1982 Strathclyde Regional Council election

1982 Strathclyde Regional Council election
All 103 seats to Strathclyde Regional Council; 52 seats needed for a majority
	Result of the election
Council Leader before election; Dick Stewart; Labour	Council Leader after election ; Dick Stewart; Labour

Elections to Strathclyde Regional Council were held on Thursday 6 May 1982, on the same day as the eight other Scottish regional elections. This was the third election to the regional council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.

The election was the first to use the 103 electoral divisions created by the Initial Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1978. Each electoral division elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.^[1]

Labour, who had won every previous election to Strathclyde Regional Council, retained a large majority by winning 79 of the 103 seats – up seven from the previous election in 1978. The Conservatives remained as the second largest party despite their vote share falling by 7.5%. The party won 15 seats, 10 fewer than in the previous election. The Liberal Party doubled their representation on the regional council after winning four seats. Despite coming third in the popular vote, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were the fourth-largest party on the regional council after they gained only one seat to hold three. The remaining two seats were won by independent candidates.

The Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) contested this election as a political alliance in which only one of the two parties would stand a candidate in any given seat.^[2]

The Conservative group leader, Leonard Turpie, lost his seat to the SDP-Liberal Alliance. They also lost the adjoining seat to Labour. Both seats were contained within the Glasgow Hillhead constituency won in March by SDP figure Roy Jenkins.^[3]

Following the election, there was an attempt to unseat the incumbent leader of Strathclyde Regional Council Dick Stewart, who had held the position since the council's creation. He was challenged for the leadership by his longtime friend and colleague Charles Gray at the first meeting of the Labour group following the election. The attempt however failed, with Stewart retaining the leadership with 40 votes to Gray's 38.^[4]

Results

1982 Strathclyde Regional Council election
Party		Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	79	6	76.7	45.8	340,118	2.8
	Conservative	15	10	14.6	22.5	166,910	7.5
	Liberal	4	2	3.9	17.8	70,238	16.1
	SNP	3	1	2.9	12.5	92,927	10.0
	Independent	2	1	1.9	1.6	12,204	0.9
	SDP	0	0	0.0	7.6	56,470	New
	Communist	0	0	0.0	0.3	2,165	0.0
	Ecology	0	0	0.0		569	New
	Protest Campaign Against the Papal Visit	0	0	0.0		534	New
	Independent Labour	0	0	0.0		402
	Workers Revolutionary	0	0	0.0		205
	Twentieth Century Reformation Movement	0	0	0.0		136	New
Total		103				742,878

Source:^[5]^[6]

Electoral division results

Argyll and Bute

Kintyre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. McCorkindale	2,444	65.6
	Labour	D. McMillan	1,274	34.2
Majority			1,170	31.4
Turnout			3,718	43.4
	Conservative hold

Mid-Argyll/Islay
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SNP	N. MacNeil	2,635	60.0
	Conservative	J. Mackie	1,396	28.2
	Ecology	C. Gladstone	352	8.0
Majority			1,240	31.4
Turnout			4,383	42.3
	SNP hold

Lorn and Mull
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D. Webster	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Bute/West Cowal
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. McMillan	2,292	55.1
	SNP	R. Strong	1,232	29.6
	Labour	M. McGrorarty	624	15.0
Majority			1,060	25.6
Turnout			4,148	49.8
	Conservative hold

Dunoon/East Cowal
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Walsh	1,318	29.8
	Conservative	J. A. Douglas	1,121	25.3
	Independent	J. MacKinnon	603	13.6
	Independent	M. Murton	469	10.6
	Liberal	A. Lyall	456	10.3
	Labour	J. Cullen	456	10.3
Majority			197	4.5
Turnout			4,423	49.4
	Independent gain from Liberal

Dumbarton

Dumbarton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	I. MacDonald	3,751	44.5
	Liberal	J. Murricane	2,178	25.9
	Conservative	R. Graham	1,632	19.4
	SNP	G. Clarkson	851	10.1
Majority			1,573	18.6
Turnout			8,412	45.2

Helensburgh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	W. Petrie	6,735	73.5
	SDP	R. Sawyer	1,337	14.6
	Labour	J. Carleton	609	6.6
	SNP	J. B. Cowey	465	5.1
Majority			5,398	58.9
Turnout			9,146	50.4
	Independent hold

Vale of Leven
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Mills	6,181	62.0
	SNP	N. McEwan	1,609	16.1
	Conservative	P. Grant	1,250	12.5
	Communist	J. Bollan	496	5.0
	Independent Labour	G. Muir	402	4.0
Majority			4,572	45.9
Turnout			9,938	48.9
	Labour hold

