1984 Cunninghame District Council election

1984 Cunninghame District Council election

←  1980 3 May 1984 (1984-05-03) 1988  →
All 30 seats to Cunninghame District Council 16 seats needed for a majority
Registered	104,682
Turnout	45.0%
First party Second party   Lab Con Party Labour Conservative Last election 21 seats, 46.4% 5 seats, 21.5% Seats won 23 5 Seat change 2 Popular vote 26,482 10,260 Percentage 56.4% 21.9% Swing 10.0 0.4
Council Leader before election Labour Council Leader after election Labour

Elections to Cunninghame District Council were held on 3 May 1984, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the fourth election to the district council following the local government reforms in 1974.

The election used the 30 wards created by the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1979. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.

Labour retained control of the council after taking more than half the popular vote and winning 23 of the 30 seats – an increase of two from 1980. The Conservatives retained all five of their seats to remain as the second largest party while the Scottish National Party (SNP) lost all their representation on the council just seven years after winning a plurality of seats.

Background

Following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, a two-tier system of local government comprising nine regions, 53 districts and three island areas was introduced the following year. The 1984 elections would be the fourth district elections since their establishment. ^{[1] [2]}

Labour had regained control of the council following the previous election in 1980. The party's vote rebounded after the 1977 election and they won a majority – 21 – of the 30 seats. The Conservatives leapfrogged the Scottish National Party (SNP) into second place by increasing their representation on the council to five members despite a drop in vote share. The SNP fell from the largest party in 1977 to third in 1980, winning just two seats – down from 11. One Moderate and one independent candidate were elected. ^{[3] [4]}

Boundary changes had occurred prior to the previous election following the completion of the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements for Cunninghame in 1979. This was the second election contested on the new boundaries which saw an increase of six seats from 24 to 30. ^[5]

In 1981, an electoral alliance was formed between the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. This would last until the parties merged in 1988 to form the Scottish Social and Liberal Democrats (SSLD), later renamed the Liberal Democrats. ^[6] Both parties contested the 1984 district elections but only one party would contest any given seat. ^[4]

Results

1984 Cunninghame District Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	23	2	0	2	76.7	56.4	26,482	10.0
	Conservative	5	0	0		20.8	21.9	10,260	0.4
	Independent	1	0	0		3.3	4.1	1,930	0.4
	Moderates	1	0	0		3.3	2.1	1,027	0.2
	SNP	0	0	2	2	0.0	11.4	5,360	14.4
	Liberal	0	0	0		0.0	2.5	1,188	2.4
	SDP	0	0	0		0.0	0.8	407	New
	Independent Labour	0	0	0		0.0	0.5	261	New
Total		30						46,918

Source: ^{[2] [4]}

Ward results

Irvine West

Irvine West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. O'Neill	916	57.1	3.5
	SNP	M. Brown	424	26.5	New
	Independent	J. Smith	263	16.4	New
Majority			338	20.6	0.7
Turnout			1,603	53.7	0.9
Registered electors			2,986
	Labour hold		Swing	1.7

Source: ^{[2] [4]}

Arran

Arran

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	E. Sillars	1,100	74.1	0.7
	Labour	J. Sillars	363	24.5	0.9
Majority			737	49.6	0.6
Turnout			1,463	44.9	0.9
Registered electors			3,306
	Independent hold		Swing	0.3

Source: ^{[2] [4]}

Aftermath

Labour strengthened their grip on the council by winning more than half the popular vote – 56.4% – and increasing their representation on the council by two to 23. The Conservatives retained their five seats with a slightly increased vote share while one Moderate and one independent candidate were elected. The SNP – who had won the election in 1977 ^[3] – saw their vote share drop by 14 percentage points as they lost all their representation on the council. ^[2]

References

1. "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
2. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1984). The Scottish District Elections 1984: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
3. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1977). The Scottish District Elections 1977: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
4. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1980). The Scottish District Elections 1980: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
5. "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
6. Cole, Matt; Deighan, Helen (2012). Political Parties in Britain. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   978-0-7486-6903-5.