Elections to Liverpool City Council were held on 7 May 1987. One third of the council was up for election on ordinary rotation; in addition there were extra vacancies in many wards caused by the disqualification of those Labour councillors who were surcharged and banned from office as part of a protest against rate-capping. As a result, the 33 wards elected a total of 59 councillors. Prior to the election the disqualification of a large part of the Labour group meant that there was a temporary administration headed by Trevor Jones of the Liberal/SDP Alliance. As a result of the election, the Labour Party regained overall control of the council,[1] and Harry Rimmer became council leader.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Seats | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | +22 | ||
| 44 | +7 | ||
| 4 | -3 | ||