1986 United Kingdom local elections

1986 United Kingdom local elections

← 1985 8 May 1986 1987 →

All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs,
123 out of 296 English districts, 1 local education authority and all 12 Scottish regions
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Margaret Thatcher (1983).jpg
Start campagne voor Europese verkiezingen van PvdA (Rotterdam) Neal Kinnoch , k, Bestanddeelnr 932-9811.jpg
DavidSteel1987 cropped.jpg
David Owen-1.jpg
Leader Margaret Thatcher Neil Kinnock David Steel
and David Owen
Party Conservative Labour Alliance
Leader since 11 February 1975 2 October 1983 7 July 1976
and 21 June 1983
Percentage 34% 37% 26%
Councillors +/- Decrease 975 Increase 13 Increase 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.

Summary of results

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England

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London boroughs

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In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Barking and Dagenham Labour Labour hold Details
Barnet Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bexley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Brent Labour Labour hold Details
Bromley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Camden Labour Labour hold Details
Croydon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Ealing Conservative Labour gain Details
Enfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Greenwich Labour Labour hold Details
Hackney Labour Labour hold Details
Hammersmith and Fulham No overall control Labour gain Details
Haringey Labour Labour hold Details
Harrow Conservative Conservative hold Details
Havering Conservative No overall control gain Details
Hillingdon Conservative No overall control gain Details
Hounslow Labour Labour hold Details
Islington Labour Labour hold Details
Kensington and Chelsea Conservative Conservative hold Details
Kingston upon Thames Conservative No overall control gain Details
Lambeth No overall control Labour gain Details
Lewisham Labour Labour hold Details
Merton Conservative Conservative hold Details
Newham Labour Labour hold Details
Redbridge Conservative Conservative hold Details
Richmond upon Thames Conservative Alliance gain Details
Southwark Labour Labour hold Details
Sutton Conservative Alliance gain Details
Tower Hamlets Labour Alliance gain Details
Waltham Forest No overall control Labour gain Details
Wandsworth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Westminster Conservative Conservative hold Details

Metropolitan boroughs

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Barnsley Labour Labour hold Details
Birmingham Labour Labour hold Details
Bolton Labour Labour hold Details
Bradford No overall control Labour gain Details
Bury Conservative Labour gain Details
Calderdale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Coventry Labour Labour hold Details
Doncaster Labour Labour hold Details
Dudley No overall control Labour gain Details
Gateshead Labour Labour hold Details
Kirklees Labour No overall control gain Details
Knowsley Labour Labour hold Details
Leeds Labour Labour hold Details
Liverpool Labour Labour hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Labour Labour hold Details
North Tyneside Labour No overall control gain Details
Oldham Labour Labour hold Details
Rochdale No overall control Labour gain Details
Rotherham Labour Labour hold Details
Salford Labour Labour hold Details
Sandwell Labour Labour hold Details
Sefton Conservative No overall control gain Details
Sheffield Labour Labour hold Details
Solihull Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
St Helens Labour Labour hold Details
Stockport No overall control No overall control hold Details
Sunderland Labour Labour hold Details
Tameside Labour Labour hold Details
Trafford Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold Details
Walsall No overall control No overall control hold Details
Wigan Labour Labour hold Details
Wirral Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wolverhampton Labour Labour hold Details

District councils

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Whole council

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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 Labour Labour hold Details
Thamesdown Labour Labour hold Details

