1979 Bournemouth Borough Council election

← 1976 3 May 1979 (1979-05-03) 1983  →
All 57 seats to Bournemouth Borough Council 29 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Labour Independent Seats won 45 6 2 Popular vote 109,113 28,686 8,242 Percentage 65.4% 17.2% 4.9%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Liberal Residents Ind. Conservative Seats won 2 1 1 Popular vote 7,863 9,255 2,906 Percentage 4.7% 5.6% 1.7%
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Conservative

The 1979 Bournemouth Borough Council election was held on 3 May 1979 to elect members to Bournemouth Borough Council in Dorset, England. This was on the same day as other local elections and the 1979 general election.

The whole council was elected on new ward boundaries. The Conservatives won a majority of seats on the council.

Summary

Election result

1979 Bournemouth Borough Council election [1]
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	49	45	N/A	N/A		78.9	65.4	109,113
	Labour	23	6	N/A	N/A		10.5	17.2	28,686
	Independent	5	2	N/A	N/A		3.5	4.9	8,242
	Liberal	5	2	N/A	N/A		3.5	4.7	7,863
	Residents	5	1	N/A	N/A		1.8	5.6	9,255
	Ind. Conservative	1	1	N/A	N/A		1.8	1.7	2,906
	Ecology	1	0	N/A	N/A		0.0	0.4	657

Ward results

Boscombe East

Boscombe East (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Cowley	2,745	65.7
	Conservative	W. Turner*	2,572	61.6
	Conservative	J. Southall	2,561	61.3
	Labour	C. Hourihane	1,222	29.3
Turnout			4,176	68.5
Registered electors			6,096
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Boscombe West

Boscombe West (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Potter*	2,456	68.4
	Conservative	D. Trenchard	2,452	68.2
	Conservative	R. Wotton	2,216	61.7
	Ecology	I. Hatwell	657	18.3
	Independent	A. Burns-Davie	478	13.3
Turnout			3,593	60.6
Registered electors			5,929
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Central

Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Macfarlane*	2,345	64.6
	Conservative	K. Thomason*	2,187	60.2
	Conservative	R. Williams*	2,075	57.1
	Residents	H. Nettleton-Walker	808	22.3
	Labour	A. Dinkenor	778	21.4
Turnout			3,631	62.4
Registered electors			5,819
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

East Cliff

East Cliff (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Curtis*	2,497	67.6
	Conservative	J. Adams*	2,259	61.1
	Conservative	P. Kellaway*	2,176	58.9
	Labour	J. Hawkins	1,052	28.5
Turnout			~3,695	61.1
Registered electors			6,048
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Ensbury Park

Ensbury Park (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Bryant	2,273	55.9
	Conservative	B. Moorcroft	2,078	51.1
	Conservative	G. Graham*	1,993	49.0
	Residents	R. Haskell	1,702	41.9
	Labour	P. Brushett	1,623	39.9
	Labour	H. Cutler	1,408	34.6
	Labour	J. Longbottom	1,121	27.6
Turnout			~4,790	76.0
Registered electors			6,303
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Kinson

Kinson (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Bennett*	879	45.7
	Labour	L. Bennett*	868	45.1
	Labour	V. Williams	794	41.3
	Conservative	R. Judd	770	40.0
	Conservative	W. Coe	737	38.3
	Conservative	K. Butt	727	37.8
	Liberal	D. Cobb	651	33.9
	Independent	L. Troke	343	17.8
Turnout			~2,210	33.1
Registered electors			6,676
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Littledown

Littledown (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Hollies-Smith*	3,345	67.9
	Conservative	D. Jenkinson*	3,298	67.0
	Conservative	B. Siberry	3,113	63.2
	Labour	D. Dykes	1,226	24.9
Turnout			~4,925	75.9
Registered electors			6,490
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Moordown

