| Election Name: | 1980 Scottish local elections |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1978 Scottish regional elections |
| Previous Year: | 1978 |
| Next Election: | 1982 Scottish regional elections |
| Next Year: | 1982 |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Seats1: | 469 |
| Seat Change1: | 187 |
| Popular Vote1: | 45.4% |
| Swing1: | 13.8 |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Seats2: | 232 |
| Seat Change2: | 27 |
| Popular Vote2: | 24.1% |
| Swing2: | 3.1 |
| Party4: | Scottish National Party |
| Seats4: | 52 |
| Seat Change4: | 118 |
| Popular Vote4: | 15.5% |
| Swing4: | 8.7 |
| Party5: | Liberal Party (UK) |
| Seats5: | 33 |
| Seat Change5: | 29 |
| Popular Vote5: | 6.2% |
| Swing5: | 2.2 |
| Map Size: | 350px |
Elections for the Scottish district councils were held in 1980.
These were the third elections held to the 53 district councils established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The previous elections had been held in 1977. The elections took place a year after the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher had come to power. The local elections, which also took place in England and Wales, were seen as the first electoral test of the Thatcher ministry.[1]
The poll was held on 1 May and all 1,182 district council seats were to be filled.[2] Districts formed the second tier in local government in Scotland under the 1975 reorganisation, with regional councils forming the upper tier. It was intended that elections would normally take place on a four-year cycle. Regional elections were also to be on a four-year cycle, held midway between district elections.
Labour had a very good electoral performance, more than regaining the ground they had lost at the 1977 elections. They gained 18 councils: 3 from the Scottish National Party, one from Liberals and 14 from no overall control. Notable gains were the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow. The Conservatives suffered the loss of Edinburgh but held another six councils. The SNP vote collapsed and they lost control of the three councils they controlled. In a number of councils all of the party's sitting councillors were defeated, most notably in Glasgow where they lost all 16 seats they held. The Liberal Party lost the only council they controlled.
|-!colspan=2|Parties!Votes!Votes %!Wards|-| ||45.4|469|-| ||24.1|232|-| ||15.5|52|-| ||6.2|33|-| style="width: 10px" bgcolor=|| style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Independent/Other||8.9||-!colspan=2|Total!! !! !!|}
The seats on each council before and after the election were as follows:[2] [3]
| District | Labour | Conservative | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berwickshire | 1 (+1) | 11 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | hold | |
| Ettrick and Lauderdale | 0 | 1 | 0 (−1) | 14 (+1) | 0 | hold | |
| Roxburgh | 0 (−1) | 5 (+3) | 0 | 11 (−2) | 0 | hold | |
| Tweeddale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | hold |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clackmannan | 7 (+3) | 1 | 4 (−3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | gain from SNP | |
| Falkirk | 27 (+19) | 2 | 4 (−17) | 0 | 2 (−1) | Independent Labour 1 Independent Scottish Nationalist 0 (−1) | gain from SNP | |
| Stirling | 10 (+3) | 9 | 0 (−3) | 0 | 1 (+1) | Independent Conservative 0 (−1) | gain from NOC |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Independent | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annandale and Eskdale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | hold | |
| Nithsdale | 5 (+1) | 5 (+5) | 4 | 14 (−6) | hold | |
| Stewartry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | hold | |
| Wigtown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | hold |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunfermline | 22 (+3) | 5 (−2) | 1 (−1) | 1 (+1) | 1 (−1) | 0 | hold | |
