1984 City of Edinburgh District Council election

1984 City of Edinburgh Council election

←  1980 3 May 1984 (1984-05-03) 1988  →
All 62 seats to Edinburgh City Council 32 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Labour Conservative Last election 25 31 Seats won 34 22 Seat change 9 9 Popular vote 66,384 56,569 Percentage 38.7% 32.9% Swing 2.7% 7.3%   Third party Fourth party   Party Alliance SNP Last election 2 2 Seats won 4 2 Seat change 2 0 Popular vote 36,867 8,298 Percentage 21.5% 4.8% Swing 10.1% 4.6%
Map of council wards
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election Labour

Following the historic election a red flag was raised above the city chambers, although it was soon taken down.

Elections for the City of Edinburgh District Council took place on Thursday 3 May 1984, alongside elections to the councils of Scotland's various other districts.

The election was the first time Labour had ever won a majority on the Edinburgh Council, with the party winning 34 of the City's 62 seats. The Conservatives came second, on 22 seats, whilst the SDP-Liberal Alliance won 4, and the SNP 2. Labour would retain its dominance for the next 23 years, until the 2007 election. Mark Lazarowicz and Nigel Griffiths played prominent roles in the election, and would later both become Edinburgh Members of Parliament for Labour. ^[1] Alex Wood was the leader of the Labour group.

Following the election a red flag was raised above the Edinburgh City Chambers, but it was taken down after a day. ^[1]

Aggregate results

City of Edinburgh District Council election, 1984 ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	34	11	1	10		38.7	66,384	2.7
	Conservative	22	0	10	10		32.9	56,569	7.3
	Alliance	4	3	1	2		21.5	36,867	10.1
	SNP	2	1	1	0		4.8	8,298	4.6
	Independent	0	0	1	1		0.3	531	1.1
	Other parties	0	0	1	1	0.0	1.8	3,038

Ward results

7th, Pilton ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. Wood	1,182	89.5
	Conservative	J. K. M. Gilbert	77	5.8
	Alliance	H. B. T. Holland	61	4.6
Majority			1,105
Turnout			1,320
	Labour hold

31st, North Hailes ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Lazarowicz	1,524
	Alliance	Joyce Heggie	163
	Conservative	A. Reid	163
	SNP	J. Russell	123
Majority			1,361
Turnout			1,973
	Labour hold

32nd, South Hailes ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	N. Griffiths	1,228
	SNP	N. R. MacCallum	273
	Conservative	Sheila L. Black	201
	Alliance	J. Bulat	143
Majority			955
Turnout
	Labour hold

45th, Portobello ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. Kerevan	1,212
	Conservative	Karin J. C. Dodds	1,069
	Independent	W. Westwood	531
	Alliance	Marjorie Jenkins-Thomas	396
	SNP	J. Leslie	165
	Scottish Ecology	Joan M. C. Grant	47
Majority			143
Turnout
	Labour hold

References

1. "30 years since Labour took Edinburgh City Council". Edinburgh Evening News. 8 April 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
2. "District Council Election Results: Lothian". The Glasgow Herald. 4 May 1984. p. 6.
3. "District Council Election Results: Lothian". The Glasgow Herald. 5 May 1984. p. 4.
4. "District Council Elections: Key Councils - How the Parties Polled". The Glasgow Herald. 6 May 1988. p. 10.
5. p.86-91