Moordown (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	P. Bamborough*	1,726	44.4
	Conservative	G. Russell	1,407	36.2
	Conservative	R. Cole	1,400	36.0
	Conservative	E. Sayers	1,384	35.6
	Liberal	J. Moore	1,323	34.0
	Liberal	D. Henon	1,298	33.4
	Labour	J. Goodwin	1,286	33.0
	Labour	N. Pankhurst	955	24.5
	Labour	A. Tankard	896	23.0
Turnout			4,318	73.7
Registered electors			5,859
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Muscliff

Muscliff (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	R. Whittaker*	3,567	76.4
	Conservative	S. McQueen*	2,088	44.7
	Conservative	L. Chandler*	1,609	34.5
	Independent	L. Troke	1,205	25.8
	Conservative	R. Rawsthorn	1,140	24.4
	Labour	W. Gaskin	680	14.6
Turnout			~4,666	78.3
Registered electors			5,959
	Independent win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Queens Park

Queens Park (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Hogarth*	2,929	58.6
	Conservative	J. Banks*	2,678	53.6
	Independent	C. Dyer*	2,649	53.0
	Conservative	M. Filer	2,430	48.6
	Labour	S. Hale	1,065	21.3
Turnout			~4,996	72.7
Registered electors			6,872
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

Redhill Park

Redhill Park (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Conservative	P. Whitelegg*	2,906	65.2
	Conservative	G. Ball*	2,388	53.6
	Conservative	G. Masters*	2,026	45.4
	Conservative	R. Judd*	1,658	37.2
	Labour	R. Swinnerton	968	21.7
Turnout			~4,458	77.0
Registered electors			5,789
	Ind. Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Southbourne

Southbourne (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Day*	2,696	62.7
	Conservative	B. Beckett*	2,679	62.3
	Conservative	K. Palmer*	2,516	58.6
	Residents	P. Davis	2,245	52.2
	Residents	K. Thresher	2,221	51.7
Turnout			~4,297	74.1
Registered electors			5,799
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Strouden Park

Strouden Park (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Crone	2,290	53.3
	Residents	I. Page*	2,279	53.0
	Conservative	G. Anstee	1,747	40.7
	Conservative	B. Ratcliffe	1,669	38.8
	Labour	R. Wiseman	1,369	31.9
Turnout			~4,297	74.1
Registered electors			5,799
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Residents win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Talbot Woods

Talbot Woods (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Pardy	Unopposed
	Conservative	L. Cade	Unopposed
	Conservative	O. Ford	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,840
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Wallisdown

Wallisdown (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Spicer*	2,616	58.2
	Labour	R. Hanton*	2,314	51.5
	Labour	B. Grower*	2,160	48.1
	Conservative	L. Doe	1,962	43.7
Turnout			~4,491	68.3
Registered electors			6,576
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

West Cliff

West Cliff (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Forman*	Unopposed
	Conservative	F. Beale*	Unopposed
	Conservative	J. Amor*	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,504
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

West Southbourne

West Southbourne (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	D. Eyre	2,865	58.8
	Conservative	A. Patton	2,388	49.0
	Conservative	L. Mansell	2,251	46.2
	Conservative	R. Ruston	2,249	46.1
Turnout			~4,875	72.3
Registered electors			6,743
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Westbourne

Westbourne (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Bicknell*	3,184	78.8
	Conservative	R. Purnell*	2,929	72.5
	Conservative	G. Jaffe*	2,779	68.8
	Labour	R. Woodley	721	17.9
Turnout			~4,039	67.4
Registered electors			5,993
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Winton

Winton (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Manton	2,627	58.8
	Conservative	P. Haley	2,589	57.9
	Conservative	M. Laidlaw	2,546	57.0
	Labour	C. Reidy	1,401	31.3
	Labour	A. Shead	1,284	28.7
Turnout			~4,469	74.4
Registered electors			6,007
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

1. "Bournemouth Borough Council Election Results 1973-1995" (PDF). Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University . Retrieved 27 April 2025.