1988 United Kingdom local elections

Last updated

1988 United Kingdom local elections
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1987 5 May 1988 1989  

All 36 metropolitan boroughs, 117 out of 296 English districts and all 53 Scottish districts
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
Margaret Thatcher (1983).jpg
Official portrait of Neil Kinnock, Member of the EC (cropped).jpg
DavidSteel1987 cropped.jpg
RobertMacLennan1987 cropped.jpg
Leader Margaret Thatcher Neil Kinnock David Steel
and Robert Maclennan
Party Conservative Labour SLD
Leader since11 February 19752 October 1983 7 July 1976
and 6 August 1987
Percentage39%38%18%
Councillors +/-Increase2.svg 9Increase2.svg 76Decrease2.svg 122

The 1988 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 5 May 1988. [1] [2] [3] The Conservative government held its ground and remained ahead in the projected popular vote.

Contents

The election resulted in the Conservative Party winning 39% of the popular vote, the Labour Party winning 38% and the Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD) 18%. The Conservatives gained 9 seats, Labour gained 76 seats and the SLD lost 122 seats.

These were the first national elections contested by the SLD, which had just been formed as a merger of the SDP and Liberals after several years of an alliance existing between the two parties.

Summary of results

England

Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Barnsley Labour Labour hold Details
Birmingham Labour Labour hold Details
Bolton Labour Labour hold Details
Bradford Labour No overall control gain Details
Bury Labour Labour hold Details
Calderdale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Coventry Labour Labour hold Details
Doncaster Labour Labour hold Details
Dudley Labour Labour hold Details
Gateshead Labour Labour hold Details
Kirklees No overall control No overall control hold Details
Knowsley Labour Labour hold Details
Leeds Labour Labour hold Details
Liverpool Labour Labour hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Labour Labour hold Details
North Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
Oldham Labour Labour hold Details
Rochdale Labour Labour hold Details
Rotherham Labour Labour hold Details
Salford Labour Labour hold Details
Sandwell Labour Labour hold Details
Sefton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Sheffield Labour Labour hold Details
Solihull Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
St Helens Labour Labour hold Details
Stockport No overall control No overall control hold Details
Sunderland Labour Labour hold Details
Tameside Labour Labour hold Details
Trafford No overall control Conservative gain Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold Details
Walsall No overall control Labour gain Details
Wigan Labour Labour hold Details
Wirral No overall control No overall control hold Details
Wolverhampton No overall control Labour gain Details

District councils

In 117 districts one third of the council was up for election.

