| Election Name: | 1983 Bracknell District Council election |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1979 Bracknell District Council election |
| Previous Year: | 1979 |
| Next Election: | 1987 Bracknell Forest Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
| Seats For Election: | All 40 seats to Bracknell District Council |
| Majority Seats: | 21 |
| Image1: | Con |
| Leader1: | David Tubbs (outgoing)[1] |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat1: | Great Hollands South |
| Last Election1: | 27 |
| Seats1: | 40 |
| Seat Change1: | 13 |
| Popular Vote1: | 14,494 |
| Percentage1: | 51.3% |
| Swing1: | 1.9% |
| Party2: | SDP–Liberal Alliance |
| Leader2: | N/A |
| Leaders Seat2: | N/A |
| Last Election2: | 0 |
| Seats2: | 0 |
| Seat Change2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 6,909 |
| Percentage2: | 24.4% |
| Swing2: | 14.5% |
| Image4: | Lab |
| Leader4: | Denis Tunnicliffe |
| Party4: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat4: | Ran in Hanworth (lost) |
| Last Election4: | 10 |
| Seats4: | 0 |
| Seat Change4: | 10 |
| Popular Vote4: | 6,466 |
| Percentage4: | 22.9% |
| Swing4: | 15.5% |
| Party5: | Independent politician |
| Image5: | Ind |
| Last Election5: | 3 |
| Seats5: | 0 |
| Seat Change5: | 3 |
| Popular Vote5: | 407 |
| Percentage5: | 1.4% |
| Swing5: | 0.9% |
| Council control | |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Election: | Conservative |
| After Election: | Conservative |
The 1983 Bracknell District Council election took place on 5 May 1983, to elect all 40 members in 19 wards for Bracknell Forest Borough Council in England. The election was held on the same day as other local elections as part of the 1983 United Kingdom local elections. The Conservative Party won a third term in office, securing an electoral wipeout of the opposition parties by winning all 40 seats, a feat it would repeat in 1987.[2]
The local Labour Party was riven by internal disputes, cultivated since the last election by the national split and the creation of the Social Democratic Party. In late 1981, Labour group leader Jack Delbridge and other Labour local luminaries, including former council leader Bill Lindop, defected to the SDP, claiming left-wing militants controlled the local Labour party and the relationship was untenable.[3] Of the 10 Labour councillors elected in 1979, 6 would stand for election under the SDP–Liberal Alliance banner, 3 would not stand for re-election, while only Denis Tunnicliffe stood again, leading the rump Labour group - symbolic of the split was his wife standing for the Alliance in Great Hollands South.[4]
Votes for the SDP–Liberal Alliance are compared against the Liberal Party in 1979.
An asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent councillor standing for re-election.
Votes for the SDP–Liberal Alliance are compared against the Liberal Party in 1979.