1981 West Midlands County Council election

Local elections to the West Midlands County Council, a Metropolitan County Council encompassing the West Midlands, were held on 7 May 1981, resulting in large swings to Labour, giving them control of the council.

1981 West Midlands County Council election

← 1977 7 May 1981 Abolished →

104 seats to the West Midlands County Council
52 seats needed for a majority
Turnout36.6% (Steady)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Labour Conservative Liberal
Last election 18 seats, 31.3 82 seats, 58.7% 3 seats, 4.3%
Seats won 74 25 5
Seat change Increase56 Decrease57 Increase2
Percentage 50.0% 36.7% 9.8%
Swing Increase18.7% Decrease22.0% Increase5.5%

1981 metropolitan council election results in West midlands.

Council control before election

Conservative

Council control after election

Labour

This was the last election to the West Midlands County Council, after metropolitan county councils were scrapped on 31 March 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985 by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. The councils' abolition followed several high profile clashes between mostly Labour metropolitan county councils and the Conservative government over issues, including spending and rates charges.

Results

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West Midlands County Council election, 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 74 50.0  18.7
  Conservative 25 36.7  22.0
  Liberal 5 9.8  5.5
  Independent 0 0.5  0.1
  Green 0 0.4  0.3
  Other parties 0 2.5  2.5

Council composition

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After the election the composition of the council was:

74 25 5
Labour Conservative Liberal

Borough summary

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Results of the West Midlands County Council election, 1981
by Metropolitan Borough
Borough %
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
Total
Cllrs
Labour Conservative Liberal Green Independent Others
Birmingham 49.7 30 35.0 9 12.4 3 0.8 0 0.1 0 2.0 0 42
Coventry 49.3 9 37.1 3 12.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 1.4 0 12
Dudley 57.2 9 40.2 2 1.7 0 0.7 0 0.0 0 0.2 0 11
Sandwell 60.5 9 28.9 1 9.9 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.7 0 12
Solihull 31.8 2 46.1 5 12.6 0 0.5 0 0.0 0 9.0 0 7
Walsall 44.1 7 35.0 3 10.3 0 0.0 0 3.8 0 6.8 0 10
Wolverhampton 53.0 8 42.1 2 3.4 0 0.0 0 0.7 0 0.9 0 8
Total 50.0 74 36.7 25 9.8 5 0.5 0 0.4 0 2.5 0 104

References

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