Wiltshire County Council election, 1985

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Elections to Wiltshire County Council were held on 2 May 1985. The whole council of seventy-five members was up for election and the result was that the Conservatives lost their majority, winning only thirty seats, resulting in no overall control. The Liberals gained seats, winning seventeen, the Social Democrats won eight seats, the first time they had been represented in the council, while Labour had losses, finishing like the Liberals with seventeen members. Three Independents, including one Ratepayer, were also elected. [1]

Wiltshire County Council

Wiltshire County Council was the county council of Wiltshire in the South West of England, an elected local Government body responsible for most local government services in the county.

Conservative Party (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. The governing party since 2010, it is the largest in the House of Commons, with 313 Members of Parliament, and also has 249 members of the House of Lords, 18 members of the European Parliament, 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 12 members of the Welsh Assembly, eight members of the London Assembly and 8,916 local councillors.

In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom, the term no overall control refers to a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats; and is analogous to a hung parliament. Of the 310 councils who had members up for election in the 2007 local elections, 85 resulted in a NOC administration.

In an editorial on 4 May headed "Local Lessons", The Times commented that "The Conservatives predominate as the single largest party in the counties still. Generalizations from such elections are always flawed by local factors. Intra-party disputes help explain the loss of Conservative seats in Wiltshire". [2]

<i>The Times</i> British daily compact newspaper owned by News UK

The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently, and have only had common ownership since 1967.

Following the elections, an informal agreement between the leader of the Liberal group, Jack Ainslie, and the leader of the Labour members, Mary Salisbury, led to the formation of a minority SDP–Liberal Alliance administration. Salisbury commented to The Times "Where the Liberals put forward what seem to be measures which are beneficial to the people of Wiltshire, we will support them." [3]

John Bernard Ainslie OBE, known as Jack Ainslie, was a Wiltshire farmer and Liberal politician, Chairman of Wiltshire County Council from 1986 to 1990.

The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party's platform emphasises greater state intervention, social justice and strengthening workers' rights.

Mary Ethel Salisbury was an English Labour politician in Wiltshire.

Election result

Wiltshire Local Election Result 1985 [1]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Conservative 30 - 10 40.0
  Liberal 17 + 5 22.7
  Labour 17 - 3 22.7
  Social Democratic 8 + 8 10.7
  Independent 3 + 1 4.0

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References

  1. 1 2 Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Local Elections' in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 4
  2. 'Local Lessons', editorial in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 9
  3. Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Emerging figure in new Lib-Lab pact: an Alliance shire leader cast in Tory mould', in The Times of London, issue 62135 dated 11 May 1985, p. 2