1992 United Kingdom local elections

Local elections were held in the United Kingdom on 7 May 1992, one month after the general election which returned the governing Conservative Party for a fourth consecutive term in office. The Conservatives won back some ground that they had lost the previous year.^[1]^[2]

The Conservative Party gained 303 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 8,288. Their share of the vote was projected to be 46%, their highest for many years.

The main opposition Labour Party lost 402 seats and were left with 9,102 councillors. Their projected share of the vote was 30%, their lowest since 1982. Neil Kinnock was still party leader at this stage, although he had already declared his intention to resign from the position as soon as a new leader was elected; his successor was John Smith, who won the leadership contest against Bryan Gould on 18 July 1992.

The Liberal Democrats gained 56 seats and had 3,728 councillors after the elections.

Summary of results[]

England[]

Metropolitan boroughs[]

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

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

District councils[]

Whole council[]

In one district the whole council was up for election as there were new ward boundaries, following a further electoral boundary review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Council	Previous control		Result		Details
Basingstoke and Deane		Conservative		Conservative hold

Third of council[]

In 113 districts one third of the council was up for election.

Council			Details
Adur	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats hold
Amber Valley	Labour	Labour hold
Barrow-in-Furness	No overall control	No overall control hold
Basildon	No overall control	Conservative gain	Details
Bassetlaw	Labour	Labour hold
Bath	No overall control	No overall control hold	Details
Bedford	No overall control	No overall control hold
Blackburn	Labour	Labour hold
Brentwood	No overall control	Liberal Democrats gain
Brighton	Labour	Labour hold
Bristol	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Broadland	Conservative	Conservative hold
Broxbourne	Conservative	Conservative hold	Details
Burnley	Labour	Labour hold
Cambridge	Labour	No overall control gain
Cannock Chase	Labour	Labour hold
Carlisle	Labour	Labour hold
Cheltenham	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats hold	Details
Cherwell	Conservative	Conservative hold
Chester	No overall control	No overall control hold
Chorley	No overall control	No overall control hold
Colchester	No overall control	No overall control hold	Details
Congleton	Liberal Democrats	No overall control gain
Craven	No overall control	No overall control hold
Crawley	Labour	Labour hold
Crewe and Nantwich	Labour	Labour hold
Daventry	Conservative	Conservative hold
Derby	No overall control	No overall control hold	Details
Eastbourne	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats hold
Eastleigh	No overall control	No overall control hold
Ellesmere Port and Neston	Labour	Labour hold
Elmbridge	No overall control	No overall control hold
Epping Forest	Conservative	Conservative hold
Exeter	No overall control	No overall control hold
Fareham	Conservative	Conservative hold
Gillingham	No overall control	No overall control hold
Gloucester	No overall control	No overall control hold	Details
Gosport	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats hold
Great Grimsby	Labour	Labour hold
Great Yarmouth	Labour	Labour hold
Halton	Labour	Labour hold
Harlow	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Harrogate	No overall control	No overall control hold
Hart	No overall control	No overall control hold
Hartlepool	Labour	Labour hold
Hastings	No overall control	No overall control hold
Havant	No overall control	No overall control hold
Hereford	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats hold
Hertsmere	Conservative	Conservative hold
Huntingdonshire	Conservative	Conservative hold
Hyndburn	Labour	Labour hold
Ipswich	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Kingston upon Hull	Labour	Labour hold
Leominster	Independent	Independent hold
Lincoln	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Macclesfield	Conservative	Conservative hold
Maidstone	No overall control	No overall control hold
Milton Keynes	Labour	No overall control gain
Mole Valley	No overall control	No overall control hold
Newcastle-under-Lyme	Labour	Labour hold
North Hertfordshire	Conservative	Conservative hold
Norwich	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Nuneaton and Bedworth	Labour	Labour hold
Oxford	Labour	Labour hold
Pendle	Labour	Labour hold
Penwith	No overall control	No overall control hold
Peterborough	No overall control	No overall control hold
Portsmouth	No overall control	No overall control hold
Preston	Labour	Labour hold
Purbeck	No overall control	No overall control hold
Reading	Labour	Labour hold
Redditch	Labour	Labour hold
Reigate and Banstead	No overall control	No overall control hold
Rochford	No overall control	No overall control hold	Details
Rossendale	Labour	Labour hold
Rugby	No overall control	No overall control hold
Runnymede	Conservative	Conservative hold
Rushmoor	Conservative	Conservative hold
Scunthorpe	Labour	Labour hold
Shrewsbury and Atcham	No overall control	No overall control hold
Slough	Labour	Labour hold
South Bedfordshire	Conservative	Conservative hold
South Cambridgeshire	Independent	No overall control gain
South Herefordshire	Independent	Independent hold
South Lakeland	No overall control	No overall control hold
Southampton	Labour	Labour hold
Southend-on-Sea	Conservative	Conservative hold	Details
St Albans	No overall control	No overall control hold
Stevenage	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Stoke-on-Trent	Labour	Labour hold
Stratford-on-Avon	No overall control	Conservative gain
Stroud	No overall control	No overall control hold
Swale	No overall control	No overall control hold
Tamworth	Labour	Labour hold
Tandridge	No overall control	No overall control hold
Thamesdown	Labour	Labour hold
Three Rivers	No overall control	No overall control hold
Thurrock	Labour	Labour hold
Tunbridge Wells	Conservative	Conservative hold
Watford	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Waveney	Labour	Labour hold
Welwyn Hatfield	Labour	Conservative gain
West Lancashire	No overall control	No overall control hold
West Lindsey	No overall control	No overall control hold
West Oxfordshire	Independent	No overall control gain
Weymouth and Portland	No overall control	No overall control hold
Winchester	No overall control	No overall control hold
Woking	No overall control	Conservative gain
Wokingham	Conservative	Conservative hold
Worcester	Labour	Labour hold
Worthing	Conservative	Conservative hold
Wyre Forest	No overall control	No overall control hold
York	Labour	Labour hold	Details

