United Kingdom local elections, 1983
United Kingdom local elections, 1983
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Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1983.[1] The results were a success for Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who soon afterwards called a general election in which the Conservatives won a landslide victory. The projected share of the vote was Conservative 39%, Labour Party 36%, Liberal-SDP Alliance 20%.
The three major parties all made net gains at the expense of smaller parties and independents, despite a slight reduction in the number of councillors.
The Conservatives gained 110 seats, giving them 10,557 councillors.
Labour gained just 8 seats, finishing with 8,782 seats. The Liberal-SDP Alliance gained 321 seats, finishing with 2,171 seats. It was a decent showing for Labour - with a much larger share of the vote than any opinion poll had shown since the party's split in 1981 - but a major disappointment for the Alliance. However, the subsequent general election saw the Conservative government elected by a landslide, while the Alliance came close to Labour in terms of votes, although Labour won almost 10 times as many seats.
England
Metropolitan boroughs
District councils
‡ New ward boundaries
Wales
District councils
References
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