1978 Broxbourne Borough Council election

The 1978 Broxbourne Council election was held to elect council members of the Broxbourne Borough Council, the local government authority of the borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England.

Composition of expiring seats before election

Ward	Party		Incumbent Elected	Incumbent	Standing again?
Broxbourne		Conservative	1976	D C Smith	Yes
Bury Green		Conservative	1976	S G Johnson	Yes
Cheshunt Central		Conservative	1976	G F Batchelor	Yes
Cheshunt North		Conservative	1976	D F Poole	Yes
Flamstead End		Conservative	1976	L W Goodman	Yes
Goffs Oak		Independent	1976	D T Hickman	No [Table note 1]
Hoddesdon North		Conservative	1976	R A S Key	Yes
Hoddesdon Town		Conservative	1976	B D G Fallace	Yes
Rosedale		Labour	1976	Mark Farrington	Yes
Rye Park		Conservative	1976	A P Bridgeman	No
Theobalds		Conservative	1976	H J Collins	Yes
Waltham Cross North		Conservative	1976	N M Sanderson	No
Waltham Cross South		Labour	1976	J K Paice	Yes
Wormley & Turnford		Conservative	1976	B F Hill	Yes

1. Dan Hickman was elected as a Conservative in 1976.

Election results

Broxbourne Local Election Result 1978

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	13	2	0	+2	92.86	65.17	13,642
	Labour	1	0	1	-1	7.14	31.97	6,692
	National Front	0	0	0	0	0.00	2.16	454
	Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.70	146
	Independent	0	0	1	-1	0.00	0.00	0

Results summary

An election was held in 14 wards on 4 May 1978.

14 seats were contested at this election.

The Conservative Party made 2 gains winning Rosedale Ward from Labour and retaking Goffs Oak Ward from Councillor D T Hickman who had left the Conservative Group shortly after the 1976 election to sit as an Independent.

This was the first Broxbourne Election to see National Front candidates, who stood in 4 wards.

The new political balance of the council following this election was:

• Conservative 37 seats
• Labour 5 seats

Ward results

Broxbourne Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Don Smith	1,432	80.04
	Labour	Cherry Robbins	259	14.48
	National Front	Vera Wain	98	5.48
Majority			1,173
Turnout			1,789
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bury Green Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sidney Johnson	946	55.84
	Labour	Chris Robbins	748	44.16
Majority			198
Turnout			1,694
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cheshunt Central Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Batchelor	1,145	75.48
	Labour	Les Goodrum	372	24.52
Majority			773
Turnout			1,517
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cheshunt North Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Don Poole	1,149	65.51
	Labour	Deidre Welsh	605	34.49
Majority			544
Turnout			1,754
	Conservative hold		Swing

Flamstead End Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leonard Goodman	1,132	64.65
	Labour	Pat Whitthread	486	27.76
	National Front	Frederick Venables	133	7.59
Majority			646
Turnout			1,751
	Conservative hold		Swing

Goffs Oak Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marie Dowsett	1,181	82.99
	Labour	Roy Shaw	242	17.01
Majority			939
Turnout			1,423
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Hoddesdon North Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tony Kay	1,293	78.27
	Labour	Dave Wall	359	21.73
Majority			934
Turnout			1,652
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hoddesdon Town Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Fallace	934	70.86
	Labour	Henry Lucas	384	29.14
Majority			550
Turnout			1,318
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rosedale Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adrian Ebeling	375	46.18
	Labour	Mark Farrington	357	43.97
	National Front	Ramon Johns	80	9.85
Majority			18
Turnout			812
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Rye Park Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Grethe	960	57.87
	Labour	Mike Pye	699	42.13
Majority			261
Turnout			1,659
	Conservative hold		Swing

Theobalds Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Herbert Collins	1,012	68.24
	Labour	Doris Hadju	471	31.76
Majority			541
Turnout			1,483
	Conservative hold		Swing

Waltham Cross North Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Ames	771	61.14
	Labour	Joan Carter	490	38.86
Majority			281
Turnout			1,261
	Conservative hold		Swing

Waltham Cross South Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jean Paice	896	52.40
	Conservative	Amy Testro	671	39.24
	National Front	Albert Wain	143	8.36
Majority			225
Turnout			1,710
	Labour hold		Swing

Wormley / Turnford Ward Result 4 May 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Hill	641	57.70
	Labour	Edward Nicholls	324	29.16
	Liberal	Barbara Wade	146	13.14
Majority			317
Turnout			1,111
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

• Lea Valley Mercury Friday 12 May 1978 Edition