1982 United Kingdom local elections

6 May 1982

All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs,
103 out of 296 English districts and all 12 Scottish regions
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Margaret Thatcher Michael Foot David Steel
& Gang of Four
Party Conservative Labour Alliance
Leader since 11 February 1975 10 November 1980 7 July 1976
& 26 March 1981
Percentage 40% 29% 27%
Swing Increase 2% Decrease 12% Increase 10%
Councillors 10,447 8,774 1,850
Councillors +/- Decrease 98 Decrease 225 Increase 395

Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1982.[1][2] The elections coincided with rising popularity of the Conservative government and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which was mostly attributed to the Falklands War. The projected share of the vote was Conservatives 40%, Labour 29%, Liberal-SDP Alliance 27%.

Elections were held in several English boroughs, including all those in London.

The Conservatives held their ground, losing only 98 seats, leaving them with 10,447 seats.

The main opposition Labour Party, under the leadership of Michael Foot, lost 225 seats, finishing with 8,774 councillors.

For the newly formed Liberal-SDP Alliance, the 1982 local elections were the first annual electoral test. They gained 395 seats and finished with 1,850 councillors. This meant that the Alliance had almost as many votes as Labour, but Labour still had nearly five times as many councillors.

Summary of results

England

London boroughs

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Barking and Dagenham 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 Conservative Conservative hold Details
Enfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Greenwich Labour Labour hold Details
Hackney Labour Labour hold Details
Hammersmith and Fulham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Haringey Labour Labour hold Details
Harrow Conservative Conservative hold Details
Havering Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hillingdon Conservative Conservative hold 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 No overall control gain 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 No overall control gain Details
Wandsworth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Westminster Conservative Conservative hold Details

‡ New ward boundaries

Metropolitan boroughs

Whole council

In 13 metropolitan boroughs the whole council was up for election.

In 13 boroughs there were new ward boundaries, following electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Council Previous control Result Details
Birmingham Labour Conservative gain Details
Dudley No overall control Conservative gain Details
Gateshead Labour Labour hold Details
Kirklees Labour Labour hold Details
Knowsley Labour Labour hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Labour Labour hold Details
North Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
Salford Labour Labour hold Details
South Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
Sunderland Labour Labour hold Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold Details
Wolverhampton Labour Labour hold Details

‡ New ward boundaries

Third of council

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Barnsley Labour Labour hold Details
Bolton Labour Labour hold Details
Bradford Labour No overall control gain Details
Bury Conservative Conservative hold Details
Calderdale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Coventry Labour Labour hold Details
Doncaster Labour Labour hold Details
Leeds Labour Labour hold Details
Liverpool No overall control No overall control hold Details
Oldham Labour Labour hold Details
Rochdale Labour No overall control gain Details
Rotherham Labour Labour hold Details
Sandwell Labour Labour hold Details
Sefton Conservative Conservative hold Details
Sheffield Labour Labour hold Details
Solihull Conservative Conservative hold Details
St Helens Labour Labour hold Details
Stockport Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tameside Labour Labour hold Details
Trafford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Walsall Labour No overall control gain Details
Wigan Labour Labour hold Details
Wirral Conservative Conservative hold Details

District councils

In 103 districts one third of the council was up for election.

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

Scotland

Regional councils

Council Previous control Result Details
Borders Independent Independent hold Details
Central Labour Labour hold Details
Dumfries and Galloway Independent Independent hold Details
Fife Labour Labour hold Details
Grampian Conservative Conservative hold Details
Highland Independent Independent hold Details
Lothian Labour No overall control gain Details
Orkney Independent Independent hold Details
Shetland Independent Independent hold Details
Strathclyde Labour Labour hold Details
Tayside Conservative Conservative hold Details
Western Isles Independent Independent hold Details

References

  1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1982. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  2. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
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