1978 Bath City Council election

← 1976

4 May 1978 (1978-05-04)

1979 →

16 of 48 seats (one third) to Bath City Council
24 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party
	Con	Lab
Party	Conservative	Labour
Seats before	35	13
Seats won	11	5
Seats after	34	14
Seat change	1	1
Popular vote	12,963	8,435
Percentage	50.4%	32.8%
Swing	5.0%	2.3%

Map showing the results of the 1978 Bath City Council elections. Blue showing Conservative and Red showing Labour.

Council control before election

Conservative

Council control after election

Conservative

The 1978 Bath City Council election was held on Thursday 4 May 1978 to elect councillors to Bath City Council in England. It took place on the same day as other district council elections in the United Kingdom. One third of seats were up for election.

Results summary

Bath City Council election, 1978
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	11	1	68.8%	13	34	70.8%	12,963	50.4%	5%
	Labour	5	1	31.3%	9	14	29.2%	8,435	32.8%	2.3%
	Liberal	0		0%	0	0	0%	3,496	13.6%	0.3%
	Ecology	0		0%	0	0	0%	552	2.1%	N/A
	Independent	0		0%	0	0	0%	259	1.0%	0.2%

Ward results

Sitting councillors seeking re-election, elected in 1976, are marked with an asterisk (*). The ward results listed below are based on the changes from the 1976 elections, not taking into account any party defections or by-elections.

Abbey

Abbey^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeffrey William Higgins *	856	64.5	–10.2
	Labour	M. Rose	355	26.7	+1.4
	Liberal	A. Fox	117	8.8	N/A
Majority			500	37.8	N/A
Turnout				34.2	–5.2
Registered electors			3,884
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bathwick

Bathwick^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Gees *	1,112	71.9	–12.4
	Liberal	P. Nancarrow	222	14.4	N/A
	Labour	B. Carlin	212	13.7	–2.0
Majority			1,810	57.5	N/A
Turnout				40.7	–10.4
Registered electors			3,803
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bloomfield

Bloomfield^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Whitehead	812	51.9	–0.6
	Conservative	J. Jones	752	48.1	+0.6
Majority			60	3.8	N/A
Turnout				37.7	–13.5
Registered electors			4,145
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Combe Down

Combe Down^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Buchanan	1,135	65.2	–6.5
	Labour	C. Dore	498	28.6	+0.3
	Liberal	Kenneth Drain	107	6.1	N/A
Majority			637	36.6	N/A
Turnout				42.0	–8.1
Registered electors			4,138
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kingsmead

Kingsmead^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elizabeth Ann Newnham	1,011	58.3	+0.3
	Labour	Hilary Fraser	723	41.7	–0.3
Majority			288	16.6	N/A
Turnout				45.1	–5.3
Registered electors			3,845
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lambridge

Lambridge^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Mower *	821	52.7	–1.3
	Liberal	A. Hanham	427	27.4	+3.6
	Labour	N. Whiskin	309	19.8	–2.5
Majority			394	25.3	N/A
Turnout				51.7	–7.1
Registered electors			3,012
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lansdown

Lansdown^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Buckley *	1,012	59.1	+9.2
	Liberal	R. Wardle	485	28.3	–10.7
	Labour	B. Lock	216	12.6	+1.5
Majority			527	30.8	N/A
Turnout				46.3	–13.2
Registered electors			3,702
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lyncombe

Lyncombe^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Dawson *	1,139	59.1	–21.2
	Labour	J. Hornblower	380	20.7	+1.0
	Ecology	Don Grimes	313	17.7	N/A
Majority			759	41.4	N/A
Turnout				42.1	–5.4
Registered electors			4,354
	Conservative hold		Swing

Newbridge

Newbridge^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Anton	1,018	69.7	+27.7
	Labour	S. Paine	225	15.4	+6.2
	Liberal	Adrian Pegg	218	14.9	–12.7
Majority			793	54.3	N/A
Turnout				37.1	–16.9
Registered electors			3,938
	Conservative hold		Swing

Oldfield

Oldfield^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Whitty	879	46.0	–19.4
	Conservative	M. Beckett	483	25.3	–9.3
	Liberal	E. Andrews	290	15.2	N/A
	Independent	F. Gilbert *	259	13.6	N/A
Majority			396	20.7	N/A
Turnout				44.6	+0.5
Registered electors			4,284
	Labour hold		Swing

Southdown

Southdown^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Hobbs *	694	54.6	*N/A*
	Conservative	M. Maidment	430	33.8	N/A
	Liberal	B. Potter	148	11.6	N/A
Majority			264	20.8	N/A
Turnout				38.0	N/A
Registered electors			3,351
	Labour hold		Swing

Twerton

Twerton^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	I. Jefferies	1,001	64.9	–5.4
	Conservative	M. Price	359	23.3	N/A
	Liberal	C. Ferris	182	11.8	–17.9
Majority			642	41.6	N/A
Turnout				39.7	–7.1
Registered electors			3,886
	Labour hold		Swing

Walcot

Walcot^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Organ *	618	44.0	–4.5
	Liberal	G. Plumbridge	407	29.0	–3.5
	Labour	S. Sweeney	379	27.0	+8.0
Majority			211	15.0	N/A
Turnout				36.7	–6.1
Registered electors			3,830
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westmoreland

Westmoreland^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denis Reginald Lovelace *	1,085	62.5	+2.0
	Conservative	G. O'Donovan	453	26.1	–13.4
	Liberal	H. Nash	199	11.5	N/A
Majority			632	36.4	N/A
Turnout				42.8	+0.4
Registered electors			4,056
	Labour hold		Swing

Weston

Weston^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Stebbings *	919	49.0	+6.7
	Liberal	John James Malloy	694	37.0	+1.5
	Labour	L. Harrington	264	14.1	–8.1
Majority			225	12.0	N/A
Turnout				45.7	–9.9
Registered electors			4,111
	Conservative hold		Swing

Widcombe

Widcombe^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Elliott *	835	56.5	–13.2
	Labour	P. Shelton	403	27.3	–3.0
	Ecology	R. Carder	239	16.2	N/A
Majority			432	29.2	N/A
Turnout				37.2	–7.2
Registered electors			3,968
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Bath City Council Election Results 1973-1994" (PDF). The Elections Centre (Plymouth University). Retrieved 28 April 2020.

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Former councils
Avon County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished
Bath City Council	1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 Abolished
Mendip District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Abolished
Sedgemoor District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Abolished
South Somerset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Abolished
Somerset West and Taunton District Council	2019 Abolished
Taunton Deane Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Wansdyke District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
West Somerset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished

See also: Wards
Boundary changes

v t e (1977 ←) 1978 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1979)
London boroughs	Barking Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth Westminster
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District councils (England)	Basingstoke and Deane Bath Brentwood Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Chorley Colchester Congleton Eastbourne Eastleigh Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Fareham Halton Harlow Hart Hartlepool Havant Hertsmere Huntingdon Milton Keynes Mole Valley Pendle Peterborough Preston Rochford Rossendale Runnymede Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire Southend-on-Sea Tamworth Tandridge Thamesdown Three Rivers Tunbridge Wells Watford Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire Winchester Woking
Regional councils (Scotland)	Borders Central Dumfries and Galloway Fife Grampian Highland Lothian Orkney Shetland Strathclyde Tayside Western Isles

This page was last edited on 12 December 2022, at 17:22