1985 Dorset County Council election

Elections to Dorset County Council were held on Thursday, 2 May 1985. The whole council was up for election with the number of members to be elected reducing from 91 to 77. The result was that the Conservatives retained their control, winning 42 seats, a loss of 11. The Alliance of Liberals and SDP gained 10 seats to finish with 16. Labour lost 7 seats to finish with 4. 5 others were elected, down 6. ^[1]

Election result by division

Source: ^[2]

Members of the old council *

North Dorset (11 seats)

Blackmore Vale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	G. 'Joe' Rose	1,498	48.7	n/a
	Conservative	G Pitt-Rivers*	1,434	46.6	−30.8
	Labour	D Wardleworth	147	4.8	−17.8
Majority				2.1
Turnout				50.0	+6.8
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+39.7

Blandford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Barrie Cooper	1,237	49.1	n/a
	Conservative	F Nightingale*	893	35.5	−5.1
	Labour	Hadyn White	389	15.4	n/a
Majority				13.7
Turnout				39.6	+4.4
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+27.1

Colehill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Morden	1,439	51.8
	Liberal	P Bartlett	1,133	40.8
	Labour	R Pitman	204	7.3
Majority				11.0
Turnout				39.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cranborne Chase

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alan Humphries	1,242	51.4
	Conservative	H Swatridge	1,047	43.3
	Labour	J Allen	127	5.3
Majority				8.1
Turnout				43.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

Gillingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R Bircumshaw	1,478	55.8
	SDP	D Lawrence	960	36.2
	Labour	J Hanley	213	8.0
Majority				2.6
Turnout				44.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hambledon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Mitchell*	1,352	47.7
	Liberal	P Hamilton	1,279	45.2	n/a
	Labour	W Kingswell	201	7.1	n/a
Majority				2.6	n/a
Turnout				44.9	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Corfe Mullen

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	S Goss-Custard	1,370	48.0	+16.6
	Conservative	M Guarella*	1,225	43.0	−25.6
	Labour	L Shooter	257	9.0	n/a
Majority				5.1	42.2
Turnout				40.6	+5.2
	SDP gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.1

Lytchett

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Lees	1,377	49.9
	Liberal	M Wilkins	987	35.8
	Labour	D Barker	395	14.3
Majority				14.1
Turnout				37.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Minster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	P Hymers	1,306	48.6
	Conservative	A Wright*	1,117	41.6
	Labour	G White	265	9.9
Majority				7.0
Turnout				41.6
	SDP gain from Conservative		Swing

Shaftesbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G Hine	1,540	49.9	+5.6
	Liberal	Audrey Perry*	1,325	42.9	−12.8
	Labour	K Davies	221	7.2	n/a
Majority				7.0	18.5
Turnout				45.8	−5.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.2

Winterborne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Jones*	1,430	54.2
	SDP	L Dean	861	32.7	n/a
	Labour	J Fox	346	13.1	n/a
Majority				21.6	n/a
Turnout				39.8	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

References

1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1985). Local Elections Handbook 1985: The 1985 Local Election Results. Vol. 1. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 218.
2. "Dorset County Council Election Results 1973-2009" (PDF). www.electionscentre.co.uk.