1983 United Kingdom local elections explained

Election Name:1983 United Kingdom local elections
Country:United Kingdom
Type:legislative
Previous Election:1982 United Kingdom local elections
Previous Year:1982
Next Election:1984 United Kingdom local elections
Next Year:1984
Seats For Election:All 36 metropolitan boroughs, all 296 English districts and all 37 Welsh districts
Election Date:5 May 1983
1Blank:Councils
2Blank:Councils +/-
3Blank:Councillors
4Blank:Councillors +/-
Leader1:Margaret Thatcher
Leader Since1:11 February 1975
Party1:Conservative Party (UK)
Percentage1:39%
3Data1:10,557
4Data1: 110
Leader2:Michael Foot
Leader Since2:10 November 1980
Party2:Labour Party (UK)
Percentage2:36%
3Data2:8,782
4Data2: 8
Leader3:David Steel
& Roy Jenkins
Leader Since3:
Party3:SDP–Liberal Alliance
Percentage3:20%
3Data3:2,171
4Data3: 321

Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1983.[1] [2] The results were a success for Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who soon afterwards called a general election in which the Conservatives won a landslide victory. The projected share of the vote was Conservative 39%, Labour Party 36%, Liberal-SDP Alliance 20%.

The three major parties all made net gains at the expense of smaller parties and independents, despite a slight reduction in the number of councillors. The Conservatives gained 110 seats, giving them 10,557 councillors. Labour gained just 8 seats, finishing with 8,782 seats. The Liberal-SDP Alliance gained 321 seats, finishing with 2,171 seats. It was a decent showing for Labour, with a much larger share of the vote than any opinion poll had shown since the party's split in 1981, but a major disappointment for the Alliance. However, the subsequent general election saw the Conservative government elected by a landslide, while the Alliance came close to Labour in terms of votes, although Labour won almost 10 times as many seats.

England

Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Barnsley holdDetails
Birmingham holdDetails
Bolton holdDetails
Bradford holdDetails
Bury holdDetails
Calderdale holdDetails
Coventry holdDetails
Doncaster holdDetails
Dudley holdDetails
Gateshead holdDetails
Kirklees holdDetails
Knowsley holdDetails
Leeds holdDetails
Liverpool gainDetails
Manchester holdDetails
Newcastle upon Tyne holdDetails
North Tyneside holdDetails
Oldham holdDetails
Rochdale holdDetails
Rotherham holdDetails
Salford holdDetails
Sandwell holdDetails
Sefton holdDetails
Sheffield holdDetails
Solihull holdDetails
South Tyneside holdDetails
St Helens holdDetails
Stockport gainDetails
Sunderland holdDetails
Tameside holdDetails
Trafford holdDetails
Wakefield holdDetails
Walsall holdDetails
Wigan holdDetails
Wirral holdDetails
Wolverhampton holdDetails

District councils

Whole council

In 193 districts the whole council was up for election.

