1979 Waveney District Council election

1979 Waveney District Council election

←  1976 3 May 1979 (1979-05-03) 1983  →
All 57 seats to Waveney District Council 29 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Labour Independent Seats won 32 17 4 Seat change 7 4 4 Popular vote 77,511 73,881 3,677 Percentage 47.9% 45.7% 2.3% Swing 2.5% 3.2% 2.0%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Liberal Residents Seats won 3 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 5,756 1,005 Percentage 3.6% 0.6% Swing 2.5% 0.1%
Control before election Conservative Control after election Conservative

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

Summary

Election result

1979 Waveney District Council election [2]
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	47	32	1	8	7	56.1	47.9	77,511	–2.5
	Labour	49	17	5	1	4	29.8	45.7	73,881	+3.2
	Independent	6	4	4	0	4	7.0	2.3	3,677	+2.0
	Liberal	7	3	0	1	1	5.3	3.6	5,756	–2.5
	Residents	1	1	0	0		1.8	0.6	1,005	–0.1

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.

Beccles: North

Beccles: North (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Hartley	907	55.6
	Labour	G. Westwood	802	49.2
	Conservative	E. Toogood	760	46.6
	Labour	E. Hobbins	623	38.2
Turnout			~1,632	78.1
Registered electors			2,089
	Conservative hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Beccles: South

Beccles: South (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Ellwood	2,136	55.1
	Labour	E. Crisp	2,029	52.4
	Labour	C. Andrew	1,792	46.3
	Conservative	D. Hipperson	1,740	44.9
	Labour	A. Hutchinson	1,725	44.5
	Conservative	B. Sabberton	1,573	40.6
	Conservative	R. Byron	1,564	40.4
	Conservative	B. Hewkin	1,466	37.9
Turnout			~3,940	81.2
Registered electors			4,851
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Conservative hold

Blundeston

Blundeston (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Prettyman	1,398	58.7
	Conservative	J. Paul	1,375	57.8
	Labour	R. Dunne	984	41.3
Turnout			~2,407	78.9
Registered electors			3,051
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Brampton

Brampton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Slatter	490	59.0
	Labour	P. Thirtle	341	41.0
Majority			149	18.0
Turnout			~831	82.3
Registered electors			1,010
	Conservative hold

Bungay

Bungay (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	C. Richardson	1,661	65.9
	Labour	M. Sheppard	1,040	41.3
	Labour	R. Aldous	989	39.3
	Conservative	P. Cossart	905	35.9
	Conservative	C. Young	828	32.9
Turnout			~2,520	79.1
Registered electors			3,184
	Liberal hold
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Carlton Colville

Carlton Colville (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Beales	1,054	36.6
	Independent	J. Mitchell	969	33.6
	Conservative	G. Neville	859	29.8
Turnout			~2,249	79.3
Registered electors			2,837
	Labour hold
	Independent gain from Conservative

Halesworth

Halesworth (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Niblett	1,220	51.5
	Conservative	J. Rees	1,121	47.3
	Labour	E. Leverett	1,066	45.0
	Labour	H. Holzer	1,025	43.3
Turnout			~2,371	80.6
Registered electors			2,941
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Holton

Holton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	E. Woodard	484	51.2
	Conservative	J. Jolly	462	48.8
Majority			22	2.4
Turnout			~946	83.4
Registered electors			1,134
	Independent gain from Conservative

Ilketshall

Ilketshall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Wilson	568	64.5
	Independent	W. Hall	190	21.6
	Labour	W. Wegg	123	14.0
Majority			378	42.9
Turnout			~881	80.6
Registered electors			1,093
	Conservative hold

Kessingland

Kessingland (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Martin	1,245	55.7
	Labour	R. Saunders	1,061	47.5
	Conservative	I. Revell	1,059	47.4
Turnout			~2,236	76.7
Registered electors			2,914
	Conservative hold
	Labour gain from Liberal

Lowestoft: Carlton

Lowestoft: Carlton (6 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Scarles	3,054	53.3
	Conservative	D. Mellor	2,932	51.1
	Conservative	C. Mutimer	2,900	50.6
	Conservative	D. Miner	2,827	49.3
	Conservative	K. Priestley	2,756	48.1
	Conservative	L. Willert	2,709	47.3
	Labour	L. Davies	2,672	46.7
	Labour	D. Gower	2,647	46.2
	Labour	T. Kelly	2,615	45.6
	Labour	T. Devine	2,445	42.6
	Labour	A. Murgatroyd	2,284	39.8
	Labour	G. Owers	2,244	39.1
Turnout			~6,425	78.8
Registered electors			8,152
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Lowestoft: Central & Waveney

