| Election Name: | 1981 Greater London Council election |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Greater London.svg |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 1977 Greater London Council election |
| Previous Year: | 1977 |
| Seats For Election: | 92 councillors |
| Majority Seats: | 47 |
| Election Date: | 7 May 1981 |
| Leader1: | Andrew McIntosh |
| Leaders Seat1: | Tottenham |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Seats1: | 50 |
| Seat Change1: | 22 |
| Popular Vote1: | 939,457 |
| Percentage1: | 41.8% |
| Swing1: | 8.9% |
| Leader2: | Horace Cutler |
| Leaders Seat2: | Harrow West |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Seats2: | 41 |
| Seat Change2: | 23 |
| Popular Vote2: | 894,234 |
| Percentage2: | 39.7% |
| Swing2: | 12.8% |
| Leader3: | Adrian Slade |
| Leaders Seat3: | Richmond |
| Party3: | Liberal Party (UK) |
| Seats3: | 1 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 323,856 |
| Percentage3: | 14.4% |
| Swing3: | 6.6% |
| Leader | |
| Before Election: | Horace Cutler |
| Before Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Posttitle: | Leader after election |
| After Election: | Ken Livingstone |
| After Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
The sixth election to the Greater London Council (GLC) was held on 7 May 1981. Following the election Andrew McIntosh the leader of the Labour Group was replaced by Ken Livingstone, a member of the party's left-wing. This was the last election to the GLC. The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher soon decided to abolish the council in the mid-1980s. Following the abolition of the GLC, there was a direct election to the Inner London Education Authority in 1986.
The GLC was elected from 92 single-member electoral divisions which were identical with the Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London. The election date was fixed by section 43 of the Local Government Act 1972 as the first Thursday in May.
Councillors were elected for a four-year term. This was extended for an extra year in 1984 when the elections that had been scheduled for 1985 were cancelled.[1]
The leader of the Labour GLC group Andrew McIntosh led the party into the election. Within 24 hours of the result, however, McIntosh's leadership was toppled by Ken Livingstone; a member of the party's left-wing. Livingstone was then elected GLC leader.[2] The results were as follows (all parties shown):[3]
| Party | Votes | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | +/- | Stood | Seats | % | +/- | |||
| 939,457 | 41.8 | 8.9 | 92 | 50 | 54.3 | 22 | |||
| 894,234 | 39.7 | 12.8 | 92 | 41 | 44.6 | 23 | |||
| 323,856 | 14.4 | 6.6 | 89 | 1 | 1.1 | 1 | |||
| 21,582 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 41 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| Social Democratic Alliance | 21,582 | 1.0 | New | 10 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| 17,515 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 38 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 7,763 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 25 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 5,877 | 0.3 | New | 18 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 5,275 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 16 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 4,857 | 0.2 | New | 23 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 2,753 | 0.1 | New | 16 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| Save London Action Group | 1,727 | 0.1 | New | 13 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Abolish the GLC | 1,158 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 7 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Irish National Party | 793 | 0.0 | New | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| 637 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||
| 362 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||
| 346 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||
| Workers (Leninist) | 145 | 0.0 | New | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| 116 | New | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||
| 83 | New | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||
| Total | 2,250,118 | 489 | 92 | ||||||
Member of the old council*[4]
Russell: Abolitionist
The following by-elections took place between May 1981 and May 1986.[5]
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