In 54 districts there were new ward boundaries, following electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Allerdale holdDetails
Alnwick holdDetails
Arun ‡ holdDetails
Ashfield holdDetails
Ashford gainDetails
Aylesbury Vale holdDetails
Babergh holdDetails
Berwick-upon-Tweed gainDetails
Beverley holdDetails
Blaby ‡ holdDetails
Blackpool holdDetails
Blyth Valley holdDetails
Bolsover holdDetails
Boothferry holdDetails
Boston holdDetails
Bournemouth holdDetails
Bracknell holdDetails
Braintree holdDetails
Breckland holdDetails
Bridgnorth holdDetails
Brighton ‡ gainDetails
Bristol ‡ gainDetails
Bromsgrove holdDetails
Broxtowe holdDetails
Canterbury holdDetails
Caradon ‡ holdDetails
Carlisle ‡ holdDetails
Carrick gainDetails
Castle Morpeth holdDetails
Castle Point holdDetails
Charnwood ‡ holdDetails
Chelmsford gainDetails
Cheltenham ‡ holdDetails
Chesterfield holdDetails
Chester-le-Street holdDetails
Chichester holdDetails
Chiltern holdDetails
Christchurch holdDetails
Cleethorpes holdDetails
Copeland holdDetails
Corby holdDetails
Cotswold holdDetails
Dacorum holdDetails
Darlington holdDetails
Dartford gainDetails
Derwentside holdDetails
Dover holdDetails
Durham gainDetails
Easington holdDetails
East Cambridgeshire ‡ holdDetails
East Hampshire holdDetails
East Hertfordshire holdDetails
East Lindsey ‡ holdDetails
East Northamptonshire holdDetails
East Staffordshire holdDetails
East Yorkshire holdDetails
Eden holdDetails
Epsom and Ewell holdDetails
Erewash holdDetails
Exeter ‡ holdDetails
Fenland holdDetails
Forest Heath gainDetails
Forest of Dean ‡ holdDetails
Fylde holdDetails
Gedling holdDetails
Glanford holdDetails
Gravesham holdDetails
Guildford holdDetails
Hambleton holdDetails
Harborough ‡ holdDetails
Harrogate ‡ holdDetails
High Peak holdDetails
Hinckley and Bosworth ‡ holdDetails
Holderness holdDetails
Horsham holdDetails
Hove holdDetails
Kennet holdDetails
Kerrier holdDetails
Kettering gainDetails
King's Lynn and West Norfolk ‡ holdDetails
Kingston upon Hull ‡ holdDetails
Kingswood gainDetails
Lancaster holdDetails
Langbaurgh holdDetails
Leicester ‡ holdDetails
Lewes ‡ holdDetails
Lichfield holdDetails
Luton holdDetails
Maldon gainDetails
Malvern Hills holdDetails
Mansfield holdDetails
Medina holdDetails
Melton holdDetails
Mendip gainDetails
Mid Bedfordshire holdDetails
Mid Devon holdDetails
Mid Suffolk holdDetails
Mid Sussex ‡ holdDetails
Middlesbrough holdDetails
New Forest holdDetails
Newark and Sherwood holdDetails
Newbury ‡ holdDetails
North Bedfordshire ‡ holdDetails
North Cornwall holdDetails
North Devon ‡ holdDetails
North Dorset ‡ holdDetails
North East Derbyshire holdDetails
North Kesteven holdDetails
North Norfolk holdDetails
North Shropshire holdDetails
North Warwickshire holdDetails
North West Leicestershire ‡ gainDetails
North Wiltshire ‡ holdDetails
Northampton gainDetails
Northavon holdDetails
Nottingham holdDetails
Oswestry holdDetails
Plymouth holdDetails
Poole ‡ holdDetails
Portsmouth ‡ holdDetails
Reading ‡ gainDetails
Redditch ‡ gainDetails
Restormel ‡ holdDetails
Ribble Valley holdDetails
Richmondshire holdDetails
Rochester-upon-Medway holdDetails
Rother ‡ gainDetails
Rushcliffe holdDetails
Rutland holdDetails
Ryedale ‡ holdDetails
Salisbury holdDetails
Scarborough gainDetails
Sedgefield ‡ holdDetails
Sedgemoor holdDetails
Selby holdDetails
Sevenoaks holdDetails
Shepway holdDetails
Slough ‡ gainDetails
South Bucks ‡ holdDetails
South Derbyshire gainDetails
South Hams gainDetails
South Holland holdDetails
South Kesteven holdDetails
South Norfolk holdDetails
South Northamptonshire holdDetails
South Oxfordshire ‡ holdDetails
South Ribble holdDetails
South Shropshire holdDetails
South Staffordshire holdDetails
South Wight gainDetails
Spelthorne holdDetails
St Edmundsbury holdDetails
Stafford holdDetails
Staffordshire Moorlands holdDetails
Stockton-on-Tees holdDetails
Stroud ‡ holdDetails
Suffolk Coastal ‡ holdDetails
Surrey Heath holdDetails
Taunton Deane holdDetails
Teesdale ‡ holdDetails
Teignbridge gainDetails
Tendring holdDetails
Test Valley holdDetails
Tewkesbury ‡ holdDetails
Thanet gainDetails
The Wrekin holdDetails
Torbay ‡ holdDetails
Torridge holdDetails
Tynedale holdDetails
Uttlesford holdDetails
Vale of White Horse holdDetails
Vale Royal holdDetails
Wansbeck holdDetails
Wansdyke holdDetails
Warrington gainDetails
Warwick ‡ holdDetails
Waveney ‡ holdDetails
Waverley ‡ holdDetails
Wealden ‡ holdDetails
Wear Valley ‡ holdDetails
Wellingborough ‡ holdDetails
West Derbyshire holdDetails
West Devon holdDetails
West Dorset ‡ holdDetails
West Somerset holdDetails
West Wiltshire ‡ holdDetails
Wimborne ‡ holdDetails
Windsor and Maidenhead ‡ holdDetails
Worthing ‡ holdDetails
Wychavon gainDetails
Wycombe ‡ holdDetails
Wyre holdDetails
Yeovil holdDetails

