1980 Scottish local elections

Elections for the Scottish district councils were held in 1980.

1980 Scottish local elections
1 May 1980 (1980-05-01)
  First party Second party
  Margaret Thatcher
Leader James Callaghan Margaret Thatcher
Party Labour Conservative
Leader since 5 April 1976 11 February 1975
Seats won 469 232
Seat change Increase187 Decrease 27
Popular vote 45.4% 24.1%
Swing Increase13.8 Decrease3.1
  Third party Fourth party
  David Steel
Leader Gordon Wilson David Steel
Party SNP Liberal
Leader since 1979 7 July 1976
Seats won 52 33
Seat change Decrease118 Decrease29
Popular vote 15.5% 6.2%
Swing Decrease8.7 Increase2.2
Colours denote the winning party with outright control

These were the third elections held to the 53 district councils established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The previous elections had been held in 1977. The elections took place a year after the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher had come to power. The local elections, which also took place in England and Wales, were seen as the first electoral test of the Thatcher ministry.[1]

Background

The poll was held on 1 May and all 1,182 district council seats were to be filled.[2] Districts formed the second tier in local government in Scotland under the 1975 reorganisation, with regional councils forming the upper tier. It was intended that elections would normally take place on a four-year cycle. Regional elections were also to be on a four-year cycle, held midway between district elections.

Party performance

Labour had a very good electoral performance, more than regaining the ground they had lost at the 1977 elections. They gained 18 councils: 3 from the Scottish National Party, one from Liberals and 14 from no overall control. Notable gains were the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow.[3] The Conservatives suffered the loss of Edinburgh but held another six councils. The SNP vote collapsed and they lost control of the three councils they controlled. In a number of councils all of the party's sitting councillors were defeated, most notably in Glasgow where they lost all 16 seats they held. The Liberal Party lost the only council they controlled.[3]

Summary of the 1980 Scottish District local council election results[4]
Parties Votes Votes % Wards
Labour 45.4 469
Conservative 24.1 232
SNP 15.5 52
Liberal 6.2 33
Independent/Other 8.9
Total

Results by region

The seats on each council before and after the election were as follows:[2][3]

Borders
District Labour Conservative Liberal Independent Other Control
Berwickshire 1 (+1) 11 (−1) 0 0 0 Conservative hold
Ettrick and Lauderdale 0 1 0 (−1) 14 (+1) 0 Independent hold
Roxburgh 0 (−1) 5 (+3) 0 11 (−2) 0 Independent hold
Tweeddale 0 0 0 10 0 Independent hold

Central
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Other Control
Clackmannan 7 (+3) 1 4 (−3) 0 0 0 Labour gain from SNP
Falkirk 27 (+19) 2 4 (−17) 0 2 (−1) Independent Labour 1
Independent Scottish Nationalist 0 (−1)		 Labour gain from SNP
Stirling 10 (+3) 9 0 (−3) 0 1 (+1) Independent Conservative 0 (−1) Labour gain from NOC

Dumfries and Galloway
District Labour Conservative SNP Independent Control
Annandale and Eskdale 0 0 0 16 Independent hold
Nithsdale 5 (+1) 5 (+5) 4 14 (−6) Independent hold
Stewartry 0 0 0 12 Independent hold
Wigtown 0 0 0 14 Independent hold

Fife
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Other Control
Dunfermline 22 (+3) 5 (−2) 1 (−1) 1 (+1) 1 (−1) 0 Labour hold
Kirkcaldy 23 (+7) 3 (−2) 4 (−4) 0 3 Ratepayers 3 (−1) Labour gain from NOC
North-East Fife 5 (+4) 11 (−5) 0 0 2 (+1) 0 Conservative hold

Grampian
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control
Banff and Buchan 1 (+1) 0 5 (+4) 0 12 (−5) Independent hold
City of Aberdeen 27 (+5) 13 (−2) 0 (−2) 8 (−1) 0 Labour gain from NOC
Gordon 0 3 0 3 6 No overall control
Kincardine and Deeside 0 2 (−1) 0 1 (+1) 9 Independent hold
Moray 0 0 3 (−1) 0 15 (+1) Independent hold

