1978 Havering London Borough Council election

The 1978 Havering Council election took place on 4 May 1978 to elect members of Havering London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council for the second time.

Electoral arrangements

The election was originally scheduled for 1977, but was delayed for one year to bring London borough council elections into a four-year election cycle.^[b] New ward boundaries were used for the first time. Prior to the 1978 election the council had 64 members (55 councillors and 9 aldermen). From the 1978 election, 63 councillors were elected from 25 wards. Each ward returned two or three councillors.

Ten of the wards were entirely new, including Airfield ward covering the new Airfield estate in Hornchurch. The remaining wards shared the names of previously used wards but with new boundaries. Councillors were elected for a four-year term with the next election scheduled for 1982.

Polling took place on 4 May 1978, except in Gooshays ward where the election was delayed until 25 May 1978, due to the death of a candidate.^[1]

Results

With 38 seats, the Conservative Party won overall control of the council for the second time. Labour Party wins were concentrated in the wards covering the Harold Hill estate (Heaton, Hilldene and Gooshays) with the addition of the new Airfield ward in Hornchurch. Residents and ratepayers candidates were successful in the two seats covering Cranham (Cranham East and Cranham West) as well as Rainham and wards covering southern Hornchurch (Hacton and South Hornchurch).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Ward results

Airfield

Airfield (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Stephen Clarke	1,479
	Labour	Thomas Mitchell	1,461
	Labour	Sydney Jack	1,396
	Conservative	Edward Hoad	990
	Conservative	Martin Shipp	962
	Conservative	Margaret Munday	947
	Ind. Residents	Andrew Carew	524
	Ind. Residents	Brenda Hammond	440
	Ind. Residents	Joan Lewis	403
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Ardleigh Green

Ardleigh Green (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Thomas Sims	1,856
	Conservative	Leonard Trott	1,842
	Labour	Glenys Chandley	559
	Labour	Dorothy Robinson	541
	Ind. Residents	Ian Wilkes	541
	Ind. Residents	Jack Lewis	421
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Brooklands

Brooklands (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Henry Tebbutt	1,233
	Conservative	Meirion Owens	1,209
	Labour	George Cox	1,141
	Labour	Jesse Taylor	1,063
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Chase Cross

Chase Cross (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Randall Evans	1,235
	Conservative	William Odulate	1,172
	Labour	Arthur Latham	961
	Labour	Sydney Parrish	863
	Communist	Colin Harper	84
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Collier Row

Collier Row (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robin Adaire	1,238
	Conservative	Norman Symonds	1,192
	Labour	Robert Kilbey	764
	Labour	Christine Blake	759
	Liberal	Eric Freeman	214
	Liberal	Keith Brewington	178
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Cranham East

Cranham East (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Ind. Ratepayers	Rowland Knell	1,544
	Ind. Ratepayers	Jean Mitchell	1,496
	Conservative	Peter Gardner	955
	Conservative	Stephen Brabner	922
	Labour	Tom Horlock	544
	Labour	Frances Eldred	529
Turnout
Majority
	Ind. Ratepayers win (new seat)
	Ind. Ratepayers win (new seat)

Cranham West

Cranham West (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Ind. Ratepayers	Ron Ower	1,824
	Ind. Ratepayers	Louisa Sinclair	1,811
	Conservative	Mary Noyes	988
	Conservative	John Smith	877
	Labour	Susan Kortlandt	239
	Labour	Helena Cowin	230
Turnout
	Ind. Ratepayers win (new seat)
	Ind. Ratepayers win (new seat)

Elm Park

Elm Park (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Joan Arthur	1,894
	Conservative	Margaret Ashby	1,881
	Conservative	Leslie Reilly	1,852
	Labour	George Saunders	1,806
	Labour	David Burn	1,779
	Labour	Jack Hoepelman	1,761
	Liberal	Mark Long	204
	Liberal	Thomas Rimmer	202
	Liberal	Keith Penfold	193
	National Front	Robert Baldwin	184
	National Front	Alfred Harris	179
	National Front	Alan Newell	154
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Emerson Park

Emerson Park (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Moultrie	2,323
	Conservative	William Sibley	2,241
	Labour	John Scott	524
	Labour	Glyn Harris	479
	Ind. Residents	Lynn Lewis	249
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Gidea Park

Gidea Park (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Johnston	2,090
	Conservative	Alice Smith	1,998
	Labour	Judith Paul	428
	Labour	Anthony Gordon	419
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Gooshays

Gooshays (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Ronald Lynn	1,495
	Labour	Valentine Birnie	1,408
	Labour	Wilf Mills	1,396
	Conservative	Alison Bush	825
	Conservative	Helen Forster	816
	Conservative	Pamela Marsden	765
	National Front	Albert Yetton	147
Turnout
	Labour win (new boundaries)
	Labour win (new boundaries)
	Labour win (new boundaries)

Hacton

Hacton (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Residents	Albert Davis	1,515
	Residents	Norman Miles	1,469
	Residents	Norman Richards	1,376
	Conservative	Norman Kemble	1,271
	Conservative	Frederick Thompson	1,234
	Conservative	Wendy Thompson	1,055
	Labour	Ernest Rawlins	962
	Labour	Gordon Thompson	921
	Labour	Cyril Whitelock	885
Turnout
	Residents win (new boundaries)
	Residents win (new boundaries)
	Residents win (new boundaries)

Harold Wood

Harold Wood (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	David Forster	2,393
	Conservative	Peter Marsden	2,287
	Conservative	Robert Neill	2,255
	Labour	John McCarthy	1,024
	Labour	Brian Morland	957
	Labour	Hubert Hull	942
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Heath Park

