1979 Babergh District Council election

1979 Babergh District Council election

←  1976 3 May 1979 (1979-05-03) 1983  →
All 42 seats to Babergh District Council 22 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Independent Labour Seats won 17 17 5 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 16,451 8,422 12,547 Percentage 42.6% 21.8% 32.5% Swing 1.8% 5.8% 3.7%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Liberal Residents Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 1,209 Unopposed Percentage 3.1% Unopposed Swing 4.5% 3.2%
Winner of each seat at the 1979 Babergh District Council election.
Control before election No overall control Control after election No overall control

The 1979 Babergh District Council election took place on 3 May 1979 to elect members of Babergh District Council in Suffolk, England. ^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections.

New ward boundaries came into effect at this election increasing the number of seats by 4 to 42.

Summary

Election result

1979 Babergh District Council election [2]
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	25	17	N/A	N/A		40.5	42.6	16,451	–1.8
	Independent	21	17	N/A	N/A	2	40.5	21.8	8,422	+5.8
	Labour	18	5	N/A	N/A	1	11.9	32.5	12,547	+3.7
	Liberal	2	2	N/A	N/A	1	4.8	3.1	1,209	–4.5
	Residents	1	1	N/A	N/A		2.4	N/A	N/A	–3.2

Ward results

Incumbent councillors standing for re-election are marked with an asterisk (*). Changes in seats do not take into account by-elections or defections.

Alton

Alton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Cook	488	57.9
	Conservative	J. Fraser	355	42.1
Majority			133	15.8
Turnout			843	74.9
Registered electors			1,125
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Berners

Berners

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	E. Pollard*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,242
	Independent hold

Bildeston

Bildeston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	O. Simpson*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,226
	Independent hold

Boxford

Boxford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	T. Dawson	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,444
	Independent hold

Brantham

Brantham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. Truswell	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,571
	Independent hold

Brett Vale

Brett Vale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Green*	545	62.6
	Independent	F. Pratten	326	37.4
Majority			219	25.2
Turnout			871	73.2
Registered electors			1,190
	Conservative hold		Swing

Brookvale

Brookvale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. Baxter*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,618
	Independent hold

Bures St. Mary

Bures St. Mary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Engleheart*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,275
	Conservative hold

Capel & Wenham

Capel & Wenham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Rossiter	1,115	51.9
	Labour	R. Pearce*	1,030	48.0
	Labour	T. Richardson	633	29.5
Turnout			~2,146	97.9
Registered electors			2,191
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Labour hold

Chadacre

Chadacre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	G. Ince*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,587
	Independent hold

Copdock

Copdock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	T. Carey	729	61.3
	Conservative	F. Lloyd	461	38.7
Majority			268	22.6
Turnout			1,190	77.2
Registered electors			1,541
	Independent hold		Swing

Dodnash

Dodnash (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	T. Goodchild*	Unopposed
	Independent	C. Wake-Walker*	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,731
	Independent hold
	Independent hold

Elmsett

Elmsett

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	T. Bailey-Smith	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,254
	Independent hold

Glemsford

Glemsford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Goodwin*	826	59.9
	Conservative	P. Kiddy	680	49.3
	Labour	D. Chatters	553	40.1
Turnout			~1,503	80.3
Registered electors			1,718
	Conservative hold
	Conservative win (new seat)

Great Cornard North

Great Cornard North (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Byham*	806	52.4
	Labour	F. Harvey	732	47.6
	Labour	B. Niall	671	43.6
	Conservative	N. Scofield	624	40.5
Turnout			~1,416	69.3
Registered electors			2,219
	Conservative hold
	Labour hold

Great Cornard South

Great Cornard South (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Eady*	1,169	57.4
	Conservative	P. Beer	1,105	54.3
	Labour	R. Chaplin*	867	42.6
	Labour	C. Speroni	777	38.2
Turnout			~2,273	73.4
Registered electors			2,775
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

Hadleigh

Hadleigh (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	C. Claireaux	2,115	54.4
	Independent	J. Andrews	1,186	30.5
	Independent	S. Hogg	1,111	28.6
	Labour	C. Culpin	1,047	26.9
	Independent	P. Crabtree*	1,034	26.6
	Conservative	D. Anstruther	729	18.7
	Labour	M. Marshall	725	18.6
Turnout			~3,887	91.2
Registered electors			4,267
	Independent gain from Labour
	Independent hold
	Independent hold

Holbrook

Holbrook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. Godley*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,364
	Independent hold

Lavenham

Lavenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	L. Spraggins	618	57.5
	Conservative	W. Setchfield	456	42.5
Majority			162	15.1
Turnout			1,074	75.0
Registered electors			1,432
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Leavenheath

Leavenheath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	A. Boram	515	51.8
	Conservative	E. York*	480	48.2
Majority			35	3.6
Turnout			995	75.4
Registered electors			1,319
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Long Melford

Long Melford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Kemp*	Unopposed
	Residents	J. Abbott*	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,710
	Labour gain from Liberal
	Residents hold

Nayland

Nayland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Darbyshire	415	51.6
	Independent	D. Mitchell*	389	48.4
Majority			26	3.2
Turnout			804	85.6
Registered electors			939
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

North Cosford

North Cosford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	D. Hodge*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,167
	Independent hold

Polstead & Layham

Polstead & Layham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Lloyd	567	71.3
	Independent	C. Edmunds	228	28.7
Majority			339	42.6
Turnout			795	78.6
Registered electors			1,011
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shotley

Shotley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Lloyd*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,187
	Conservative hold

Sudbury East

Sudbury East (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	S. Gargiulo	874	51.4
	Conservative	F. Matson	826	48.6
	Conservative	A. Wicks	810	47.6
	Labour	R. Tanner	807	47.5
Turnout			~1,700	65.7
Registered electors			2,587
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Sudbury North

Sudbury North (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R. Playford*	1,075	55.1
	Conservative	H. Singh*	935	47.9
	Labour	P. Moulton	877	45.0
	Labour	H. Banham	873	44.7
Turnout			~1,951	70.9
Registered electors			2,752
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Sudbury South

Sudbury South (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A. Moore*	712	39.5
	Liberal	J. Hewitt	591	32.8
	Conservative	G. Parker	587	32.6
	Labour	E. Wiles	499	27.7
Turnout			~1,802	91.9
Registered electors			1,961
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Waldingfield

Waldingfield (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Spence*	1,173	46.1
	Independent	A. Clarke	789	31.1
	Labour	D. King	580	22.8
	Labour	C. White	514	20.2
Turnout			~2,541	103.6
Registered electors			2,453
	Conservative hold
	Independent win (new seat)

West Samford

West Samford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Wedgewood*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,233
	Conservative hold

References

1. "Babergh District Council Election Results 1973-2011" (PDF). Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
2. "Composition calculator". Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . The Elections Centre, Plymouth University . Retrieved 23 September 2025.