1979 West Norfolk District Council election

1979 West Norfolk District Council election

←  1976 3 May 1979 (1979-05-03) 1983  →
All 60 seats to West Norfolk District Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Registered	89,012
Turnout	~48.5% (8.2%)
First party Second party   Party Conservative Labour Seats won 42 15 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 48,076 42,003 Percentage 49.5% 43.2% Swing 2.2% 4.7%   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Ind. Conservative Seats won 3 0 Seat change 4 3 Popular vote 4,976 356 Percentage 5.1% 0.4% Swing 5.2% 2.6%
Control before election Conservative Control after election Conservative

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

Summary

Election result

1979 West Norfolk District Council election [2]
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	59	42	11	4	5	70.0	49.5	48,076	+2.2
	Labour	28	15	3	1	2	25.0	43.2	42,003	+4.7
	Independent	8	3	2	8	4	5.0	5.1	4,976	–5.2
	Liberal	3	0	0	0		0.0	1.1	1,042	+0.3
	Independent Labour	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.8	741	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	1	0	0	3	3	0.0	0.4	356	–2.6

22 Conservatives and 1 Independent were elected unopposed.

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.

Airfield

Airfield (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Bagge*	Unopposed
	Conservative	H. Harris*	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,572
	Conservative gain from Independent
	Conservative hold

Burnham

Burnham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Coke*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,366
	Conservative gain from Independent

Clenchwarton

Clenchwarton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Kerkham*	521	43.9
	Independent	J. Jones	351	29.6
	Labour	F. Mallett	315	26.5
Majority			170	14.3
Turnout			1,187	80.7
Registered electors			1,471
	Conservative hold		Swing

Creake

Creake

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Negus	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,347
	Conservative gain from Independent

Denton

Denton (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Spencer	1,608	53.2
	Conservative	M. Jones*	1,545	51.1
	Conservative	G. Peat	1,527	50.5
	Labour	J. Waterfall	1,417	46.8
Turnout			~3,025	74.5
Registered electors			4,060
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Dersingham

Dersingham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Greenwood*	Unopposed
	Conservative	I. Stockwell*	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,037
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Docking

Docking

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Howard*	668	60.3
	Conservative	E. Coker	439	39.7
Majority			229	20.6
Turnout			1,107	78.6
Registered electors			1,409
	Labour hold		Swing

Emneth

Emneth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N. Terrington*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,493
	Conservative gain from Independent

Gayton

Gayton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	I. Major*	767	66.0
	Labour	M. Carden*	396	34.0
Majority			371	32.0
Turnout			1,163	81.8
Registered electors			1,422
	Conservative gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing

Lynn South West

Lynn South West (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Benefer*	1,007	44.1
	Labour	W. Baker*	969	42.4
	Independent Labour	H. Temby	741	32.4
	Conservative	D. Chesney	538	23.5
	Conservative	P. Brunker	505	22.1
Turnout			~2,285	79.0
Registered electors			2,892
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Mershe Lande

Mershe Lande

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Goose*	839	71.3
	Independent	W. Morton	338	28.7
Majority			501	42.6
Turnout			1,177	74.3
Registered electors			1,584
	Conservative gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing

Middleton

Middleton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Lemon*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,423
	Conservative gain from Independent

No. 1 (Kings Lynn: Gaywood)

No. 1 (Kings Lynn: Gaywood) (6 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Swann	3,658	39.6
	Conservative	F. Barton*	3,652	39.5
	Conservative	D. Garwood*	3,563	38.6
	Labour	G. Shelton	3,488	37.7
	Labour	P. Wilkinson	3,471	37.6
	Labour	A. Burch	3,431	37.1
	Labour	K. West*	3,303	35.7
	Labour	G. Falcini	3,275	35.4
	Labour	T. Coy	3,251	35.2
	Conservative	A. Daubney	3,216	34.8
	Conservative	R. Sharp*	3,196	34.6
	Conservative	G. Ison*	3,097	33.5
	Independent	J. Loveless	2,080	22.5
Turnout			~9,226	83.6
Registered electors			11,032
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

No. 2 (Kings Lynn: North)

No. 2 (Kings Lynn: North) (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Juniper	2,198	74.5
	Labour	A. Panks	2,158	73.2
	Labour	E. Panks*	2,020	68.6
	Labour	M. Pantling	1,926	65.4
	Conservative	K. Hudd	751	25.5
	Conservative	M. Kelly*	741	25.1
	Conservative	A. Stopforth	689	23.4
	Conservative	E. Morrison*	671	22.8
Turnout			~2,950	61.2
Registered electors			4,820
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

No. 5 (Kings Lynn: Chase & Central)

