| Election Name: | 1987 United Kingdom local elections |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Type: | legislative |
| Previous Election: | 1986 United Kingdom local elections |
| Previous Year: | 1986 |
| Next Election: | 1988 United Kingdom local elections |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
| Seats For Election: | All 36 metropolitan boroughs, all 296 English districts and all 37 Welsh districts |
| Election Date: | 7 May 1987 |
| 1Blank: | Councils |
| 2Blank: | Councils +/- |
| 3Blank: | Councillors |
| 4Blank: | Councillors +/- |
| Leader1: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Leader Since1: | 11 February 1975 |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Percentage1: | 38% |
| 4Data1: | 75 |
| Leader2: | Neil Kinnock |
| Leader Since2: | 2 October 1983 |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Percentage2: | 32% |
| 4Data2: | 234 |
| Colour3: | FFD700 |
| Party3: | SDP - Liberal Alliance |
| Percentage3: | 27% |
| 4Data3: | 669 |
The 1987 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 7 May 1987.[1] [2] [3] It was the first time since 1983 that the Conservatives had enjoyed the largest share of the vote in local council elections.
Soon after the elections, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called a general election which resulted in a second successive Conservative landslide, although Labour managed to cut the government's overall majority, while the Alliance endured another disappointing performance and was soon disbanded as the SDP and Liberals agreed on a merger the following year.
The number of councillors was somewhat reduced from the previous year. The Conservatives lost 75 seats, Labour lost 234 and the Liberal-SDP Alliance gained 669.
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 | hold | Details | |||
| Bury | hold | Details | |||
| Calderdale | hold | Details | |||
| Coventry | hold | Details | |||
| Doncaster | hold | Details | |||
| Dudley | hold | Details | |||
| Gateshead | hold | Details | |||
| Kirklees | hold | 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 | hold | Details | |||
| Rotherham | hold | Details | |||
| Salford | hold | Details | |||
| Sandwell | hold | Details | |||
| Sefton | hold | 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 | hold | Details | |||
| Wakefield | hold | Details | |||
| Walsall | hold | Details | |||
| Wigan | hold | Details | |||
| Wirral | hold | Details | |||
| Wolverhampton | gain | Details | |||
In 180 districts the whole council was up for election.
Six of those districts - East Devon, Hinckley and Bosworth, Leicester, Mid Sussex, West Dorset and Woodspring - returned to whole councils elections having previously been elected by thirds.
In 5 districts there were new ward boundaries, following further electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allerdale | hold | Details | |||
| Alnwick | hold | Details | |||
| Arun | hold | Details | |||
| Ashfield | hold | Details | |||
| Ashford | hold | Details | |||
| Aylesbury Vale | hold | Details | |||
| Babergh | hold | Details | |||
| Berwick-upon-Tweed | hold | Details | |||
| Beverley | hold | Details | |||
| Blaby | hold | Details | |||
| Blackpool | gain | Details | |||
| Blyth Valley | gain | Details | |||
| Bolsover | hold | Details | |||
| Boothferry | gain | Details | |||
| Boston | hold | Details | |||
| Bournemouth | hold | Details | |||
| Bracknell Forest | hold | Details | |||
| Braintree | hold | Details | |||
| Breckland | hold | Details | |||
| Bridgnorth | hold | Details | |||
| Bromsgrove | hold | Details | |||
| Broxtowe | hold | Details | |||