Scotland[]

District councils[]

These were the last elections to the district councils before they were abolished by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

Council			Details
Aberdeen	No overall control	Labour gain	Details
Angus	SNP	SNP hold	Details
Annandale and Eskdale	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats hold	Details
Argyll	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Badenoch and Strathspey	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Banff and Buchan	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Bearsden and Milngavie	Conservative	No overall control gain	Details
Berwickshire	Conservative	Conservative hold	Details
Caithness	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Clackmannan	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Clydebank	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Clydesdale	Labour	No overall control gain	Details
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	No overall control	Labour gain	Details
Cumnock and Doon Valley	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Cunninghame	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Dumbarton	No overall control	No overall control hold	Details
Dundee	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Dunfermline	Labour	Labour hold	Details
East Kilbride	Labour	Labour hold	Details
East Lothian	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Eastwood	Conservative	Conservative hold	Details
Edinburgh	Labour	No overall control gain	Details
Ettrick and Lauderdale	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Falkirk	Labour	No overall control gain	Details
Glasgow	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Gordon	No overall control	Independent gain	Details
Hamilton	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Inverclyde	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Inverness	Independent	No overall control gain	Details
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	Labour	No overall control gain	Details
Kincardine and Deeside	Independent	No overall control gain	Details
Kirkcaldy	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Kyle and Carrick	Labour	Conservative gain	Details
Lochaber	Independent	No overall control gain	Details
Midlothian	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Monklands	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Moray	Independent	No overall control gain	Details
Motherwell	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Nairn	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Nithsdale	Labour	No overall control gain	Details
North-East Fife	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats hold	Details
Perth and Kinross	No overall control	Conservative gain	Details
Renfrew		Labour	Details
Ross and Cromarty	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Roxburgh	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Skye and Lochalsh	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Stewartry	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Stirling	Labour	No overall control gain	Details
Strathkelvin	Labour	Labour hold	Details
Sutherland	Independent	Independent hold	Details
Tweeddale	Independent	Independent hold	Details
West Lothian	Labour	No overall control gain	Details
Wigtown	Independent	Independent hold	Details

References[]

^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1992 (PDF). Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.

[1] Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1992 (PDF). Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.

[2] "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.

[1]

[2]

v t (1991 ←) 1992 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1993)
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Bradford Bolton Leeds Liverpool Manchester Sheffield Solihull Trafford Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
District councils (England)	Basildon Bath Brentwood Bristol Broxbourne Cheltenham Colchester Derby Gloucester Harlow Ipswich Lincoln Norwich Rochford Southend-on-Sea Stevenage Watford York
District councils (Scotland)	Aberdeen Angus Annandale and Eskdale Argyll and Bute Badenoch and Strathspey Banff and Buchan Bearsden and Milngavie Berwickshire Caithness Clackmannan Clydebank Clydesdale Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Cumnock and Doon Valley Cunninghame Dumbarton Dundee Dunfermline East Kilbride East Lothian Eastwood Edinburgh Ettrick and Lauderdale Falkirk Glasgow Gordon Hamilton Inverclyde Inverness Kilmarnock and Loudoun Kincardine and Deeside Kirkcaldy Kyle and Carrick Lochaber Midlothian Monklands Moray Motherwell Nairn Nithsdale North East Fife Perth and Kinross Renfrew Ross and Cromarty Roxburgh Skye and Lochalsh Stewartry Stirling Strathkelvin Sutherland Tweeddale West Lothian Wigtown
See also: UK General election

v t Elections and referendums in the United Kingdom
General elections	1801 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 Next
Local elections	1889 1892 1894 1896 1909 1934 1949 1955 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Referendums	1975 2011 2016