Lowestoft: Central & Waveney (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J. Sparham	1,163	36.0
	Liberal	A. Shepherd	1,006	31.1
	Residents	H. Kirby	1,005	31.1
	Labour	D. Mathew	897	27.8
	Labour	D. Baldwin	876	27.1
	Labour	H. Porter	870	26.9
	Independent	A. Furlong-Osborne	162	5.0
Turnout			~2,375	77.4
Registered electors			3,070
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold
	Residents hold

Lowestoft: Gunton

Lowestoft: Gunton (5 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N. Brighouse	2,833	53.8
	Conservative	D. Cullum	2,773	52.7
	Conservative	J. Aldous	2,692	51.2
	Conservative	W. Hervey	2,586	49.2
	Conservative	D. Porter	2,584	49.1
	Labour	R. Durrant	2,428	46.2
	Labour	A. Bateman	2,392	45.5
	Labour	R. Ford	2,288	43.5
	Labour	A. Owen	2,280	43.4
	Labour	N. McNorton	2,207	42.0
Turnout			~5,662	75.6
Registered electors			7,491
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Lowestoft: Kirkley

Lowestoft: Kirkley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Ellis	1,433	55.7
	Conservative	R. Calvert	1,140	44.3
	Labour	J. Page	1,088	42.3
	Conservative	M. Wigg	1,078	41.9
Turnout			~2,613	80.7
Registered electors			3,237
	Labour hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

Lowestoft: Oulton Broad

Lowestoft: Oulton Broad (5 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Barnard	3,240	52.6
	Conservative	E. Back	2,998	48.7
	Conservative	H. Turner	2,963	48.1
	Conservative	A. Leedham	2,948	47.8
	Conservative	A. Choveaux	2,942	47.7
	Labour	B. Hunter	2,922	47.4
	Labour	T. Chipperfield	2,879	46.7
	Labour	K. Hunting	2,348	38.1
	Labour	M. Ramsay	2,254	36.6
	Labour	G. Coleman	2,208	35.8
Turnout			~6,418	78.6
Registered electors			8,168
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Lowestoft: Pakefield

Lowestoft: Pakefield (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Lark	2,028	57.5
	Conservative	M. Richardson	1,496	42.5
	Conservative	M. Gallidoro	1,487	42.2
	Labour	A. Martin	1,449	41.1
	Conservative	D. Hugo	1,411	40.0
	Labour	A. Millner	1,277	36.2
Turnout			~3,632	82.3
Registered electors			4,414
	Labour hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Lowestoft: Roman Hill

Lowestoft: Roman Hill (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P. Hunt	1,169	65.3
	Labour	J. Reynolds	1,074	60.0
	Liberal	B. Pointon	620	34.7
	Liberal	A. Moles	581	32.5
Turnout			~1,934	76.7
Registered electors			2,521
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Lowestoft: St. Johns

Lowestoft: St. Johns (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Carter	940	50.9
	Labour	A. Jurd	767	41.6
	Conservative	V. Francis	727	39.4
	Liberal	C. Shade	382	20.7
	Liberal	J. Kerry	343	18.6
Turnout			~1,850	74.8
Registered electors			2,474
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Lowestoft: St. Margarets

Lowestoft: St. Margarets (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Chamberlain	1,017	55.9
	Labour	A. Jeffreys	960	52.7
	Conservative	J. Wren	803	44.1
	Conservative	P. Paul	753	41.3
Turnout			~1,956	80.0
Registered electors			2,445
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Reydon

Reydon (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Simpson	1,039	53.2
	Conservative	G. Johnson	949	48.6
	Labour	A. Fryatt	913	46.8
Turnout			~1,965	76.9
Registered electors			2,554
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Southelmham

Southelmham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Stacey	Unopposed
Registered electors			970
	Conservative hold

Southwold

Southwold (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	S. Waters	997	71.2
	Independent	J. Adnams	875	62.5
	Labour	A. Swan	403	28.8
Turnout			~1,425	81.8
Registered electors			1,741
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Independent gain from Conservative

Worlingham

Worlingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Plummer	958	70.4
	Labour	F. Moore	403	29.6
Majority			555	40.8
Turnout			~1,361	79.0
Registered electors			1,723
	Conservative hold

Wrentham

Wrentham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Child	414	51.3
	Conservative	E. Torlot	393	48.7
Majority			21	2.6
Turnout			807	77.1
Registered electors			1,047
	Labour gain from Conservative

References

1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Waveney District Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). electionscentre.co.uk. Plymouth: The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
2. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Compositions calculator". electionscentre.co.uk. Plymouth University: The Elections Centre. Retrieved 23 January 2026.