Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election, 1973

The first elections to the Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 10 May 1973.

Background

The metropolitan district was one of the new authorities created by the Local Government Act 1972, which completely reorganised local administration in England and Wales. The new district, one of seven in the West Midlands, had an identical area to the existing County Borough of Wolverhampton. The first council was elected as a "shadow authority", with the reorganisation coming into effect in the following year on 1 April 1974. Subsequent to the election the shadow council successfully petitioned for a royal charter granting borough status, becoming Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council.^[1]

Elections

At this first election all 60 councillors were elected, there being three councillors in each of the 20 wards. In an anomaly of the usual procedure for local elections, the candidate in first place was elected for 5 years, the candidate in second place for 3 years and the candidate in third place for 2 years. This was to allow for the "shadow" year of 1974 when the Metropolitan Borough Council was operating in shadow of the County Borough. From 1975 elections were by thirds with one councillor retiring in each ward.

Following the election the Labour Party had overall control of the council with 40 councillors to the Conservatives 20. Following the final county borough election held in 1972 the two parties had held 40 seats each on the 80 member council.^[2]

Election results

The following councillors were returned in their corresponding wards:

Bilston East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Turner (1st)	1891
	Labour	T H Larkin (2nd)	1786
	Labour	Mrs H Brown (3rd)	1603
	Conservative	A G Cooper	278

Bilston North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P R Richards (1st)	1281
	Labour	R Reynolds (2nd)	1137
	Labour	R Davies (3rd)	1125
	Conservative	W L Hughes	994
	Conservative	R A M Marshall	932
	Conservative	L S Draisey	900

Blakenhall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Carpenter (1st)	2070
	Conservative	Mrs J E Shore (2nd)	1996
	Conservative	Mrs J L Shaw (3rd)	1992
	Labour	J Hackwood	1389
	Labour	G R Johnson	1335
	Labour	Bishan Dass	1238

Bushbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mrs J Beddoes (1st)	1069
	Labour	J A W Bird (2nd)	1055
	Labour	E Mitchell (3rd)	998
	Conservative	W Hillier	361
	National Front	W A Murfin	160

Eastfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ken Purchase (1st)	1452
	Labour	P Ray (2nd)	1260
	Labour	Mrs L Richards (3rd)	1235
	Conservative	Mrs E H Allen	387
	National Front	R Davison	304
	Communist	G J Barnsby	144

Ettingshall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E W Bold (1st)	1281
	Labour	Mrs C Durham (2nd)	1091
	Labour	A Storer (3rd)	1021
	Conservative	W J Allen	458
	Conservative	G D Phillips	455
	Communist	F W Reeves	96

Graiseley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A G Barratt (1st)	1500
	Labour	Mrs V A Fletcher (2nd)	1390
	Labour	Mrs N Jones (3rd)	1367
	Conservative	W H Etwell	1305
	Conservative	R Dorsett	1258
	Conservative	R J Thomas	1209

Low Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Hickmott (1st)	1026
	Labour	Mrs W F K Reynolds (2nd)	1011
	Labour	A C Laws (3rd)	966
	Conservative	A Dixon	213
	Communist	G Dorrance	60

Merry Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W CLarke (1st)	2362
	Conservative	J G Blackburn (2nd)	2329
	Conservative	Robert Hart (3rd)	2119
	Labour	Mrs M Everett	858
	Labour	G Turner	792

Oxley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K Staves (1st)	1229
	Labour	R Haynes (2nd)	1121
	Labour	N Fryer (3rd)	1071
	Conservative	H J Burton	829
	Conservative	G Bangham	829
	Conservative	P Withers	732
	National Front	D E Foster	286

Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W J Morrison (1st)	1568
	Conservative	Mrs M S Machin (2nd)	1563
	Conservative	Mrs M W Hodson (3rd)	1529
	Labour	Dr P Young	584
	Labour	W Bruce	524
	Labour	S G Stockley von Statzer	504
	Liberal	Mrs W Lundgren	457
	Liberal	R Gray	442
	Liberal	K R Aithal	379
	National Front	D G Gorton	240

Parkfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G Howells (1st)	1298
	Labour	H E Lace(2nd)	1287
	Labour	A E Steventon (3rd)	1118
	Conservative	B C Johnson	397
	Conservative	C Lenton	272
	Conservative	B Wood	240
	Communist	R A Millington	78

Penn
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G A Bickley (1st)	2669
	Conservative	D J Rutherford (2nd)	2653
	Conservative	P Bradley (3rd)	2304
	Liberal	J Wernick	1961
	Liberal	A Robinson	1642
	Liberal	T D Bamford	1522
	Labour	Mrs M Garner	285
	Labour	D Aulton	277

St Peters
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	I G Claymore (1st)	1866
	Labour	Mr J James (2nd)	1533
	Labour	S R Sharma (3rd)	1211
	TUUF	G S Bains	692
	ILP	G Carter	636
	Conservative	H Cohen	620
	Conservative	E M Gibbs	488
	Conservative	B Thomas	432
	National Front	P Kane	242
	Communist	D Hamilton	106

Spring Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S Martin (1st)	2188
	Labour	N G Davies (2nd)	2040
	Labour	A Garner (3rd)	1933
	Conservative	Mrs P E Atkinson	413

Tettenhall Regis
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S O Morton (1st)	1683
	Conservative	Mrs D M Seiboth (2nd)	1666
	Conservative	Mrs T M Comport (3rd)	1586
	Liberal	Larry Mclean	1213
	Liberal	H C Marshall	1027
	Liberal	M E Millar	950
	Labour	J M Smith	300
	Labour	R F Ilsley	285
	Labour	B Evans	278

Tettenhall Wightwick
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G R Watson (1st)	1897
	Conservative	P G Snell (2nd)	1882
	Conservative	E G L Pearce (3rd)	1862
	Liberal	H Wright	677
	Labour	K P Jarrad	525
	Labour	W O Reilly	515
	Labour	R S Willett	493

Wednesfield Heath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H Turner (1st)	1265
	Conservative	C T Squire (2nd)	1239
	Conservative	A Griffiths (3rd)	1226
	Labour	R Garner	1198
	Conservative	F J Wadsworth	1176
	Labour	G Hicken	1171

Wednesfield North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J A Morey (1st)	1649
	Labour	L Horton (2nd)	1623
	Labour	S H Reynolds (3rd)	1554
	Conservative	G H Parker	815
	Conservative	W J Curtiss	732
	Conservative	Mrs J M Curtiss	725
	Communist	A Barr	109

Wednesfield South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mrs C M Nicholls (1st)	1380
	Labour	J F Torrington (2nd)	1296
	Labour	Mrs E D Jevons (3rd)	1102
	Conservative	H L Turner	908
	Conservative	Mrs D M Brooks	813
	Conservative	C F Brueton	809

References

↑ Local government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System. London: HMSO. 1974. p. 24. ISBN 0-11-750847-0.
↑ "Widespread Labour gains in borough elections". The Times. 5 May 1972.

Council elections in the West Midlands

Birmingham City Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016

Coventry City Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2015

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016

Wolverhampton City Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016

West Midlands County Council	1973 1977 1981 Abolished

See also: Wards Boundary changes

(1972 ←) United Kingdom local elections, 1973 (→ 1974)

County councils (England)	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Greater Manchester Hampshire Hereford and Worcester Hertfordshire Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Merseyside Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire

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Scottish councils	Dundee Edinburgh Glasgow

Sui generis	Isles of Scilly

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