1983 Guildford Borough Council election

The fourth full elections for Guildford Borough Council took place on 5 May 1983. The Conservatives retained control of the council winning 31 of the 45 seats on the council, this represented a net loss of three seats compared to the 1979 elections. The SDP-Liberal Alliance won 7 seats, a net gain of 4 seats compared to the 1979 council elections. Labour retained its 6 seats. Only 1 Independent was elected, one fewer than 1979.

If one disregards any change of seats from the Liberal Party to the SDP-Liberal Alliance, three wards wholly or partly changed party allegiance in the 1983 council election relative to the 1979 council election.

The SDP-Liberal Alliance gained a total of four councillors over two wards. They gained two councillors from the Conservatives in Friary & St Nicolas ward and gained a further two councillors from the Conservatives in Onslow ward.

The Conservatives gained one councillor from an independent in Lovelace ward.

Results by ward

^[1]

Ash (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Ades	1720
	Conservative	Rosemary Hall	1601
	Conservative	Roy Arnett	1401
	Labour	Jean Curwell	705
	Labour	Peter Green	671
	Labour	Robert Knight	621
	Alliance	Jean Wickens	571
	Alliance	Daphne Dutton	544
	Alliance	Rosaleen Morgan	521
Majority			696
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ash Vale (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joan Golding	966
	Conservative	Mary Lloyd-Jones	922
	Alliance	Richard Elder	477
	Alliance	Gilbert Molkenthin	465
	Labour	Andrew Winterbottom	182
	Labour	Cecil Philips	175
Majority			445
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Christchurch (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Hodges	1325
	Conservative	Roger Majoribanks	1277
	Alliance	David Brown	525
	Alliance	Timothy Francis	399
	Labour	Margaret Rogers	152
	Labour	Malcolm Hill	184
Majority			752
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Clandon & Horsley (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Greenhead	2070
	Conservative	Douglas May	2017
	Conservative	Lewis Short	1962
	Alliance	Alan Ridler	668
	Alliance	Reginal Allen	586
	Alliance	Christopher Richards	580
	Labour	Terry Haines	225
	Labour	Alan Norman	190
	Labour	John Neate	184
Majority			1294
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Effingham (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Page	622
	Alliance	Peter McCarthy	289
	Labour	Leslie McLaughlin	52
Majority			333
	Conservative hold		Swing

Friary & St. Nicolas ^[2] (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Blundell [3]	1744
	Alliance	Charles St George	1663
	Alliance	Richard Marks	1653
	Conservative	Jean Harris	1197
	Conservative	Stanley Cobbett	1116
	Conservative	Leonard Boxall	1098
	Labour	Jill Chesterton	405
	Labour	Graham Walker	375
	Labour	Keith Horne	343
Majority			456
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Holy Trinity (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elizabeth Cobbett	1230
	Conservative	Anthony Allenby	1211
	Alliance	David Stokes	1019
	Alliance	Gorden Bridger	992
	Labour	Malcolm Corbett	173
	Labour	Susan Walker	150
Majority			192
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lovelace (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Kennedy-Hawkes	415
	Alliance	Robert Parker	248
	Labour	Sydney Boulton	102
Majority			167
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Merrow & Burpham (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reg Beatrip	1996
	Conservative	Paul Johnson	1764
	Conservative	Marion Uniacke	1630
	Alliance	Gordon Hall	934
	Alliance	Susan Gross	910
	Alliance	Frank Kraus	799
	Labour	Michael Hornsby-Smith	545
	Labour	Cynthia Matthews	526
	Labour	Carole Sawyers	463
Majority			696
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Normandy (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lockyer-Nibbs	445
	Independent	Doug Blackhurst	262
		Pauline Hall	148
	Labour	Brian Mountain	104
Majority			183
	Conservative hold		Swing

Onslow (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Lynda Strudwick	1348
	Alliance	Antony Phillips	1201
	Conservative	Bernard Parke	1060
	Alliance	David Hopkins	1022
	Conservative	Kenneth Johns	1021
	Conservative	Brenda Woodhatch	984
	Labour	Jack Cox	444
	Labour	Carmel Rogers	410
	Labour	Graham Dinnage	357
Majority			38
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pilgrims (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Pinks	941
	Conservative	Malcolm Williamson	929
	Alliance	Joceleyne Leppard	259
	Labour	Joseph Bullock	131
	Labour	Elizabeth Bullock	123
Majority			670
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pirbright (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Catherine Cobley	451
	Alliance	Halcyon Broadwood	173
	Labour	Susan Caroll	46
Majority			278
	Conservative hold		Swing

Send (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Smith	980
	Conservative	Keith Taylor	970
	Liberal	Anne Lambe	474
	Liberal	Leslie McCarthy	361
	Labour	Mel Beynon	143
Majority			496
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shalford (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sarah Stewart	901
	Liberal	Len Grugeon	395
	Labour	Harold Richards	154
Majority			506
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stoke (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Bellerby	2246
	Labour	Ron Burgess	1743
	Labour	Sallie Thornberry	1502
	Conservative	Robert Gregory	572
	Conservative	Amelia Harris	489
	Conservative	Philip Hooper	465
	Liberal	Margaret Goldstone	446
	Alliance	Graham Maynard	220
	Alliance	John Leppard	197
Majority			930
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Stoughton (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Chris Fox	1628
	Liberal	Patrick Goldstone	1415
	Conservative	Ralph Jordan	1211
	Alliance	David Newman	1128
	Conservative	Leslie Max	1056
	Conservative	Roy Proce	980
	Labour	Philip Cole	471
	Labour	Jeremy Dale	408
	Labour	Norma Hedger	386
Majority			83
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Tillingbourne (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barbara Pattman	998
	Independent	Margaret Elston	971
	Conservative	Heidi Macnair	690
		John Elinger	589
	Alliance	Diane Donne	571
	Labour	Hilary Cole	91
	Labour	Janet Daburn	82
Majority			281
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Tongham (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Davies	396
	Labour	William Owen	223
Majority			173
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westborough (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Doreen Bellerby	1622
	Labour	Jack Patrick	1391
	Labour	John Woodhatch	1288
	Alliance	Deborah Boyd	669
	Conservative	Frank Wood	650
	Alliance	Pamela Palmer	649
	Conservative	Jonathan Hallet-Lukes	646
	Alliance	Kenneth Briggs	640
Majority			619
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Worplesdon (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clare Griffin	1431
	Conservative	Peter Hodgkins	1408
	Conservative	Bernard Williams	1306
	Alliance	Arthur Croker	866
	Liberal	Peter Stokoe	830
	Alliance	John Hutt	742
	Labour	Florence Flynn	235
	Labour	Joan O'Bryne	232
	Labour	Michael O'Bryne	212
Majority			440
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. Surrey Advertiser 13 May 1983
2. Gains and losses are shown relative to the May 1979 council elections.
3. The results page of the Surrey Advertiser, for these council elections, published on 13 May 1983 specifically refers to some candidates as "Lib" rather than "SDP/Lib. Alliance". This distinction is maintained in this Wikipedia page.