1979 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 3 May 1979 on the same day as the General Election. The Conservatives retained control of the Council by a majority of 1 seat.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.

24 seats were contested, with 14 being won by the Labour Party, 9 by the Conservatives and 1 by the Liberal Party.

After the election, the composition of the Council was

Election result

Bolton Local Election Result 1979
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	9	0	10	-10	{{{seats %}}}	46.7	70,549	-4.2
Labour	14	10	0	+10	{{{seats %}}}	46.4	70,115	+4.3
Liberal	1	1	1	+0	{{{seats %}}}	6.8	10,279	+2.1

Ward results

Astley Bridge ward

Astley Bridge ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Hibbert	5,087	66.6	−7.4
	Labour	E McCracken	2,546	33.4	+11.5
Majority			2541	33.2	−18.9
Turnout			7,633	78.6	+41.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 9.4

Bradshaw North and South ward

Bradshaw North and South ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K Howarth	4,099	73.8	−6.2
	Labour	C Benjamin	1,457	26.2	+6.2
Majority			2,642	47.6	−12.4
Turnout			5,556	78.9	+47.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 6.2

Bradford ward

Bradford ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C Skull	2,348	79.4	−7.6
	Conservative	H Kolia	648	21.6	+11.8
Majority			1,700	56.7	−19.5
Turnout			2,996	74.7	+33.7
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to Con 9.7

Bromley Cross, Eagley and Egerton ward

Bromley Cross, Eagley and Egerton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A O'Neil	4,670	36.2
	Conservative	T Mulligan	4,379	33.9
	Labour	J Mason	1,981	15.3
	Labour	M Woodcock	1,878	14.5
Majority
Turnout			12,908	72.9	+35.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Church East and North ward

Church East and North ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Farmer	2,270	58.4	−5.4
	Conservative	M Drinkwater	1,618	41.6	+7.8
Majority			652	16.8	−13.2
Turnout			3,888	76.8	+31.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Labour to Con 6.6

Darcy Lever cum Breightmet ward

Darcy Lever cum Breightmet ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K McIvor	5,203	59.1	+8.5
	Conservative	A Chadbond	3,598	40.9	−6.9
Majority			1,605	18.2	+15.4
Turnout			8,801	75.3	+37.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 7.7

Deane cum Lostock ward

Deane cum Lostock ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R Ward	3,639	59.4	−12.4
	Labour	G Harkin	1,928	31.5	+11.2
	Liberal	S Roberts	563	9.2	+4.0
Majority			1,711	27.9	−23.7
Turnout			6,130	78.9	+40.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 11.8

Derby ward

Derby ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S Walsh	3,382	76.7	+2.6
	Conservative	J Shore	888	20.1	−2.9
	Communist	A Johnson	139	3.2	+0.3
Majority			2,494	56.6	+5.5
Turnout			4,409	73.2	+36.2
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.7

Farnworth North ward

Farnworth North ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Butterfield	3,152	47.8	−4.7
	Conservative	D Jones	2,205	33.4	−5.7
	Liberal	G Barrow	1,238	18.8	+10.5
Majority			947	14.3	+0.9
Turnout			6,595	71.4	+40.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Lib 8.1

Farnworth South ward

Farnworth South ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P Johnston	3,689	56.3	−4.0
	Conservative	B Coote	1,598	24.4	−6.0
	Liberal	L Bale	1,262	19.3	+10.0
Majority			2,091	31.9	+1.9
Turnout			6,549	70.6	+40.6
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Lib 8.0

Great Lever ward

Great Lever ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L Williamson	4,408	55.1	+3.9
	Conservative	L Huyton	3,598	44.9	−3.9
Majority			810	10.1	+8.2
Turnout			8,006	76.9	+42.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 3.9

Halliwell ward

Halliwell ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J Fish	2,972	43.2	+17.6
	Labour	R Johnson	2,171	31.5	−5.6
	Conservative	J Walsh	1,743	25.3	−10.2
Majority			801	11.6
Turnout			6,886	78.0	+37.0
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Lib 13.9

Heaton ward

Heaton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Hurst	3,382	83.0	−4.6
	Labour	J Jenkins	691	17.0	+4.6
Majority			2,691	66.0	−9.0
Turnout			4,073	83.6	+37.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 4.6

Horwich North, Central and East ward

Horwich North, Central and East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A Oakley	4,262	66.0	+18.8
	Conservative	S Dawson	2,193	34.0	−18.8
Majority			2,069	32.0
Turnout			6,455	76.2	+37.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 18.8

Horwich South and Blackrod ward

Horwich South and Blackrod ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E Johnson	2,760	51.9	+14.0
	Conservative	J Jolley	2,560	48.1	−14.2
Majority			200	3.8	N/A
Turnout			5,320	79.4	+36.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 14.1

Hulton and Rumworth ward

Hulton and Rumworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T Anderton	4,046	52.7	+8.1
	Conservative	R Carr	3,629	47.3	−3.6
Majority			417	5.4
Turnout			7,675	78.2	+39.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 5.8

Kearsley ward

Kearsley ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W Robinson	2,912	43.6	+0.6
	Liberal	J Rothwell	2,158	32.3	−2.0
	Conservative	J Tomlinson	1,602	24.0	+1.3
Majority			754	11.3	+2.6
Turnout			6,672	77.5	+34.2
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	Lib to Con 1.6

Little Lever ward

Little Lever ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Lawton	2,957	45.5	−17.4
	Labour	L Sanderson	2,542	39.2	+8.2
	Liberal	W Crook	993	15.3	+9.2
Majority			415	6.4	−25.5
Turnout			6,492	80.5	+41.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 12.8

Smithills ward

Smithills ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S Collier	4,475	52.6	−18.6
	Labour	J Knight	2,932	34.5	+12.0
	Liberal	D Walmsley	1,093	12.9	+6.6
Majority			1,543	18.1	−30.5
Turnout			8,500	79.3	+46.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 15.3

Tonge ward

Tonge ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Eastwood	4,598	53.2	+11.3
	Conservative	J Rigby	4,050	46.8	−7.8
Majority			548	6.4
Turnout			8,648	76.4	+34.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Lab 9.5

West ward

West Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G Hart	3,693	66.4	+2.6
	Conservative	M Kershaw	1,867	33.6	−0.5
Majority			1,826	32.8	+3.1
Turnout			5,560	70.0	+35.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Lab 1.5

Westhoughton East and Hulton ward

Westhoughton East and Hulton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Smith	3,624	66.2	−6.1
	Labour	P Jones	1,847	33.8	+6.1
Majority			1,777	32.4	−12.2
Turnout			5,471	79.9	+42.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 6.1

Westhoughton North, Central and South ward

Westhoughton North, Central and South ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P Woodcock	3,419	58.4	−1.8
	Conservative	A Prince	2,440	41.6	+1.8
Majority			979	16.8	−3.8
Turnout			5,859	75.2	+37.8
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to Con 1.8

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.