Drumry/Summerhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. McLean	3,460	63.5
	SNP	T. Humble	1,445	26.5
	Conservative	D. Gibson	436	8.0
	Communist	A. Jackson	96	1.8
Majority			2,015	37.0
Turnout			5,437	35.0
	Labour hold

Glasgow

Blairdarrie/Knightscliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. W. MacKechnie	3,253	46.2
	SDP	G. Beattie	1,521	21.6
	Conservative	C. A. Lawson	1,340	19.1
	SNP	J. Ruddy	912	13.0
Majority			1,732	24.6
Turnout			7,026	40.0
	Labour hold

Yoker/Knightswood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Perry	4,175	62.1
	Conservative	E. Ledgewood	1,211	18.0
	SNP	J. Lang	1,203	17.9
	Communist	J. Moffat	117	1.7
Majority			2,964	44.1
Turnout			6,706	37.2
	Labour hold

Scotstoun/Broomhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	K. Murray	2,835	32.5
	SDP	C. Ainsworth	2,385	27.4
	Conservative	L. M. Rosin	2,227	25.6
	SNP	W. Lindsay Jnr.	1,141	13.1
	Communist	L. D. Bain	124	1.4
Majority			450	5.1
Turnout			8,712	45.7

Kelvinside/Kelvindale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	C. M. Mason	3,833	40.7
	Conservative	L. MacK Turpie	3,809	40.5
	Labour	C. F. Rushton	1,223	13.0
	SNP	P. D. Johnson	435	4.6
	Ecology	A. Whitelaw	104	1.1
Majority			24	0.2
Turnout			9,404	47.7
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Kilmarnock North

Kilmarnock North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Hunter	4,707	62.0	9.6
	Liberal	W. George	1,697	22.4	New
	SNP	G. Gibson	984	13.0	14.5
	Twentieth Century Reformation Movement	J. Sloan	136	1.8	New
Majority			3,010	39.6	14.7
Turnout			7,524	39.7	8.4
Registered electors			19,125
	Labour hold		Swing	12.0

Source:^[5]^[6]

Kilmarnock South

Kilmarnock South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Carson	3,894	45.4	6.4
	Conservative	A. McCluskey	1,904	22.2	9.5
	SDP	G. Gunn	1,804	21.0	New
	SNP	T. Kennaugh	956	11.2	17.9
Majority			1,990	23.2	16.9
Turnout			8,558	41.5	4.6
Registered electors			20,634
	Labour hold		Swing	7.9

Source:^[5]^[6]

Stewarton and Irvine Valley

Stewarton and Irvine Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Fulton	4,321	46.3	3.5
	Conservative	A. MacDougall	2,345	25.1	4.2
	Liberal	A. Dick	1,638	17.5	New
	SNP	A. Young	1,022	10.9	16.9
Majority			1,976	21.2	7.7
Turnout			9,326	44.3	6.9
Registered electors			21,054
	Labour hold		Swing	3.8

Source:^[5]^[6]

Cumnock

Cumnock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Boyd	4,430	68.0	16.1
	SNP	R. Esquierdo	812	12.5	2.1
	Conservative	N. Martin	706	10.8	1.8
	SDP	M. Dwan	551	8.5	New
Majority			3,618	55.5	28.5
Turnout			6,499	39.8	6.3
Registered electors			16,347
	Labour hold		Swing	20.5

Source:^[5]^[6]

New Cumnock and Doon Valley

New Cumnock and Doon Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Goudie	4,147	59.2	10.9
	SDP	M. Ali	1,975	28.2	New
	Conservative	P. Richards	871	12.4	2.0
Majority			2,172	31.0	19.8
Turnout			6,993	41.1	6.0
Registered electors			17,034
	Labour hold		Swing	24.0

Source:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
^ Cook, Chris (2010). A Short History of the Liberal Party: The Road Back to Power (seventh ed.). Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-21044-8.
^ "Crushing Blow to Tories". The Glasgow Herald. 7 May 1982. p. 1.
^ "Challenge to Strathclyde Leader Fails". The Glasgow Herald. 8 May 1982. p. 13.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1982). The Scottish Regional Elections 1982: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T.; McHardy, B. J. (1978). The Scottish Regional Elections 1978: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 6 December 2022.

[1] "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 December 2022.

[Cook-2] Cook, Chris (2010). A Short History of the Liberal Party: The Road Back to Power (seventh ed.). Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-21044-8.

[3] "Crushing Blow to Tories". The Glasgow Herald. 7 May 1982. p. 1.

[Leader_Fails-4] "Challenge to Strathclyde Leader Fails". The Glasgow Herald. 8 May 1982. p. 13.

[SRE1982-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1982). The Scottish Regional Elections 1982: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 6 December 2022.

[SRE1978-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T.; McHardy, B. J. (1978). The Scottish Regional Elections 1978: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 6 December 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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[5]

[6]

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