‡ New ward boundaries

Third of council

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

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Adur gainDetails
Amber Valley holdDetails
Barrow-in-Furness holdDetails
Basildon holdDetails
Basingstoke and Deane holdDetails
Bassetlaw holdDetails
Bath holdDetails
Blackburn gainDetails
Brentwood holdDetails
Broadland holdDetails
Broxbourne holdDetails
Burnley holdDetails
Cambridge holdDetails
Cannock Chase holdDetails
Cherwell holdDetails
Chester holdDetails
Chorley gainDetails
Colchester holdDetails
Congleton gainDetails
Craven holdDetails
Crawley holdDetails
Crewe and Nantwich holdDetails
Daventry gainDetails
Derby holdDetails
East Devon holdDetails
Eastbourne holdDetails
Eastleigh gainDetails
Ellesmere Port and Neston holdDetails
Elmbridge holdDetails
Epping Forest holdDetails
Fareham holdDetails
Gillingham holdDetails
Gloucester holdDetails
Gosport holdDetails
Great Grimsby gainDetails
Great Yarmouth gainDetails
Halton holdDetails
Harlow holdDetails
Hart gainDetails
Hartlepool holdDetails
Hastings holdDetails
Havant holdDetails
Hereford holdDetails
Hertsmere holdDetails
Huntingdon holdDetails
Hyndburn holdDetails
Ipswich holdDetails
Leominster holdDetails
Lincoln holdDetails
Macclesfield holdDetails
Maidstone gainDetails
Milton Keynes holdDetails
Mole Valley holdDetails
Newcastle-under-Lyme holdDetails
North Hertfordshire holdDetails
Norwich holdDetails
Nuneaton and Bedworth holdDetails
Oadby and Wigston holdDetails
Oxford holdDetails
Pendle holdDetails
Penwith holdDetails
Peterborough holdDetails
Preston holdDetails
Purbeck holdDetails
Reigate and Banstead holdDetails
Rochford holdDetails
Rossendale holdDetails
Rugby holdDetails
Runnymede holdDetails
Rushmoor holdDetails
Scunthorpe holdDetails
Shrewsbury and Atcham holdDetails
South Bedfordshire holdDetails
South Cambridgeshire holdDetails
South Herefordshire holdDetails
South Lakeland holdDetails
Southampton holdDetails
Southend-on-Sea holdDetails
St Albans holdDetails
Stevenage holdDetails
Stoke-on-Trent holdDetails
Stratford-on-Avon holdDetails
Swale holdDetails
Tamworth gainDetails
Tandridge holdDetails
Thamesdown holdDetails
Three Rivers holdDetails
Thurrock holdDetails
Tonbridge and Malling holdDetails
Tunbridge Wells holdDetails
Watford holdDetails
Welwyn Hatfield holdDetails
West Lancashire holdDetails
West Lindsey holdDetails
West Oxfordshire gainDetails
Weymouth and Portland holdDetails
Winchester holdDetails
Woking holdDetails
Wokingham holdDetails
Woodspring holdDetails
Worcester gainDetails
Wyre Forest holdDetails
York holdDetails

Wales

District councils

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Aberconwy gainDetails
Afan holdDetails
Alyn and Deeside holdDetails
Anglesey - Ynys Môn holdDetails
Arfon holdDetails
Blaenau Gwent holdDetails
Brecknock holdDetails
Cardiff gainDetails
Carmarthen holdDetails
Ceredigion holdDetails
Colwyn holdDetails
Cynon Valley holdDetails
Delyn holdDetails
Dinefwr gainDetails
Dwyfor holdDetails
Glyndŵr holdDetails
Islwyn holdDetails
Llanelli holdDetails
Lliw Valley holdDetails
Meirionnydd holdDetails
Merthyr Tydfil holdDetails
Monmouth holdDetails
Montgomery holdDetails
Neath holdDetails
Newport holdDetails
Ogwr holdDetails
Preseli holdDetails
Radnor holdDetails
Rhondda holdDetails
Rhuddlan holdDetails
Rhymney Valley holdDetails
South Pembrokeshire holdDetails
Swansea holdDetails
Taff-Ely holdDetails
Torfaen holdDetails
Vale of Glamorgan holdDetails
Wrexham Maelor holdDetails

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rallings. Colin. Thrasher. Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1983. The Elections Centre. 3 May 2016.
  2. Web site: Council compositions. The Elections Centre. 3 May 2016.

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