No. 5 (Kings Lynn: Chase & Central) (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Barton*	1,268	58.1
	Conservative	F. Cork*	1,166	53.4
	Conservative	R. Fraulo	1,095	50.1
	Labour	P. Richards	915	41.9
	Labour	J. Dunton*	798	36.6
	Labour	L. Coy*	734	33.6
Turnout			~2,184	65.4
Registered electors			3,337
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

No. 6 (Downham Market)

No. 6 (Downham Market) (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Brown*	1,844	54.0
	Conservative	J. Bostock*	1,558	45.6
	Labour	G. Howells	961	28.1
	Liberal	A. Robson	608	17.8
Turnout			~3,414	93.2
Registered electors			3,663
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

No. 7 (Hunstanton)

No. 7 (Hunstanton) (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Legge*	Unopposed
	Conservative	L. Brown*	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,407
	Conservative gain from Independent
	Conservative hold

No. 9 (Heacham)

No. 9 (Heacham) (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Gidney*	1,521	57.6
	Conservative	V. Stapley	1,255	47.5
	Labour	J. Wells*	1,121	42.4
Turnout			~2,644	78.4
Registered electors			3,372
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

No. 17 (Stoke Ferry)

No. 17 (Stoke Ferry)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Cowieson*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,393
	Conservative hold

No. 18 (Denver)

No. 18 (Denver)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. Sharpe	833	70.8
	Conservative	A. Johnson	344	29.2
Majority			489	41.6
Turnout			1,177	81.3
Registered electors			1,447
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

No. 19 (Wimbotsham)

No. 19 (Wimbotsham)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Blakey	384	38.6
	Independent	S. Boughen	362	36.4
	Liberal	R. Frost	248	24.9
Majority			22	2.2
Turnout			994	78.5
Registered electors			1,267
	Conservative hold		Swing

No. 20 (Welney)

No. 20 (Welney)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Rose*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,217
	Conservative hold

No. 25 (South Wootton)

No. 25 (South Wootton)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Dutton*	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,181
	Conservative hold

No. 26 (North Wootton)

No. 26 (North Wootton)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Spencer*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,485
	Conservative hold

No. 27 (Massingham)

No. 27 (Massingham)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Tilbury*	717	64.1
	Conservative	A. Everett	402	35.9
Majority			315	28.2
Turnout			1,119	81.2
Registered electors			1,378
	Labour hold		Swing

No. 28 (Grimston)

No. 28 (Grimston)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Reader*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,661
	Conservative hold

No. 40 (Outwell & Upwell)

No. 40 (Outwell & Upwell) (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Feary*	Unopposed
	Conservative	J. Shepherd*	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,247
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

North Coast

North Coast

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Middleton*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,775
	Conservative hold

Priory

Priory

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Sandle*	485	52.2
	Conservative	R. Peck	444	47.8
Majority			41	4.4
Turnout			929	80.8
Registered electors			1,150
	Labour hold		Swing

Rudham

Rudham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B. Seaman*	498	59.4
	Conservative	J. Mickleburgh*	341	40.6
Majority			157	18.8
Turnout			839	80.6
Registered electors			1,041
	Labour hold		Swing

Snettisham

Snettisham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Barwick*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,750
	Conservative gain from Independent

Spellowfields

Spellowfields (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Howling*	1,328	48.0
	Conservative	J. Wright	1,196	43.2
	Labour	W. Cowen	827	29.9
	Ind. Conservative	W. Gent	356	12.9
	Independent	S. Cruickshank	253	9.1
Turnout			~2,765	93.2
Registered electors			2,967
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Garner	733	61.3
	Labour	J. Castle	463	38.7
Majority			270	22.6
Turnout			1,196	78.3
Registered electors			1,527
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

St. Margarets

St. Margarets

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. West	529	44.1
	Conservative	H. Bolt*	484	40.4
	Liberal	B. Goldstone	186	15.5
Majority			45	3.7
Turnout			1,199	79.0
Registered electors			1,517
	Labour hold		Swing

Ten Mile

Ten Mile

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Simper*	662	50.0
	Conservative	R. Legge	661	50.0
Majority			1	0.0
Turnout			1,323	74.7
Registered electors			1,771
	Labour hold		Swing

The Walpoles

The Walpoles

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	E. Kemp*	759	58.9
	Conservative	K. Cousins*	529	41.1
Majority			230	17.8
Turnout			1,288	77.5
Registered electors			1,663
	Independent gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing

Watlington

Watlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Haynes*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,540
	Conservative hold

West Walton

West Walton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	F. Jude*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,034
	Independent hold

West Winch

West Winch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Nichols*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,865
	Conservative hold

Wiggenhall

Wiggenhall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Turrell*	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,429
	Conservative hold

References

1. "Borough Council of Kings' Lynn & West Norfolk Election Results 1973-2011" (PDF). Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
2. "Composition calculator". Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . The Elections Centre, Plymouth University . Retrieved 12 January 2026.