Highland
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control
Badenoch and Strathspey 0 0 2 (+2) 0 8 (−2) Independent hold
Caithness‡ 1 0 0 1 13 Independent hold
Inverness‡ 8 0 1 2 17 Independent hold
Lochaber 4 (+1) 0 0 (−1) 0 8 Independent hold
Nairn 0 0 0 (−2) 0 10 Independent hold
Ross and Cromarty 0 1 0 0 19 Independent hold
Skye and Lochalsh
2 vacancies		 0 0 0 0 9 Independent hold
Sutherland
1 vacancy		 0 0 0 0 13 Independent hold

‡ Changes in ward boundaries

Lothian
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control
City of Edinburgh‡ 25 31 2 2 2 Conservatives lose to NOC
East Lothian 10 7 0 0 0 Labour hold
Midlothian 13 (+6) 0 (−1) 0 (−4) 1 (+1) 1 (−1) Labour gain from NOC
West Lothian 15 (+7) 0 4 (−6) 0 2 (−1) Labour gain from NOC

‡ Changes in ward boundaries

Strathclyde
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Others Control
Argyll and Bute 1 (+1) 2 (−2) 3 0 20 (+1) 0 Independent hold
Bearsden and Milngavie 2 (+1) 6 (−1) 0 0 2 0 Conservative hold
Clydebank 8 (+5) 1 0 (−5) 0 0 Scottish Labour 1 Labour gain from NOC
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 6 (+1) 0 4 (−1) 0 0 0 Labour gain from SNP
Cumnock and Doon Valley 8 (+2) 0 (−1) 0 0 2 0 Labour hold
Cunninghame‡ 21 5 2 0 1 Moderate Conservatives 1 Labour gain from NOC
Dumbarton 8 (+4) 3 (−1) 2 (−2) 0 2 (−1) 0 Labour gain from NOC
East Kilbride 12 (+8) 2 1 (−6) 0 0 (−2) 0 Labour gain from NOC
Eastwood 0 10 0 0 0 Ratepayers 2 Conservative hold
City of Glasgow 58 (+26) 11 (−12) 0 (−16) 3 (+2) 0 0 Labour gain from NOC
Hamilton 17 (+7) 1 0 (−6) 2 0 (−1) 0 Labour hold
Inverclyde 13 (+5) 1 0 (−1) 9 (−4) 0 0 Labour gain from Liberals
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 11 (+4) 5 (−2) 0 (−2) 0 0 0 Labour gain from NOC
Kyle and Carrick 13 (+6) 12 (−5) 0 (−1) 0 0 0 Labour gain from NOC
Lanark 5 (+1) 0 2 (−1) 0 0 Independent Progressives 7 NOC
Motherwell 21 (+2) 3 (−2) 3 0 (−1) 01 (=1) Communist 1 Labour hold
Monklands 18 (+5) 3 (−3) 0 (−1) 0 0 (−1) 0 Labour hold
Renfrew 34 (+20) 4 (-7) 1 (-10) 0 1 (-2) Independent Labour 0 (-1) Labour gain from NOC
Strathkelvin 10 (+6) 4 0 (−6) 0 0 0 Labour gain from NOC

Tayside
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Others Control
Angus 3 12 (+1) 0 0 7 (−1) 0 Conservative hold
City of Dundee 25 (+4) 26 (−2) 0 0 1 (−1) Ratepayer-Conservatives 11 (−1)
Independent Ratepayers-Conservatives 1 (+1)
Progressive Conservatives 0 (−1)		 Labour gain from NOC
Perth and Kinross 5 (+2) 19 (−2) 1 1 (+1) 3 (−1) 0 Conservative hold

References
  1. Warman, Christopher (1 May 1980). "Poll 'chance to pass judgment'". The Times. p. 2.
  2. "Labour makes gains throughout Britain in local government elections". The Times. 2 May 1980. p. 4.
  3. Warman, Christopher (5 May 1980). "Labour wins stronger voice to fight against cuts in local services". The Times. p. 3.
  4. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2013). Local Elections in Britain. Routledge. pp. Table 7.5.
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