1986 Scottish regional elections
8 May 1986 (1986-05-08)
  First party Second party
  Margaret Thatcher
Leader Neil Kinnock Margaret Thatcher
Party Labour Conservative
Leader since 2 October 1983 11 February 1975
Seats won 223 65
Seat change Increase37 Decrease54
Percentage 43.9 16.9
Swing Increase6.3 Decrease8.2
  Third party Fourth party
  David Steel
Leader David Steel Gordon Wilson
Party Alliance SNP
Leader since 1976 15 September 1979
Seats won 40 36
Seat change Increase15 Increase13
Percentage 15.1 18.2
Swing Decrease3.0 Increase4.8
Colours denote the winning party with outright control
Results by ward

Regional elections were held in Scotland on Thursday 8 May 1986, under the terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The previous elections had been held in 1982. The elections took place a year before the Conservative's third general election victory. Elections took place in England and Wales on the same day.

National results

Summary of the 1986 Scottish regional council election results[1]
Parties Votes Votes % +/- Wards Net
Gain/Loss
Labour 43.9 223
SNP 18.2 36
Conservative 16.9 65
Alliance 15.1 40
Independent 4.8 79
Total45.2 ??524

Party performance

Labour continued to make gains, increasing their number of councillors in most of the areas contested. The Conservatives suffered heavy losses, losing control of Lothian council to Labour and Grampian and Tayside councils to no overall control. They lost all their Councillors in Dumfries and Galloway. The SNP vote failed to recover from its decline since 1980.

Results by council area

Scottish Regional election results, 1986[2]
Council Lab Con All SNP Other Total seats Turnout Control
 Details
Borders 0 6 (-2) 2 (-1) 2 (+1) 14 (+1) 23 37.02% Independent hold Details
Central 23 (+1) 4 1 5 1 (-1) 34 47.49% Labour hold Details
Dumfries and Galloway 7 (+3) 0 (-4) 4 (+2) 5 (+2) 19 (-3) 35 40.66% Independent hold Details
Fife 30 (+3) 4 (-5) 8 (+3) 2 (+1) 2 (-1) 46 46.74% Labour hold Details
Grampian 18 (+2) 15 (-11) 12 (+7) 9 (+5) 3 57 35.61% No overall control gain from Conservatives Details
Highland 6 (+1) 2 (+1) 2 (-1) 2 (+1) 40 (-2) 52 41.85% Independent Hold Details
Lothian 30 (+7) 13 (-8) 3 2 (+1) 1 49 49.21% Labour gain from NOC Details
Orkney 0 - - - 24 24  ??% Independent Hold Details
Shetland 4 (+1) - - - 21 (-1) 25  ??% Independent Hold Details
Strathclyde 88 (+8) 6 (-8) 5 (+1) 1 (-1) 3 103 45.46% Labour hold Details
Tayside 20 (+8) 14 (-13) 1 (+1) 9 (+4) 2 46 47.64% No overall control gain from Conservative Details
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) 0 - - - 30 30  ??% Independent Hold Details

References

  1. ↑ McConnell, Alan (2004), Scottish Local Government, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2005-0
  2. ↑ "How the parties fared region by region". The Glasgow Herald. 10 May 1986. p. 6. Retrieved 28 December 2016.


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