| Election Name: | 1986 United Kingdom local elections |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Type: | legislative |
| Previous Election: | 1985 United Kingdom local elections |
| Previous Year: | 1985 |
| Next Election: | 1987 United Kingdom local elections |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
| Seats For Election: | All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 123 out of 296 English districts, 1 local education authority and all 12 Scottish regions |
| Election Date: | 8 May 1986 |
| 1Blank: | Councils |
| 2Blank: | Councils +/- |
| 3Blank: | Councillors |
| 4Blank: | Councillors +/- |
| Leader1: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Leader Since1: | 11 February 1975 |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Percentage1: | 34% |
| 4Data1: | 975 |
| Leader2: | Neil Kinnock |
| Leader Since2: | 2 October 1983 |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Percentage2: | 37% |
| 4Data2: | 13 |
| Party3: | SDP–Liberal Alliance |
| Percentage3: | 26% |
| 4Data3: | 338 |
The 1986 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 8 May 1986.[1] [2] [3] There was a 3% reduction in the number of councillors, owing to the abolition of the Greater London Council and the Metropolitan County Councils.
The national projected share of the vote was Labour 37%, Conservative 34%, Liberal-SDP Alliance 26%. The Conservatives lost 975 seats, Labour gained 13 seats and the Liberal-SDP Alliance gained 338 seats.
Two parliamentary by-elections were also held on the same day in the West Derbyshire and Ryedale constituencies. The Conservatives held West Derbyshire, though only by 100 votes. The Alliance gained Ryedale from the Conservatives.
See main article: 1986 London local elections. In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | hold | Details | |||
| Barnet | hold | Details | |||
| Bexley | hold | Details | |||
| Brent | hold | Details | |||
| Bromley | hold | Details | |||
| Camden | hold | Details | |||
| Croydon | hold | Details | |||
| Ealing | gain | Details | |||
| Enfield | hold | Details | |||
| Greenwich | hold | Details | |||
| Hackney | hold | Details | |||
| Hammersmith and Fulham | gain | Details | |||
| Haringey | hold | Details | |||
| Harrow | hold | Details | |||
| Havering | gain | Details | |||
| Hillingdon | gain | Details | |||
| Hounslow | hold | Details | |||
| Islington | hold | Details | |||
| Kensington and Chelsea | hold | Details | |||
| Kingston upon Thames | gain | Details | |||
| Lambeth | gain | Details | |||
| Lewisham | hold | Details | |||
| Merton | hold | Details | |||
| Newham | hold | Details | |||
| Redbridge | hold | Details | |||
| Richmond upon Thames | gain | Details | |||
| Southwark | hold | Details | |||
| Sutton | gain | Details | |||
| Tower Hamlets | gain | Details | |||
| Waltham Forest | gain | Details | |||
| Wandsworth | hold | Details | |||
| Westminster | hold | Details | |||
All 36 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnsley | hold | Details | |||
| Birmingham | hold | Details | |||
| Bolton | hold | Details | |||
| Bradford | gain | Details | |||
| Bury | gain | Details | |||
| Calderdale | hold | Details | |||
| Coventry | hold | Details | |||
| Doncaster | hold | Details | |||
| Dudley | gain | Details | |||
| Gateshead | hold | Details | |||
| Kirklees | gain | Details | |||
| Knowsley | hold | Details | |||
| Leeds | hold | Details | |||
| Liverpool | hold | Details | |||
| Manchester | hold | Details | |||
| Newcastle upon Tyne | hold | Details | |||
| North Tyneside | gain | Details | |||
| Oldham | hold | Details | |||
| Rochdale | gain | Details | |||
| Rotherham | hold | Details | |||
| Salford | hold | Details | |||
| Sandwell | hold | Details | |||
| Sefton | gain | Details | |||
| Sheffield | hold | Details | |||
| Solihull | hold | Details | |||
| South Tyneside | hold | Details | |||
| St Helens | hold | Details | |||
| Stockport | hold | Details | |||
| Sunderland | hold | Details | |||
| Tameside | hold | Details | |||
| Trafford | gain | Details | |||
| Wakefield | hold | Details | |||
| Walsall | hold | Details | |||
| Wigan | hold | Details | |||
| Wirral | gain | Details | |||
| Wolverhampton | hold | Details | |||
In 2 districts the whole council was up for election.
In 2 districts there were new ward boundaries, following further electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halton ‡ | hold | Details | |||
| Thamesdown ‡ | hold | Details | |||
‡ New ward boundaries
In 121 districts one third of the council was up for election.
This was the first and only election to the directly elected local education authority established by the Local Government Act 1985. However, it was short-lived, being abolished four years later by the Education Reform Act 1988.
See main article: 1986 Scottish regional elections.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borders | hold | Details | |||
| Central | hold | Details | |||
| Dumfries and Galloway | hold | Details | |||
| Fife | hold | Details | |||
| Grampian | gain | Details | |||
| Highland | hold | Details | |||
| Lothian | gain | Details | |||
| Orkney | hold | Details | |||
| Shetland | hold | Details | |||
| Strathclyde | hold | Details | |||
| Tayside | gain | Details | |||
| Western Isles | hold | Details | |||