Scottish District local elections, 1984

Scottish District local elections, 1984
Scotland
3 May 1984
  First party Second party
 
Leader Neil Kinnock Margaret Thatcher
Party Labour Conservative
Leader since 2 October 1983 11 February 1975
Seats won 545 189
Seat change Increase76 Decrease43
Percentage 45.7 21.4
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader David Steel Gordon Wilson
Party SDP–Liberal Alliance SNP
Leader since 7 July 1976 15 September 1979
Seats won 78 59
Seat change Increase45 Increase7
Percentage 12.8 11.7

Colours denote the winning party with outright control

Local elections were held in Scotland on Thursday 3 May 1984, to elect members to all 53 district councils under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which had established the two-tier system of regions and districts. This was the first election to take place after the 1983 landslide victory for Mrs Thatcher, which resulted in the Labour taking control of City of Edinburgh for the first time.

National results

Summary of the 1984 Scottish district council election results[1]

 
Parties Votes Votes % Wards
Labour 45.7 545
SNP 11.7 59
Conservative 21.4 189
SDP–Liberal Alliance 12.8 78
Independent 6.8 267
Other
Total n/a ~1158

Results by council area

The numbers of seats on each council before and after the election were as follows:[2]

Borders

Council Labour Conservative Liberal & SDP Independent Control
Berwickshire 0 8 (-3) SDP 1 0 Conservative hold
Ettrick and Lauderdale 2 (+1) 1 (-1) 0 13 Independent hold
Roxburgh 0 5 Lib 3 (+2)
SDP 1		 7 (-2) Independents lose to NOC
Tweeddale 0 0 0 10 Independent hold

Central

Council Labour Conservative SNP Independent Control
Clackmannan 7 (+3) 1 2 (-3) 0 Labour hold
Falkirk 25 (+1) 2 (-1) 7 (+1) 2 (-1) Labour hold
Stirling 11 (+1) 8 (-1) 0 1 Labour hold

Dumfries and Galloway

Council Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Other Control
Annandale and Eskdale 0 0 0 4 (+4) 12 (-4) 0 Independent hold
Nithsdale 6 (+1) 7 (+1) 7 (+1) 0 7 (-4) Independent Labour 1 (+1) No Overall Control
Stewartry 0 0 0 0 12 0 Independent hold
Wigtown 0 0 1 (+1) 0 13 (-1) 0 Independent hold

Fife

Council Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Other Control
Dunfermline‡ 24 2 1 Lib 3
SDP 3		 0 Communist 1 Labour hold
Kirkcaldy‡ 30 3 1 SDP 2
Lib 1		 2 Ratepayers 1 Labour hold
North-East Fife 0 6 (-4) 0 Liberal 10 (+4) 2 0 Liberal gain from Conservatives

‡ New ward boundaries

Grampian

Council Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control
Banff and Buchan 0 2 (+1) 5 0 11 (-1) Independent hold
City of Aberdeen‡ 28 8 0 14 0 Labour hold
Gordon 0 3 (-1) 0 2 (+1) 7 Independent hold
Kincardine and Deeside 0 3 1 1 7 Independent hold
Moray 1 (+1) 0 2 (+1) 0 15 (-2) Independent hold

Highland

Council Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Other Control
Badenoch and Strathspey‡
1 vacancy		 0 0 1 0 9 0 Independent hold
Caithness
1 vacancy		 0 0 0 Lib 1 14 0 Independent hold
Inverness‡ 8 (-1) 0 0 Lib 2 18 (+1) 0 Independent hold
Lochaber‡ 5 0 0 0 8 Independent Labour 2 Independent hold
Nairn 1 (+1) 0 0 0 9 (-1) 0 Independent hold
Ross and Cromarty‡
1 vacancy		 2 1 0 0 18 0 Independent hold
Skye and Lochalsh 0 0 0 SDP 1 (+1) 10 (-1) 0 Independent hold
Sutherland 0 0 0 0 14 0 Independent hold

‡ Changes in ward boundaries

Lothian

Council Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control Details
City of Edinburgh 34 (+8) 22 (-9) 2 4 (+3) 0 (-2) Labour gain from NOC Details
East Lothian 11 (+1) 6(-1) 0 0 0 Labour hold
Midlothian 14 (+1) 1 0 1 0 (-1) Labour hold
West Lothian‡ 19 0 2 0 3 Labour hold

‡ Changes in ward boundaries

Strathclyde

Council Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Others Control
Argyll and Bute 0 1 1 0 24 0 Independent hold
Bearsden and Milngavie 1 (-1) 6 (-1) 0 Lib 2 (+2) 1 0 Conservative hold
Clydebank‡ 11 1 0 0 0 0 Labour hold
Clydesdale 7 0 3 0 6 0 NOC
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth‡ 8 0 4 0 0 0 Labour hold
Cumnock and Doon Valley 10 (+1) 0 0 0 0 (-1) 0 Labour hold
Cunninghame 23 (+2) 5 2 (-2) 0 0 0 Labour hold
Dumbarton‡ 11 2 0 SDP 1 2 0 Labour hold
East Kilbride‡ 14 2 0 0 0 0 Labour hold
Eastwood 0 10 0 0 2 0 Conservative hold
City of Glasgow 59 5 (-1) 0 Lib 2 (+1) 0 0 Labour hold
Hamilton 17 1 0 Lib 2 0 0 Labour hold
Inverclyde‡ 11 0 0 Lib 9 0 0 Labour hold
Kilmarnock and Loudoun‡ 14 3 11 0 0 0 Labour hold
Kyle and Carrick 12 (-1) 13 (+1) 0 0 0 0 Conservative gain from Labour
Motherwell‡ 24 2 2 0 1 Communist 1 Labour hold
Monklands‡ 18 2 0 0 0 0 Labour hold
Strathkelvin‡ 11 4 0 0 0 0 Labour hold

‡ New ward boundaries.

Tayside

Council Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Others Control
Angus‡ 0(-3) 8(-4) 11 0 2 0 SNP gain from NOC
City of Dundee 25 15 (-2) 2 (+2) Lib 1 (+1)
SDP 1 (+1)		 0 (-1) 0 Labour hold
Perth and Kinross 6 14 (-4) Lib 3 (+2)
SDP1 (+1)		 1 (+1) 4 (+1) 0 Conservatives lose to NOC
Preceded by
Scottish local Regional elections, 1982		 Scottish local elections Succeeded by
Scottish local Regional elections, 1986

Notes and references

  1. ↑ McConnell, Alan (2004), Scottish Local Government, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2005-0
  2. ↑ Clayton, Hugh (5 May 1984). "Labour captures Birmingham and Liberals make gains". The Times. p. 5.

See also