| Canterbury | hold | Details | |||
| Caradon | hold | Details | |||
| Carrick | hold | Details | |||
| Castle Morpeth | hold | Details | |||
| Castle Point | hold | Details | |||
| Charnwood | hold | Details | |||
| Chelmsford ‡ | hold | Details | |||
| Chesterfield | hold | Details | |||
| Chester-le-Street | hold | Details | |||
| Chichester | hold | Details | |||
| Chiltern | hold | Details | |||
| Christchurch | hold | Details | |||
| Cleethorpes | hold | Details | |||
| Copeland | hold | Details | |||
| Corby | hold | Details | |||
| Cotswold | hold | Details | |||
| Dacorum | hold | Details | |||
| Darlington | gain | Details | |||
| Dartford | hold | Details | |||
| Derwentside | hold | Details | |||
| Dover | hold | Details | |||
| Durham | hold | Details | |||
| Easington | hold | Details | |||
| East Cambridgeshire | hold | Details | |||
| East Devon | hold | Details | |||
| East Hampshire | hold | Details | |||
| East Hertfordshire | hold | Details | |||
| East Lindsey | hold | Details | |||
| East Northamptonshire | hold | Details | |||
| East Staffordshire | hold | Details | |||
| East Yorkshire | hold | Details | |||
| Eden | hold | Details | |||
| Epsom and Ewell | hold | Details | |||
| Erewash | hold | Details | |||
| Fenland | hold | Details | |||
| Forest Heath | gain | Details | |||
| Forest of Dean | hold | Details | |||
| Fylde | hold | Details | |||
| Gedling | hold | Details | |||
| Glanford | hold | Details | |||
| Gravesham | gain | Details | |||
| Guildford | hold | Details | |||
| Hambleton | gain | Details | |||
| Harborough | gain | Details | |||
| High Peak | hold | Details | |||
| Hinckley and Bosworth | hold | Details | |||
| Holderness | hold | Details | |||
| Horsham | hold | Details | |||
| Hove | hold | Details | |||
| Kennet | gain | Details | |||
| Kerrier | hold | Details | |||
| Kettering | gain | Details | |||
| King's Lynn and West Norfolk | hold | Details | |||
| Kingswood ‡ | hold | Details | |||
| Lancaster | gain | Details | |||
| Langbaurgh | gain | Details | |||
| Leicester | hold | Details | |||
| Lewes | hold | Details | |||
| Lichfield | hold | Details | |||
| Luton | hold | Details | |||
| Maldon | hold | Details | |||
| Malvern Hills | gain | Details | |||
| Mansfield | hold | Details | |||
| Medina | gain | Details | |||
| Melton | hold | Details | |||
| Mendip | gain | Details | |||
| Mid Bedfordshire | hold | Details | |||
| Mid Devon | hold | Details | |||
| Mid Suffolk | hold | Details | |||
| Mid Sussex | hold | Details | |||
| Middlesbrough | hold | Details | |||
| New Forest | hold | Details | |||
| Newark and Sherwood | hold | Details | |||
| Newbury | hold | Details | |||
| North Cornwall | hold | Details | |||
| North Devon | gain | Details | |||
| North Dorset | hold | Details | |||
| North East Derbyshire | hold | Details | |||
| North Kesteven | gain | Details | |||
| North Norfolk | hold | Details | |||
| North Shropshire | hold | Details | |||
| North Warwickshire | hold | Details | |||
| North West Leicestershire | hold | Details | |||
| North Wiltshire | hold | Details | |||
| Northampton | gain | Details | |||
| Northavon | hold | Details | |||
| Nottingham | gain | Details | |||
| Oswestry | gain | Details | |||
| Plymouth | hold | Details | |||
| Poole | hold | Details | |||
| Restormel | gain | Details | |||
| Ribble Valley | hold | Details | |||
| Richmondshire | hold | Details | |||
| Rochester-upon-Medway | hold | Details | |||
| Rother | hold | Details | |||
| Rushcliffe | hold | Details | |||
| Rutland | gain | Details | |||
| Ryedale | gain | Details | |||
| Salisbury | gain | Details | |||