| Kirkcaldy | 23 (+7) | 3 (−2) | 4 (−4) | 0 | 3 | Ratepayers 3 (−1) | gain from NOC | |
| North-East Fife | 5 (+4) | 11 (−5) | 0 | 0 | 2 (+1) | 0 | hold |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banff and Buchan | 1 (+1) | 0 | 5 (+4) | 0 | 12 (−5) | hold | ||
| City of Aberdeen | 27 (+5) | 13 (−2) | 0 (−2) | 8 (−1) | 0 | gain from NOC | ||
| Gordon | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | bgcolor=white | No overall control | |
| Kincardine and Deeside | 0 | 2 (−1) | 0 | 1 (+1) | 9 | hold | ||
| Moray | 0 | 0 | 3 (−1) | 0 | 15 (+1) | hold |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badenoch and Strathspey | 0 | 0 | 2 (+2) | 0 | 8 (−2) | hold | |
| Caithness‡ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | hold | |
| Inverness‡ | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 17 | hold | |
| Lochaber | 4 (+1) | 0 | 0 (−1) | 0 | 8 | hold | |
| Nairn | 0 | 0 | 0 (−2) | 0 | 10 | hold | |
| Ross and Cromarty | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | hold | |
| Skye and Lochalsh 2 vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | hold | |
| Sutherland 1 vacancy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | hold |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Edinburgh‡ | 25 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 2 | bgcolor=white | Conservatives lose to NOC | |
| East Lothian | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | hold | ||
| Midlothian | 13 (+6) | 0 (−1) | 0 (−4) | 1 (+1) | 1 (−1) | gain from NOC | ||
| West Lothian | 15 (+7) | 0 | 4 (−6) | 0 | 2 (−1) | gain from NOC |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Others | Control | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argyll and Bute | 1 (+1) | 2 (−2) | 3 | 0 | 20 (+1) | 0 | hold | ||
| Bearsden and Milngavie | 2 (+1) | 6 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | hold | ||
| Clydebank | 8 (+5) | 1 | 0 (−5) | 0 | 0 | Scottish Labour 1 | gain from NOC | ||
| Cumbernauld and Kilsyth | 6 (+1) | 0 | 4 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | gain from SNP | ||
| Cumnock and Doon Valley | 8 (+2) | 0 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | hold | ||
| Cunninghame‡ | 21 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Moderate Conservatives 1 | gain from NOC | ||
| Dumbarton | 8 (+4) | 3 (−1) | 2 (−2) | 0 | 2 (−1) | 0 | gain from NOC | ||
| East Kilbride | 12 (+8) | 2 | 1 (−6) | 0 | 0 (−2) | 0 | gain from NOC | ||
| Eastwood | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ratepayers 2 | hold | ||
| City of Glasgow | 58 (+26) | 11 (−12) | 0 (−16) | 3 (+2) | 0 | 0 | gain from NOC | ||
| Hamilton | 17 (+7) | 1 | 0 (−6) | 2 | 0 (−1) | 0 | hold | ||
| Inverclyde | 13 (+5) | 1 | 0 (−1) | 9 (−4) | 0 | 0 | gain from Liberals | ||
| Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 11 (+4) | 5 (−2) | 0 (−2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | gain from NOC | ||
| Kyle and Carrick | 13 (+6) | 12 (−5) | 0 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | gain from NOC | ||
| Lanark | 5 (+1) | 0 | 2 (−1) | 0 | 0 | Independent Progressives 7 | bgcolor=white | NOC | |
| Motherwell | 21 (+2) | 3 (−2) | 3 | 0 (−1) | 01 (=1) | Communist 1 | hold | ||
| Monklands | 18 (+5) | 3 (−3) | 0 (−1) | 0 | 0 (−1) | 0 | hold | ||
| Renfrew | 34 (+20) | 4 (-7) | 1 (-10) | 0 | 1 (-2) | Independent Labour 0 (-1) | gain from NOC | ||
| Strathkelvin | 10 (+6) | 4 | 0 (−6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | gain from NOC |
| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Others | Control | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angus | 3 | 12 (+1) | 0 | 0 | 7 (−1) | 0 | hold | |
| City of Dundee | 25 (+4) | 26 (−2) | 0 | 0 | 1 (−1) | Ratepayer-Conservatives 11 (−1) Independent Ratepayers-Conservatives 1 (+1) Progressive Conservatives 0 (−1) | gain from NOC | |
| Perth and Kinross | 5 (+2) | 19 (−2) | 1 | 1 (+1) | 3 (−1) | 0 | hold |