1978 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were held on in May 1978. The Conservatives retained control of the council.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.

23 seats were contested, with 11 being won by the Conservative Party and 12 by the Labour Party.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Election result

Bolton Local Election Result 1978
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	11	1	2	-1	{{{seats %}}}	50.9	36,495	-7.0
Labour	12	4	1	+3	{{{seats %}}}	42.1	30,185	+5.1
Liberal	0	0	1	-1	{{{seats %}}}	4.7	3,401	+0.8
Other parties	0	0	1	-1	{{{seats %}}}	2.2	1,608	+1.1

Ward results

Astley Bridge ward

Astley Bridge ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Shepherd	2,685	74.0	−3.5
	Labour	L Hesketh	794	21.9	−0.6
	Liberal	M Powell	147	4.1	+4.1
Majority			1,891	52.1	−3.0
Turnout			3,626	37.4	−0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Lib 3.8

Bradshaw North and South ward

Bradshaw North and South ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Furlong	1,662	80.0	−5.7
	Labour	L Sanderson	416	20.0	+5.7
Majority			1,246	60.0	−11.3
Turnout			2,078	31.0	−3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 5.7

Bradford ward

Bradford ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Foster	1,451	86.0	+17.5
	Conservative	N Patel	165	9.8	−18.5
	Socialist (GB)	E Murphy	71	4.2	+1.0
Majority			1,286	76.2	+36.0
Turnout			1,687	41.0	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 18.0

Bromley Cross, Eagley and Egerton ward

Bromley Cross, Eagley and Egerton ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Carr	2,567	80.0	−1.9
	Labour	E McCracken	642	20.0	+1.9
Majority			1,925	60.0	−3.7
Turnout			3,209	37.1	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 1.9

Church East and North ward

Church East and North ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Iddon	1,461	63.8	+37.1
	Conservative	F Yardley	774	33.8	−7.3
	National Front	D Ashurst	56	2.4	+2.4
Majority			687	30.0
Turnout			2,291	45.0	−3.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 22.2

Darcy Lever cum Breightmet ward

Darcy Lever cum Breightmet ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Dingwall	2,585	50.6	+6.1
	Conservative	J Whittingham	2,439	47.8	−7.7
	Socialist (GB)	N Duffield	83	1.6	+1.6
Majority			146	2.8
Turnout			5,107	37.5	−1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 6.9

Deane cum Lostock ward

Deane cum Lostock ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Berry	2,069	71.8	−5.9
	Labour	A Moon	584	20.3	−2.0
	Liberal	S Roberts	150	5.2	+5.2
	National Front	L Bromilow	77	2.7	+2.7
Majority			1,485	51.6	−3.8
Turnout			2,880	38.8	−2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Lib 5.5

Derby ward

Derby ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G Riley	1,622	74.1	+10.3
	Conservative	B Lomax	504	23.0	−13.2
	Communist	Alan Johnson	63	2.9	+2.9
Majority			1,118	51.1	+23.5
Turnout			2,189	37.0	+6.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 11.7

Farnworth North ward

Farnworth North ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L Cunliffe	1,500	52.5	+4.8
	Conservative	D Jones	1,118	39.1	−2.1
	Liberal	W Crook	238	8.3	−2.8
Majority			382	13.4	+6.9
Turnout			2,856	31.4	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	Lib to Labour 3.8

Farnworth South ward

Farnworth South ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Wild	1,540	60.3	+5.0
	Conservative	E Holland	775	30.4	+9.3
	Liberal	L Bale	237	9.3	−14.3
Majority			765	30.0	−1.7
Turnout			2,552	27.5	+2.2
	Labour hold		Swing	Lib to Con 11.8

Great Lever ward

Great Lever ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M Atkinson	1,842	51.0	+11.3
	Conservative	J Shore	1,772	49.0	−11.3
Majority			70	2.0
Turnout			3,614	34.6	−1.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 11.3

Halliwell ward

Halliwell ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E Hamer	1,363	37.1	−7.3
	Conservative	B Holland	1,299	35.4	−20.2
	Liberal	J Fish	941	25.6	+25.6
	National Front	J Bridge	71	1.9	+1.9
Majority			64	1.7
Turnout			3,674	41.0	+9.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Lib 22.9

Heaton ward

Heaton ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Allanson	1,909	87.6	−2.8
	Labour	L Williamson	271	12.4	+2.8
Majority			1,638	75.2	−5.6
Turnout			2,180	46.0	−1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.8

Horwich North, Central and East ward

Horwich North, Central and East ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R Parkinson	2,184	52.8	−0.1
	Labour	A Oakley	1,951	47.2	+0.2
Majority			233	5.6	−0.3
Turnout			4,135	38.9	−1.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Con to Labour 0.1

Horwich South and Blackrod ward

Horwich South and Blackrod ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M Butterfield	1,063	37.9	−0.5
	Conservative	T Mulligan	950	33.9	−27.7
	Independent	L Fearnhead	791	28.2	+28.2
Majority			113	4.0
Turnout			2,804	42.9	−5.1
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing	Con to Ind 27.9

Hulton and Rumworth ward

Hulton and Rumworth ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Parkinson	1,961	50.9	−4.2
	Labour	J Farmer	1,719	44.6	+8.6
	National Front	J Walsh	176	4.6	−4.3
Majority			242	6.3	−12.7
Turnout			3,856	39.1	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 6.4

Kearsley ward

Kearsley ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R Cornthwaite	1,597	43.0	+2.6
	Liberal	J Rothwell	1,273	34.3	−3.2
	Conservative	A Longmire	843	22.7	+0.6
Majority			324	8.7	+5.9
Turnout			3,713	43.3	+0.7
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	Lib to Labour 2.9

Little Lever ward

Little Lever ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K Hornby	1,976	62.9	+22.4
	Labour	E Blackwell	973	31.0	−6.6
	Liberal	R Richardson	192	6.1	−15.8
Majority			1,003	31.9	+29.0
Turnout			3,141	39.3	+1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	Lib to Con 19.1

Smithills ward

Smithills ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Priestley	2,510	71.2	−3.3
	Labour	G Hart	794	22.5	+0.6
	Liberal	F Fish	223	6.3	+6.3
Majority			1,716	48.7	−3.9
Turnout			3,527	33.1	−4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Lib 4.8

Tonge ward

Tonge ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S Harrison	2,567	54.6	−2.4
	Labour	K McIvor	1,970	41.9	−1.1
	National Front	J Hamilton	162	3.4	+3.4
Majority			597	12.7	−1.3
Turnout			4,699	41.7	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to NF 2.9

West ward

West ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R Howarth	1,710	63.8	+9.0
	Conservative	M Kershaw	913	34.1	−11.1
	Socialist (GB)	I Heyes	58	2.2	+2.2
Majority			797	29.7	+20.2
Turnout			2,681	34.3	+2.3
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 10.0

Westhoughton East and Hulton ward

Westhoughton East and Hulton ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G Smith	1,753	72.3	−2.6
	Labour	P Jones	670	27.7	+2.6
Majority			1,083	44.6	−5.2
Turnout			2,423	37.8	−5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.6

Westhoughton North, Central and South ward

Westhoughton North, Central and South ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W Kettle	1,667	60.2	+13.0
	Conservative	A Prince	1,100	39.8	−2.2
Majority			567	20.4	+15.2
Turnout			2,767	37.4	−2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Lab 7.6

References

Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 12 July 2016.