| Scarborough | hold | Details | |||
| Sedgefield | hold | Details | |||
| Sedgemoor | hold | Details | |||
| Selby | hold | Details | |||
| Sevenoaks | hold | Details | |||
| Shepway | gain | Details | |||
| South Bucks | hold | Details | |||
| South Derbyshire | hold | Details | |||
| South Hams | gain | Details | |||
| South Holland | gain | Details | |||
| South Kesteven | hold | Details | |||
| South Norfolk | gain | Details | |||
| South Northamptonshire | hold | Details | |||
| South Oxfordshire | hold | Details | |||
| South Ribble ‡ | hold | Details | |||
| South Shropshire | hold | Details | |||
| South Somerset | gain | Details | |||
| South Staffordshire | hold | Details | |||
| South Wight | gain | Details | |||
| Spelthorne | hold | Details | |||
| St Edmundsbury | hold | Details | |||
| Stafford | hold | Details | |||
| Staffordshire Moorlands | hold | Details | |||
| Stockton-on-Tees | hold | Details | |||
| Suffolk Coastal | hold | Details | |||
| Surrey Heath | hold | Details | |||
| Tamworth ‡ | gain | Details | |||
| Taunton Deane ‡ | hold | Details | |||
| Teesdale | hold | Details | |||
| Teignbridge | hold | Details | |||
| Tendring | hold | Details | |||
| Test Valley | hold | Details | |||
| Tewkesbury | gain | Details | |||
| Thanet | gain | Details | |||
| The Wrekin | hold | Details | |||
| Torridge | hold | Details | |||
| Tynedale | hold | Details | |||
| Uttlesford | hold | Details | |||
| Vale of White Horse | hold | Details | |||
| Vale Royal | hold | Details | |||
| Wansbeck | hold | Details | |||
| Wansdyke | hold | Details | |||
| Warrington | hold | Details | |||
| Warwick | hold | Details | |||
| Waverley | hold | Details | |||
| Wealden | hold | Details | |||
| Wear Valley | hold | Details | |||
| Wellingborough | hold | Details | |||
| West Derbyshire | hold | Details | |||
| West Devon | gain | Details | |||
| West Dorset | gain | Details | |||
| West Somerset | hold | Details | |||
| West Wiltshire | hold | Details | |||
| Wimborne | hold | Details | |||
| Windsor and Maidenhead | hold | Details | |||
| Woodspring | hold | Details | |||
| Wychavon | gain | Details | |||
| Wycombe | hold | Details | |||
| Wyre | hold | Details | |||
‡ New ward boundaries
In 116 districts one third of the council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberconwy | hold | Details | |||
| Alyn and Deeside | gain | Details | |||
| Anglesey - Ynys Môn | hold | Details | |||
| Arfon | hold | Details | |||
| Blaenau Gwent | hold | Details | |||
| Brecknock | hold | Details | |||
| Cardiff | gain | Details | |||
| Carmarthen | hold | Details | |||
| Ceredigion | hold | Details | |||
| Colwyn | hold | Details | |||
| Cynon Valley | hold | Details | |||
| Delyn | hold | Details | |||
| Dinefwr | hold | Details | |||
| Dwyfor | hold | Details | |||
| Glyndŵr | hold | Details | |||
| Islwyn | hold | Details | |||
| Llanelli | hold | Details | |||
| Lliw Valley | hold | Details | |||
| Meirionnydd | hold | Details | |||
| Merthyr Tydfil | hold | Details | |||
| Monmouth | hold | Details | |||
| Montgomeryshire | hold | Details | |||
| Neath | hold | Details | |||
| Newport | hold | Details | |||
| Ogwr | gain | Details | |||
| Port Talbot | hold | Details | |||
| Preseli Pembrokeshire | hold | Details | |||
| Radnor | hold | Details | |||
| Rhondda | hold | Details | |||
| Rhuddlan | hold | Details | |||
| Rhymney Valley | hold | Details | |||
| South Pembrokeshire | hold | Details | |||
| Swansea | hold | Details | |||
| Taff-Ely | hold | Details | |||
| Torfaen | hold | Details | |||
| Vale of Glamorgan | hold | Details | |||
| Wrexham Maelor | gain | Details | |||