1982 Lothian Regional Council election

Last updated

Map showing results by Lothian Regional Electoral District. Lothian Regional Council election, 1982.svg
Map showing results by Lothian Regional Electoral District.

The second election to Lothian Regional Council was held on 6 May 1982 and yielded a swing to the Conservatives. Whilst the Labour presence was reduced, the Conservatives were unable to win an outright majority, and both parties exited the election with 22 seats. The council Conservative group, under Brian Meek, was able to take over the council however due to support from the SDP-Liberal Alliance councillors. [1]

Contents

Turnout was 47.6%, giving the Lothians the highest regional turnout rates in the 1982 Scottish regional elections. The turnout was also an increase of 3.7% on the turnout for the 1978 elections. [2]

Background

The Lothian Regional Council had been a key battleground in a fierce ideological battle between a new, younger generation of radical left-wing Labour activists elected in the 1980 election, and the incumbent Thatcherite Conservative government. In a precursor to the Rate-capping rebellion, several Scottish councils had refused to implement spending cuts necessitated due to a cut in funding from George Younger, the then Secretary of State for Scotland. Lothian in particular had seen its funding cut to the tune of £47 million in July 1981. [1]

The Labour leader of Lothian Regional Council; John Mulvey, pursued a policy of resisting the cuts, and claimed that Labour had a popular mandate to protect jobs and services through increasing local expenditure. The Lothian council, alongside the councils of certain other Scottish regions, planned spending above government guidelines. Younger responded by cutting the Lothian budget by a further £30 million, and the council caved in to pressure. [1]

Aggregate results

Lothian Regional election, 1982 [3]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 22Steady2.svg0Decrease2.svg4Decrease2.svg444.9030.6585,452Decrease2.svg9.6
  Conservative 22Increase2.svg4Steady2.svg0Increase2.svg444.9030.3784,673Decrease2.svg2.8
  Alliance 3Increase2.svg2Steady2.svg0Increase2.svg26.1226.1472,860Increase2.svg21.7
  SNP 1Steady2.svg0Decrease2.svg2Decrease2.svg22.0411.6332,412Decrease2.svg8.7
  Independent 1Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg02.040.742,059Decrease2.svg0.8
 Protestant Crusade Against the Papal Visit (PCAPV)0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg00.000.25694New
  Ecology 0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg00.000.11334New
  Communist 0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg00.000.10288Decrease2.svg0.3

278,772

Ward results

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Boyack</span> Scottish Labour politician

Sarah Herriot Boyack is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since 2019, and previously from 2011 to 2016. She formerly represented the Edinburgh Central constituency from 1999 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayr (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Ayr is a burgh constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the town of Ayr in the council area of South Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) via the plurality electoral system. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region which elects seven additional members to the Scottish Parliament via a proportional electoral system known as the Additional Members System which allows for greater accuracy in representation for the region as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, covering parts of the council areas of South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also, it is one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Central (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Burgh constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Edinburgh Central is a burgh constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Edinburgh. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the Lothian electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Gray</span> Scottish Labour politician

Iain Cumming Gray is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 to 2011. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the East Lothian constituency from 2007 to 2021, having previously represented Edinburgh Pentlands from 1999 to 2003. A former aid worker and teacher of mathematics and physics, Gray was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as MSP for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, which he lost to Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party David McLetchie in 2003. Gray was returned to Holyrood in 2007 as MSP for East Lothian. Following Wendy Alexander's resignation as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party in 2008, Gray stood at the subsequent leadership election, and was elected with a 57.8% share of the vote in the second round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Scotland</span>

Scotland has elections to several bodies: the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, local councils and community councils. Before the United Kingdom left the European Union, Scotland elected members to the European Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Scottish Parliament election</span>

The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Scottish Parliament election</span>

The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fell on the same day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Southern (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Edinburgh Southern is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Edinburgh. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Lothian electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galloway and West Dumfries (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Galloway and West Dumfries is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election</span> 2008 UK local government election

The 2008 Rushmoor Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Scottish regional elections</span>

The 1994 Scottish regional elections were held in Scotland on 5 May 1994, as part of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. These were the last elections before 29 new mainland unitary authorities, established by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, came into effect. The councils up for election were last contested in 1990 Scottish regional elections, and vote and seat changes are compared to the 1990 results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 Scottish local elections</span>

Local elections were held in Scotland on 7 May 1992, to elect members to all 53 district councils. It was the last local election held under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which had established the two-tier system of regions and districts. Regional and district councils were abolished in 1996, and replaced with 29 new mainland unitary authorities under the terms of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Scottish regional elections</span>

Regional elections were held in Scotland on Thursday 8 May 1986, under the terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The previous elections had been held in 1982. The elections took place a year before the Conservative's third general election victory. Elections took place in England and Wales on the same day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Gedling Borough Council election</span> Election in Nottinghamshire, England

An election was held on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Gedling Borough Council in Nottinghamshire, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party gained overall control of the council from the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 East Lothian Council election</span> 2012 Scottish local government election

2012 Elections to East Lothian Council were held on 3 May 2012, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 7 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 23 councillors elected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election</span> 1994 UK local government election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 5 May 1994, with one third of the seats up for election. Prior to the election, Labour had defended their seats in two by-elections for Abram and Hindley. The election suffered from a mixture of a poor contesting rate and low voter turnout. The number of candidates contesting was just 50, the lowest since 1975, with four wards going unopposed, and Lib Dems back to fighting a half of the seats, and the Conservatives less than two-thirds. The only other opposition standing were three Independent Labour candidates, one of which was the previous - but since deselected - Labour incumbent for the seat being fought in Worsley Mesnes. Voter turnout rose from the previous election's nadir, but at 30.4%, still well below average.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 United Kingdom general election in Scotland</span>

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2015 and all 59 seats in Scotland were contested under the first-past-the-post, single-member district electoral system. Unlike the 2010 general election, where no seats changed party, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won all but three seats in Scotland, gaining a total of 56 seats. The SNP received what remains the largest number of votes gained by a single political party in a United Kingdom general election in Scotland in British history, breaking the previous record set by the Labour Party in 1964 and taking the largest share of the Scottish vote in sixty years, at approximately 50 per cent.

The second election to Lothian Regional Council was held on 2 May 1978 and saw Labour gaining a majority of the council's 49 seats amidst a Labour surge across Scotland. Stephen Maxwell, the SNP's vice-chairman, was a prominent victim of the Labour gains, losing his seat of Slateford/Hailes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Lothian Regional Council election</span> 1986 Scottish local government election

The fourth election to Lothian Regional Council was held on 8 May 1986 as part of the wider 1986 Scottish regional elections. The Lothian result was little different from the wider Scottish results, which saw Labour making strong gains across Scotland. In Lothian this allowed Labour to secure their majority on the 49-seat council.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hassan, Gerry; Shaw, Eric (2012). The Strange Death of Labour Scotland. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780748655571.
  2. https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/9136/1983_6_Towards%20a%20four%20party%20system.pdf;jsessionid=27E104652661E4C136096D50BE13D81B?sequence=1 p.74
  3. https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/9136/1983_6_Towards%20a%20four%20party%20system.pdf;jsessionid=27E104652661E4C136096D50BE13D81B?sequence=1 p.75