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Adur SLD SLD hold Details
Amber Valley No overall control Conservative gain Details
Barrow-in-Furness Labour Labour hold Details
Basildon No overall control No overall control hold Details
Basingstoke and Deane Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bassetlaw Labour Labour hold Details
Bath No overall control Conservative gain Details
Blackburn No overall control Labour gain Details
Brentwood Conservative Conservative hold Details
Brighton No overall control Labour gain Details
Bristol Labour Labour hold Details
Broadland Conservative Conservative hold Details
Broxbourne Conservative Conservative hold Details
Burnley Labour Labour hold Details
Cambridge No overall control Labour gain Details
Cannock Chase Labour Labour hold Details
Carlisle Labour Labour hold Details
Cheltenham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Cherwell Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Chorley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Colchester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Congleton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Craven No overall control No overall control hold Details
Crawley Labour Labour hold Details
Crewe and Nantwich No overall control No overall control hold Details
Daventry Conservative Conservative hold Details
Derby Labour Conservative gain Details
Eastbourne SLD Conservative gain Details
Eastleigh No overall control SLD gain Details
Ellesmere Port and Neston Labour Labour hold Details
Elmbridge No overall control Conservative gain Details
Epping Forest Conservative Conservative hold Details
Exeter No overall control No overall control hold Details
Fareham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gillingham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gloucester Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gosport Conservative Conservative hold Details
Great Grimsby Labour Labour hold Details
Great Yarmouth No overall control No overall control hold Details
Halton Labour Labour hold Details
Harlow Labour Labour hold Details
Harrogate Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hart No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hartlepool Labour Labour hold Details
Hastings No overall control No overall control hold Details
Havant Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hereford SLD SLD hold Details
Hertsmere Conservative Conservative hold Details
Huntingdonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hyndburn Labour Labour hold Details
Ipswich Labour Labour hold Details
Kingston upon Hull Labour Labour hold Details
Leominster Independent Independent hold Details
Lincoln Labour Labour hold Details
Macclesfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Maidstone No overall control No overall control hold Details
Milton Keynes No overall control No overall control hold Details
Mole Valley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Newcastle-under-Lyme Labour Labour hold Details
North Bedfordshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
North Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Norwich Labour Labour hold Details
Nuneaton and Bedworth Labour Labour hold Details
Oadby and Wigston Conservative Conservative hold Details
Oxford Labour Labour hold Details
Pendle SLD SLD hold Details
Penwith No overall control No overall control hold Details
Peterborough No overall control No overall control hold Details
Portsmouth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Preston Labour Labour hold Details
Purbeck No overall control No overall control hold Details
Reading Labour Labour hold Details
Redditch Labour Labour hold Details
Reigate and Banstead Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rochford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rossendale Labour Labour hold Details
Rugby Conservative Conservative hold Details
Runnymede Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rushmoor Conservative Conservative hold Details
Scunthorpe Labour Labour hold Details
Shrewsbury and Atcham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Slough Labour Labour hold Details
South Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Cambridgeshire Independent Independent hold Details
South Herefordshire Independent Independent hold Details
South Lakeland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Southampton No overall control Labour gain Details
Southend-on-Sea No overall control No overall control hold Details
St Albans No overall control Conservative gain Details
Stevenage Labour Labour hold Details
Stoke-on-Trent Labour Labour hold Details
Stratford-on-Avon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Stroud No overall control No overall control hold Details
Swale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Tamworth Conservative No overall control gain Details
Tandridge Conservative Conservative hold Details
Thamesdown Labour Labour hold Details
Three Rivers SLD SLD hold Details
Thurrock Labour Labour hold Details
Tonbridge and Malling Conservative Conservative hold Details
Torbay Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tunbridge Wells Conservative Conservative hold Details
Watford Labour No overall control gain Details
Waveney No overall control No overall control hold Details
Welwyn Hatfield Labour Labour hold Details
West Lancashire Conservative Conservative hold Details
West Lindsey SLD No overall control gain Details
West Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Weymouth and Portland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Winchester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Woking No overall control No overall control hold Details
Wokingham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Worcester Labour Labour hold Details
Worthing Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wyre Forest No overall control No overall control hold Details
York Labour Labour hold Details

Scotland

District councils

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Aberdeen Labour No overall control gain Details
Angus SNP SNP hold Details
Annandale and Eskdale Independent SSLD gain Details
Argyll Independent Independent hold Details
Badenoch and Strathspey Independent Independent hold Details
Banff and Buchan Independent Independent hold Details
Bearsden and Milngavie Conservative Conservative hold Details
Berwickshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Caithness Independent Independent hold Details
Clackmannan Labour Labour hold Details
Clydebank Labour Labour hold Details
Clydesdale Labour Labour hold Details
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Labour No overall control gain Details
Cumnock and Doon Valley Labour Labour hold Details
Cunninghame Labour Labour hold Details
Dumbarton Labour No overall control gain Details
Dundee Labour Labour hold Details
Dunfermline Labour Labour hold Details
East Kilbride Labour Labour hold Details
East Lothian Labour Labour hold Details
Eastwood Conservative Conservative hold Details
Edinburgh Labour Labour hold Details
Ettrick and Lauderdale Independent Independent hold Details
Falkirk Labour Labour hold Details
Glasgow Labour Labour hold Details
Gordon Independent No overall control gain Details
Hamilton Labour Labour hold Details
Inverclyde Labour Labour hold Details
Inverness Independent Independent hold Details
Kilmarnock and Loudoun Labour Labour hold Details
Kincardine and Deeside Independent Independent hold Details
Kirkcaldy Labour Labour hold Details
Kyle and Carrick Conservative Labour gain Details
Lochaber Independent Independent hold Details
Midlothian Labour Labour hold Details
Monklands Labour Labour hold Details
Moray Independent Independent hold Details
Motherwell Labour Labour hold Details
Nairn Independent Independent hold Details
Nithsdale Independent Labour gain Details
North East Fife SSLD SSLD hold Details
Perth and Kinross Conservative No overall control gain Details
Renfrew Details
Ross and Cromarty Independent Independent hold Details
Roxburgh Independent Independent hold Details
Skye and Lochalsh Independent Independent hold Details
Stewartry Independent Independent hold Details
Stirling Labour Labour hold Details
Strathkelvin Labour Labour hold Details
Sutherland Independent Independent hold Details
Tweeddale Independent Independent hold Details
West Lothian Labour Labour hold Details
Wigtown Independent Independent hold Details

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References

  1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1988, Volume 1. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  2. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1988, Volume 2. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.