‡ New ward boundaries

Third of council

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In 121 districts one third of the council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Adur No overall control Alliance gain Details
Amber Valley Labour Labour hold Details
Barrow-in-Furness Labour Labour hold Details
Basildon Labour Labour hold Details
Basingstoke and Deane No overall control Conservative gain Details
Bassetlaw Labour Labour hold Details
Bath Conservative Conservative hold Details
Blackburn No overall control Labour gain Details
Brentwood Conservative Conservative hold Details
Brighton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Bristol No overall control Labour gain Details
Broadland Conservative Conservative hold Details
Broxbourne Conservative Conservative hold Details
Burnley Labour Labour hold Details
Cambridge No overall control Labour gain Details
Cannock Chase No overall control No overall control hold Details
Carlisle Labour Labour hold Details
Cheltenham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Cherwell Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chester Conservative No overall control gain Details
Chorley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Colchester Conservative No overall control gain Details
Congleton Conservative No overall control gain Details
Craven Conservative No overall control gain Details
Crawley Labour Labour hold Details
Crewe and Nantwich No overall control No overall control hold Details
Daventry Conservative Conservative hold Details
Derby Labour Labour hold Details
East Devon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Eastbourne No overall control Alliance gain Details
Eastleigh No overall control No overall control hold Details
Ellesmere Port and Neston Labour Labour hold Details
Elmbridge Conservative No overall control gain Details
Epping Forest Conservative Conservative hold Details
Exeter No overall control No overall control hold Details
Fareham Conservative No overall control gain Details
Gillingham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gloucester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Gosport Conservative Conservative hold Details
Great Grimsby No overall control Labour gain Details
Great Yarmouth Conservative No overall control gain Details
Harlow Labour Labour hold Details
Harrogate Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hart No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hartlepool Labour Labour hold Details
Hastings No overall control No overall control hold Details
Havant Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hereford Alliance Alliance hold Details
Hertsmere Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hinckley and Bosworth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Huntingdonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hyndburn Conservative Labour gain Details
Ipswich Labour Labour hold Details
Kingston upon Hull Labour Labour hold Details
Leicester Labour Labour hold Details
Leominster Independent Independent hold Details
Lincoln Labour Labour hold Details
Macclesfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Maidstone No overall control No overall control hold Details
Mid Sussex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Milton Keynes No overall control No overall control hold Details
Mole Valley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Newcastle-under-Lyme Labour Labour hold Details
North Bedfordshire Conservative No overall control gain Details
North Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Norwich Labour Labour hold Details
Nuneaton and Bedworth Labour Labour hold Details
Oadby and Wigston Conservative Conservative hold Details
Oxford Labour Labour hold Details
Pendle No overall control No overall control hold Details
Penwith Independent No overall control gain Details
Peterborough No overall control No overall control hold Details
Portsmouth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Preston Labour Labour hold Details
Purbeck Independent No overall control gain Details
Reading Conservative No overall control gain Details
Redditch Labour Labour hold Details
Reigate and Banstead Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rochford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rossendale Conservative Labour gain Details
Rugby No overall control No overall control hold Details
Runnymede Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rushmoor Conservative Conservative hold Details
Scunthorpe Labour Labour hold Details
Shrewsbury and Atcham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Slough Labour Labour hold Details
South Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Cambridgeshire Independent Independent hold Details
South Herefordshire Independent Independent hold Details
South Lakeland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Southampton Labour Labour hold Details
Southend-on-Sea Conservative Conservative hold Details
St Albans No overall control No overall control hold Details
Stevenage Labour Labour hold Details
Stoke-on-Trent Labour Labour hold Details
Stratford-on-Avon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Stroud No overall control No overall control hold Details
Swale Conservative No overall control gain Details
Tamworth Conservative Labour gain Details
Tandridge Conservative Conservative hold Details
Three Rivers Conservative No overall control gain Details
Thurrock Labour Labour hold Details
Tonbridge and Malling Conservative Conservative hold Details
Torbay Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tunbridge Wells Conservative Conservative hold Details
Watford Labour Labour hold Details
Waveney Conservative No overall control gain Details
Welwyn Hatfield Labour Labour hold Details
West Dorset Independent Independent hold Details
West Lancashire Conservative No overall control gain Details
West Lindsey No overall control No overall control hold Details
West Oxfordshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Weymouth and Portland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Winchester Conservative Conservative hold Details
Woking Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wokingham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Woodspring Conservative Conservative hold Details
Worcester No overall control Labour gain Details
Worthing Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wyre Forest No overall control No overall control hold Details
York No overall control Labour gain Details

Local education authority

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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.

Council Previous control Result Details
Inner London Education Authority New Council Labour Details

Scotland

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Regional councils

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Council Previous control Result Details
Borders Independent Independent hold Details
Central Labour Labour hold Details
Dumfries and Galloway Independent Independent hold Details
Fife Labour Labour hold Details
Grampian Conservative No overall control gain Details
Highland Independent Independent hold Details
Lothian No overall control Labour gain Details
Orkney Independent Independent hold Details
Shetland Independent Independent hold Details
Strathclyde Labour Labour hold Details
Tayside Conservative No overall control gain Details
Western Isles Independent Independent hold Details

References

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  1. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1986, Volume 1. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  2. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1986, Volume 2. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.