1984 Scottish local elections

Local elections were held in Scotland on Thursday 3 May 1984, to elect members to all 53 district councils under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which had established the two-tier system of regions and districts. This was the first election to take place after the 1983 general election landslide victory for the Conservatives. The local elections resulted in the Labour Party taking control of the City of Edinburgh District Council for the first time.

1984 Scottish local elections

← 1982 3 May 1984 (1984-05-03) 1986 →
  First party Second party
  Margaret Thatcher
Leader Neil Kinnock Margaret Thatcher
Party Labour Conservative
Leader since 2 October 1983 11 February 1975
Seats won 545 189
Seat change Increase76 Decrease43
Percentage 45.7 21.4
Swing Increase0.3 Decrease2.7

  Third party Fourth party
  David Steel
Leader David Steel Gordon Wilson
Party Alliance SNP
Leader since 7 July 1976 15 September 1979
Seats won 78 59
Seat change Increase45 Increase7
Percentage 12.8 11.7
Swing Increase6.6 Decrease3.8

Colours denote the winning party with outright control

National results

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Summary of the 1984 Scottish district council election results[1]
Parties Votes Votes % Wards
Labour 45.7 545
Conservative 21.4 189
Alliance 12.8 78
SNP 11.7 59
Independent 6.8 267
Other
Total n/a ~1158

Results by region

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The numbers of seats on each council before and after the election were as follows:[2]

Borders

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District Labour Conservative Liberal & SDP Independent Control
Berwickshire 0 8 (-3) SDP 1 0 Conservative hold
Ettrick and Lauderdale 2 (+1) 1 (-1) 0 13 Independent hold
Roxburgh 0 5 Lib 3 (+2)
SDP 1
7 (-2) Independents lose to NOC
Tweeddale 0 0 0 10 Independent hold

Central

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District Labour Conservative SNP Independent Control
Clackmannan 7 (+3) 1 2 (-3) 0 Labour hold
Falkirk 25 (+1) 2 (-1) 7 (+1) 2 (-1) Labour hold
Stirling 11 (+1) 8 (-1) 0 1 Labour hold

Dumfries and Galloway

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District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Other Control
Annandale and Eskdale 0 0 0 4 (+4) 12 (-4) 0 Independent hold
Nithsdale 6 (+1) 7 (+1) 7 (+1) 0 7 (-4) Independent Labour 1 (+1) No Overall Control
Stewartry 0 0 0 0 12 0 Independent hold
Wigtown 0 0 1 (+1) 0 13 (-1) 0 Independent hold

Fife

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District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Other Control
Dunfermline 24 2 1 Lib 3
SDP 3
0 Communist 1 Labour hold
Kirkcaldy 30 3 1 SDP 2
Lib 1
2 Ratepayers 1 Labour hold
North-East Fife 0 6 (-4) 0 Liberal 10 (+4) 2 0 Liberal gain from Conservatives

‡ New ward boundaries

Grampian

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District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control
Banff and Buchan 0 2 (+1) 5 0 11 (-1) Independent hold
City of Aberdeen 28 8 0 14 0 Labour hold
Gordon 0 3 (-1) 0 2 (+1) 7 Independent hold
Kincardine and Deeside 0 3 1 1 7 Independent hold
Moray 1 (+1) 0 2 (+1) 0 15 (-2) Independent hold

Highland

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District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Other Control
Badenoch and Strathspey
1 vacancy
0 0 1 0 9 0 Independent hold
Caithness
1 vacancy
0 0 0 Lib 1 14 0 Independent hold
Inverness 8 (-1) 0 0 Lib 2 18 (+1) 0 Independent hold
Lochaber 5 0 0 0 8 Independent Labour 2 Independent hold
Nairn 1 (+1) 0 0 0 9 (-1) 0 Independent hold
Ross and Cromarty
1 vacancy
2 1 0 0 18 0 Independent hold
Skye and Lochalsh 0 0 0 SDP 1 (+1) 10 (-1) 0 Independent hold
Sutherland 0 0 0 0 14 0 Independent hold

‡ Changes in ward boundaries

Lothian

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District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control Details
City of Edinburgh 34 (+8) 22 (-9) 2 4 (+3) 0 (-2) Labour gain from NOC Details
East Lothian 11 (+1) 6(-1) 0 0 0 Labour hold
Midlothian 14 (+1) 1 0 1 0 (-1) Labour hold
West Lothian 19 0 2 0 3 Labour hold

‡ Changes in ward boundaries

Strathclyde

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District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Others Control
Argyll and Bute 0 1 1 0 24 0 Independent hold
Bearsden and Milngavie 1 (-1) 6 (-1) 0 Lib 2 (+2) 1 0 Conservative hold
Clydebank 11 1 0 0 0 0 Labour hold
Clydesdale 7 0 3 0 6 0 NOC
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 8 0 4 0 0 0 Labour hold
Cumnock and Doon Valley 10 (+1) 0 0 0 0 (-1) 0 Labour hold
Cunninghame 23 (+2) 5 2 (-2) 0 0 0 Labour hold
Dumbarton 11 2 0 SDP 1 2 0 Labour hold
East Kilbride 14 2 0 0 0 0 Labour hold
Eastwood 0 10 0 0 2 0 Conservative hold
City of Glasgow 59 5 (-1) 0 Lib 2 (+1) 0 0 Labour hold
Hamilton 17 1 0 Lib 2 0 0 Labour hold
Inverclyde 11 0 0 Lib 9 0 0 Labour hold
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 14 3 1 0 0 0 Labour hold
Kyle and Carrick 12 (-1) 13 (+1) 0 0 0 0 Conservative gain from Labour
Motherwell 24 2 2 0 1 Communist 1 Labour hold
Monklands 18 2 0 0 0 0 Labour hold
Renfrew 35 5 3 Lib 1

SDP 1

0 0 Labour hold
Strathkelvin 11 4 0 0 0 0 Labour hold

‡ New ward boundaries.

Tayside

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District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal & SDP Independent Others Control
Angus 0(-3) 8(-4) 11 0 2 0 SNP gain from NOC
City of Dundee 25 15 (-2) 2 (+2) Lib 1 (+1)
SDP 1 (+1)
0 (-1) 0 Labour hold
Perth and Kinross 6 14 (-4) Lib 3 (+2)
SDP1 (+1)
1 (+1) 4 (+1) 0 Conservatives lose to NOC

References

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  1. ^ McConnell, Alan (2004), Scottish Local Government, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2005-0
  2. ^ Clayton, Hugh (5 May 1984). "Labour captures Birmingham and Liberals make gains". The Times. p. 5.