The 1985 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 2 May 1985 in England and Wales, and Wednesday 15 May 1985 in Northern Ireland.[1][2][3][4] Labour had the largest share of the vote in local council elections for the first time since 1981.
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All 39 non-metropolitan counties, 1 sui generis authority, all 26 Northern Irish districts and all 8 Welsh counties | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Both Conservatives and Labour lost some seats to the Liberal-SDP Alliance, who were rebuilding under the leadership of David Owen and enjoying strong showings — including a brief lead — in the opinion polls.
Summary of results
editAlan Clark, writing in his diary for 11 May 1985, shortly after the election, stated: "Some stupid prick has done a 'projection' in one of the heavies showing that the SDP will have a massive overall majority in the House of Commons.."[5]
England
editNon-metropolitan county councils
edit‡ New electoral division boundaries
Sui generis
edit| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isles of Scilly | Details | ||||
Northern Ireland
editWales
editCounty councils
edit| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clwyd | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details | ||
| Dyfed | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details | ||
| Gwent | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Gwynedd | Independent | Independent hold | Details | ||
| Mid Glamorgan | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Powys | Independent | Independent hold | Details | ||
| South Glamorgan | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| West Glamorgan | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
References
edit- ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1985, Volume 1. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1985, Volume 2. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1985, Volume 3. The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ Diaries, Alan Clark Phoenix 1994, pp 112