1979 Rochford District Council election

1979 Rochford District Council election

←  1978 3 May 1979 (1979-05-03) 1980  →
14 out of 40 seats to Rochford District Council 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Residents Independent Seats won 9 1 2 Seats after 27 5 4 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 14,801 1,201 1,875 Percentage 56.5% 4.6% 7.2% Swing 4.3% 4.3% N/A   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Liberal Labour Seats won 2 0 Seats after 3 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 4,013 4,298 Percentage 15.3% 16.4% Swing 4.5% 3.2%
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Conservative

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

Summary

Election result

1979 Rochford District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	9		64.3	18	27	67.5	14,801	56.5	–4.3
	Residents	1	1	7.1	4	5	12.5	1,201	4.6	–4.3
	Independent	2	1	14.3	2	4	10.0	1,875	7.2	N/A
	Liberal	2	1	14.3	1	3	7.5	4,013	15.3	+4.5
	Labour	0	1	0.0	1	1	2.5	4,298	16.4	–3.2

Ward results

Incumbent councillors standing for re-election are marked with an asterisk (*).

Ashingdon

Ashingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	B. Crick*	909	55.6	+21.3
	Conservative	E. Quincey	727	44.4	+7.2
Majority			182	11.1	N/A
Turnout			1,636	77.3	+35.5
Registered electors			2,151
	Liberal hold		Swing	7.1

Barling & Sutton

Barling & Sutton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Chandler	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,145
	Conservative hold

Canewdon

Canewdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	D. Wood*	812	64.9	–3.7
	Conservative	P. Abrahams	439	35.1	+3.7
Majority			373	29.8	–7.4
Turnout			1,251	77.6	+32.2
Registered electors			1,626
	Independent hold		Swing	3.7

Foulness & Great Wakering East

Foulness & Great Wakering East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Pearson	524	47.1	+18.4
	Labour	W. Lay	306	27.5	–6.0
	Independent	A. Humby*	283	25.4	–12.4
Majority			218	19.6	N/A
Turnout			1,113	79.2	+24.9
Registered electors			1,418
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing	12.2

Grange & Rawreth

Grange & Rawreth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Heath	1,696	65.2	+10.4
	Labour	S. Andre	905	34.8	–10.4
Majority			791	30.4	+20.8
Turnout			2,601	75.1	+30.0
Registered electors			3,528
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.4

Great Wakering Central

Great Wakering Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Jopson	320	34.9	–5.3
	Independent	E. Adcock	302	32.9	N/A
	Labour	C. Bellman	295	32.2	–27.6
Majority			18	2.0	N/A
Turnout			917	82.2	+28.5
Registered electors			1,137
	Conservative gain from Labour

Great Wakering West

Great Wakering West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	E. Adcock*	478	57.9	+8.0
	Conservative	N. Keen	347	42.1	+14.3
Majority			131	15.9	–6.2
Turnout			825	80.1	+29.7
Registered electors			1,048
	Independent hold		Swing	3.2

Hawkwell East

Hawkwell East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Harvey*	1,813	57.3	N/A
	Liberal	G. Skinner	1,349	42.7	N/A
Majority			464	14.7	N/A
Turnout			3,162	77.3	N/A
Registered electors			4,140
	Conservative hold

Hawkwell West

Hawkwell West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Residents	R. Taylor	1,201	52.7	N/A
	Conservative	R. Fawell*	1,080	47.3	–18.9
Majority			121	5.3	N/A
Turnout			2,281	81.3	+41.1
Registered electors			2,851
	Residents gain from Conservative

Lodge

Lodge (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Cooke	2,338	67.4	–2.9
	Conservative	P. Elliott	2,111	60.9	–9.4
	Labour	W. Campbell	890	25.7	–4.0
	Labour	D. Campbell	886	25.6	–4.1
Turnout			~3,467	78.2	+38.3
Registered electors			4,434
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Trinity

Trinity

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	D. Helson	1,252	56.2	–0.4
	Conservative	D. Fowler*	804	36.1	–7.3
	Labour	J. Clinkscales	173	7.8	N/A
Majority			448	20.1	+6.8
Turnout			2,229	85.1	+26.0
Registered electors			2,645
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	3.5

Wheatley

Wheatley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Holman*	1,153	60.8	–21.1
	Liberal	J. Walsh	503	26.5	+8.4
	Labour	V. Foley	241	12.7	N/A
Majority			650	34.4	–29.4
Turnout			1,897	80.4	+42.1
Registered electors			2,393
	Conservative hold		Swing	14.8

Whitehouse

Whitehouse

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Gibson	1,449	70.6	+14.6
	Labour	G. Wade	602	29.4	+11.1
Majority			847	41.3	+11.0
Turnout			2,051	80.0	+29.7
Registered electors			2,600
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.8

References

1. "Rochford District Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . Elections Centre, Plymouth University . Retrieved 8 September 2025.