Heath Park (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Eric Munday	1,993
	Conservative	William Smith	1,954
	Labour	Dennis Cook	575
	Labour	Pearl Saunders	566
	Liberal	Susan Brewington	219
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Heaton

Heaton (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Robert Harris	1,632
	Labour	Denis O'Flynn	1,567
	Labour	Geoffrey Otter	1,465
	Conservative	Nigel Boyle	972
	Conservative	John Hann	956
	Conservative	Julian Chiningworth	942
Turnout
	Labour win (new boundaries)
	Labour win (new boundaries)
	Labour win (new boundaries)

Hilldene

Hilldene (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Reg Whiting	1,479
	Labour	Bessie Whitworth	1,440
	Labour	Ron Whitworth	1,412
	Conservative	Stanley Martin	771
	Conservative	Geoffrey Wright	729
	Conservative	Jane Wright	695
Turnout
	Labour win (new boundaries)
	Labour win (new boundaries)
	Labour win (new boundaries)

Hylands

Hylands (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Jean Frost	1,855
	Conservative	Irene Pearce	1,803
	Conservative	Frederick Roberts	1,779
	Labour	Alan Prescott	1,563
	Labour	Peter Osborne	1,542
	Labour	Stewart Binns	1,484
	Liberal	Henry King	203
	Liberal	John Hewitt	195
	Liberal	Brian McCarthy	193
	Ind. Ratepayers	Pamela Wilkes	155
	Ind. Ratepayers	Kenneth Mainstone	127
	Ind. Ratepayers	Laurence Munroe	123
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Mawney

Mawney (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Victor Bush	2,030
	Conservative	Lucy Whittingham	1,889
	Conservative	Nigel Regnier	1,835
	Labour	Ruby Latham	1,394
	Labour	Michael Blake	1,392
	Labour	Wallace Russell	1,322
	Liberal	Joan Freeman	286
	Liberal	Pauline Longthorn	249
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

Oldchurch

Oldchurch (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Derek Price	933
	Conservative	William Todd	932
	Labour	Ronald Baker	770
	Labour	Jocelyn Spindler	668
	National Front	Madeline Caine	90
	National Front	Elsie Harris	82
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Rainham

Rainham (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Residents	Henry Turner	1,756
	Residents	Donald Poole	1,667
	Residents	George Mooney	1,566
	Labour	Henry Webb	1,192
	Labour	Raymond Emmett	1,117
	Labour	Harry Moss	978
	Conservative	Audrey North	731
	Conservative	Kieran Humphries	703
	Conservative	David Cordell	687
Turnout
	Residents win (new boundaries)
	Residents win (new boundaries)
	Residents win (new boundaries)

Rise Park

Rise Park (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Evan Davies	1,876
	Conservative	Christopher Kemp	1,716
	Labour	Alfred Capon	545
	Labour	Sheila Hills	497
	Liberal	Terry Hurlstone	282
	Liberal	Caroline Hurlstone	278
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

St Andrew's

St Andrew's (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Albert James	2,063
	Conservative	David Biddlecombe	1,998
	Conservative	Thomas Orrin	2,012
	Labour	Keith Dutton	906
	Labour	Margaret Hoepelman	850
	Labour	Margaret Jack	844
	Ind. Residents	Frank Everett	720
	Ind. Residents	Angela Meads	711
	Ind. Residents	Herbert Borley	169
	Liberal	John Green	169
	Liberal	Adrienne McCarthy	158
	Liberal	Trevor Wood	142
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

St Edward's

St Edward's (2)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Lydia Hutton	1,631
	Conservative	Roger Ramsey	1,549
	Labour	Jeannette Bowyer	635
	Labour	Albert Mills	556
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

South Hornchurch

South Hornchurch (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Residents	Leonard Long	1,384
	Residents	Michael Burke	1,317
	Residents	Ronald Whittaker	1,299
	Labour	Harry Rivers	1,249
	Labour	Richard Desmond	1,201
	Labour	Lynne Cunningham	1,179
	Conservative	Ralph Pollard	889
	Conservative	Robin Hackshall	870
	Conservative	Mary Oxley	859
Turnout
	Residents win (new boundaries)
	Residents win (new boundaries)
	Residents win (new boundaries)

Upminster

Upminster (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Bruce Gordon-Picking	2,613
	Conservative	Rodney Chamberlain	2,547
	Conservative	Joyce White	2,467
	Ratepayers	Geoffrey Lewis	1,991
	Ratepayers	Carol Springthorpe	1,943
	Ratepayers	Owen Ware	1,920
	Labour	Megan Lamb	449
	Labour	Joseph Moore	365
	Labour	William Nicholls	351
Turnout
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)
	Conservative win (new boundaries)

By-elections

The following by-elections took place between the 1978 and 1982 elections:

1978 St Andrew's (Havering) by-election
1980 Gooshays by-election
1980 Heaton (Havering) by-election
1980 Rise Park by-election
1981 Upminster by-election (Ratepayers gain from Conservative)

Notes

^ Includes all candidates elected as (Independent) Residents or Ratepayers
^ Terms were extended by the London Councillors Order 1976.

References

^ ^a ^b "London Borough Council Elections 4 May 1978" (PDF). London Datastore. Greater London Council. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
^ "1978 London Borough of Havering local election results". Havering Council. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "London Borough of Havering Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

[1] Includes all candidates elected as (Independent) Residents or Ratepayers

[Order_1976-2] Terms were extended by the London Councillors Order 1976.

[London_1978_election-3] "London Borough Council Elections 4 May 1978" (PDF). London Datastore. Greater London Council. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

[4] "1978 London Borough of Havering local election results". Havering Council. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

[5] Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "London Borough of Havering Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

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