunsdon[]

Blunsdon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. W. H. Archer	1,520	57.9
	Alliance	Ms P. Pascoe	970	37.0
	Ecology	H. Stredder	133	5.1
Majority			550
	Labour hold		Swing

Box[]

Box
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	F. Naylor	1,054	40.2
	Alliance	Ms B. Oakes	870	33.2
	Labour	J. Eglinton	695	26.5
Majority			184
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bradford on Avon North[]

Bradford on Avon North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Alliance	H. J. Owen	1,601	56.2
	Conservative	Robert George Ian Elliott	1,246	43.8
Majority			355
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Bradford on Avon South[]

Bradford on Avon South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Mrs Margaret Purves	909	40.9
	Alliance	G. Turner	883	39.8
	Labour	J. D. Childs	428	19.3
Majority			26
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bremhill and Calne Without[]

Bremhill and Calne Without
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Robert Andrew Raymond Syms	1,196	47.3
	Alliance	G. Greer	945	36.4
	Labour	H. Kirkbride	386	15.3
Majority			251
	Conservative hold		Swing

Brinkworth[]

Brinkworth
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	R. Carter	1,530
	Alliance	Ms J. Stratton	858
	Labour	W. Andrews	142
Majority			672
	Conservative hold		Swing

Calne[]

Calne
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	Mrs E. Hornby	1,200
	Conservative	E. Miller	594
	Labour	A. Donald	575
Majority			606
	Alliance hold		Swing

Chippenham Park[]

Chippenham Park
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	J. Henning	891
	Conservative	Ms E. Winterton	836
	Labour	R. Haynes	329
Majority			55
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Chippenham Sheldon[]

Chippenham Sheldon
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	June Margaret Wood	1,416
	Conservative	J. Scott	994
	Labour	A. Day	782
Majority			422
	Alliance hold		Swing

Chippenham Town[]

Chippenham Town
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	Ms M. Fallon	2,267
	Conservative	E. Taylor	1,209
	Labour	J. Coadwell	321
Majority			1,058
	Alliance hold		Swing

Collingbourne[]

Collingbourne
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	H. Crawford	1,130
	Conservative	D. Fopp	598
	Labour	J. Davidson	282
Majority			532
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Corsham[]

Corsham
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Bright	1,054
	Alliance	D. Pope	899
	Labour	Ms C. Reid	282
Majority			155
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cricklade[]

Cricklade
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	Reginald John Coole	1,480
	Conservative	R. Thompson	573
	Labour	J. D’Lemos	75
Majority			907
	Alliance hold		Swing

Devizes[]

Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	P. Gates	742
	Alliance	Ms P. A. Morris	696
	Labour	I. Hopkins	499
Majority			46
	Conservative gain from Alliance		Swing

Devizes South and Cannings[]

Devizes South and Cannings
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Patricia Rugg	1,416
	Alliance	C. Gillington	1,052
	Labour	Ms S. Williams	442
Majority			364
	Conservative hold		Swing

Downton[]

Downton
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	R. Peach	1,216
	Alliance	C. Tate	667
	Labour	K. Willis	377
	Independent	H. Farris	336
Majority			549
	Conservative hold		Swing

Durrington[]

Durrington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	C. E. Robinson	651
	Independent	R. Steadman	589
	Labour	Ms A. Read	422
	Alliance	Ms F. Crombie	269
Majority			62
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Highworth[]

Highworth
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Ms M. Haines	1,867
	Conservative	D. F. Morley	1,238
Majority			629
	Labour hold		Swing

Holt[]

Holt
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	George Frederick James Hawkins	1,232
	Conservative	P. Beale	983
Majority			249
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Idmiston[]

Idmiston
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Ms H. Mead	1,004
	Alliance	Ms G. Gent	843
	Labour	M. Sheehan	157
Majority			161
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kington[]

Kington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	M. Adams	1,102
	Conservative	Brenda Margaret Wyrill	1,018
	Labour	C. Phillips	236
Majority			276
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Laverstock[]

Laverstock
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	R. C. Lodge	1,037
	Alliance	D. Crombie	765
	Labour	I. Hollingworth	202
Majority			272
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lavington[]

Lavington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Derek Bernard William Jarvis	1,460
	Labour	Ms P. Day	622
Majority			838
	Conservative hold		Swing

Malmesbury[]

Malmesbury
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	H. Price	1,954
	Conservative	R. Clarke	1,307
	Labour	M. Tavener	223
Majority			647
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Marlborough[]

Marlborough
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Alliance	J. Spanton	1,242
	Conservative	B. Ashley	1,037
	Labour	Ms M. R. Urquhart	328
Majority			205
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Melksham[]

Melksham
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Mary E. Salisbury	1,502
	Conservative	Ms P. Johnson	642
Majority			860
	Labour hold		Swing

Melksham Without[]

Melksham Without
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Ms. E. Joyce	1,556
	Labour	P. Colegate	1,081
Majority			475
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mere[]

Mere
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert George Catton	1,236
	Alliance	S. Head	821
	Labour	Ms S. Potten	257
Majority			415
	Conservative hold		Swing

References[]

^ ^a ^b Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Local Elections' in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 4
^ 'Local Lessons', editorial in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 9
^ Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Emerging figure in new Lib-Lab pact: an Alliance shire leader cast in Tory mould', in The Times of London, issue 62135 dated 11 May 1985, p. 2

External links[]

Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, Wiltshire County Council election Results 1973–2005 at electionscentre.co.uk

[times1-1] Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Local Elections' in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 4

[2] 'Local Lessons', editorial in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 9

[3] Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Emerging figure in new Lib-Lab pact: an Alliance shire leader cast in Tory mould', in The Times of London, issue 62135 dated 11 May 1985, p. 2

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[3]

v t (1984 ←) 1985 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1986)
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Sui generis

v t Council elections in Wiltshire
Wiltshire Council	2009 2013 2017 2021
Swindon Borough Council	1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021
Kennet District Council	2007 Abolished
North Wiltshire District Council	2007 Abolished
Salisbury District Council	2007 Abolished
Wiltshire County Council	1889 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 Abolished
West Wiltshire District Council	1999 2003 2007 Abolished
See also: Divisions and wards Boundary changes