1984 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 3 May 1984, with one third of the seats up for vote. Three wards – Abram, Hindley and Lightshaw – were unopposed, leaving only twenty one of the twenty four wards going to vote – a number not seen since 1975. Also of note was the re-emergence of a fourth party, in the way of persistent Communist candidate H. Kedward contesting Leigh Central after a three-year absence. The election itself seen a Labour gain in Orrell from the Conservatives, which cancelled out the simultaneous Alliance gain from Labour in Aspell-Standish, leaving their majority unchanged. Overall turnout slumped to 29.2%, the lowest level since the aforementioned 1975 election.^[1]

Map of the results of the 1984 Wigan council election.

Election result

Wigan Local Election Result 1984
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	21	1	1	0	87.5	62.2	43,977	+5.2%
Alliance	2	1	0	+1	8.3	19.6	13,856	-6.3%
Conservative	1	0	1	-1	4.2	18.0	12,762	+0.9%
Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	59	+0.1%

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:

Party		Previous council	New council
	Labour	60	60
	SDP-Liberal Alliance	7	8
	Conservatives	5	4
Total		72	72
Working majority		48	48

Ward results

Abram^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Bennett	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Ashton-Golborne^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Jones	1,857	66.2	+2.4
	Conservative	M. Fox	488	17.4	+17.4
	Alliance	A. Howarth	460	16.4	−19.8
Majority			1,369	48.8	21.2
Turnout			2,805	29.4	−1.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.5

Aspull-Standish^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	P. Wilson	2,274	44.1	+3.5
	Labour	J. Hilton	2,149	41.7	+0.8
	Conservative	P. Walker	728	14.1	−4.3
Majority			125	2.4	+2.2
Turnout			5,151	50.9	−1.8
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing	+1.3

Atherton^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Clarke	2,921	79.1	+6.2
	Conservative	M. Hatton	770	20.9	+4.3
Majority			2,151	58.3	+1.9
Turnout			3,691	38.8	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.9

Bedford-Astley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Jones	2,039	54.5	+7.4
	Conservative	F. Hawley	1,036	27.7	+0.9
	Alliance	R. Mateer	668	17.8	−8.3
Majority			1,003	26.8	+6.5
Turnout			3,743	38.4	−2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.2

Beech Hill^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Bishop	1,963	69.0	+11.4
	Alliance	G. Pullin	483	17.0	−1.0
	Conservative	J. Wolstenholme	397	14.0	−10.3
Majority			1,480	52.1	+21.7
Turnout			2,843	32.1	−6.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.2

Bryn^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Lockett	2,355	72.6	+6.5
	Alliance	D. Seary	480	14.8	−19.1
	Conservative	C. Michaels	408	12.6	+12.6
Majority			1,875	57.8	+25.6
Turnout			3,243	32.9	−6.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.8

Hindley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Robinson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Hindley Green^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Murphy	2,387	77.8	+30.7
	Alliance	M. O'Halloran	681	22.2	−3.9
Majority			1,706	55.6	+35.3
Turnout			3,068	28.4	−12.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+17.3

Hindsford^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Smith	2,545	81.9	+15.7
	Conservative	C. Rigby	561	18.1	+18.1
Majority			1,984	63.9	+31.5
Turnout			3,106	29.3	−3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.2

Hope Carr^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Roberts	2,179	60.8	+6.1
	Conservative	E. Manson	1,122	31.3	−1.5
	Alliance	L. Seal	284	7.9	−4.5
Majority			1,057	29.5	+7.6
Turnout			3,585	37.4	−5.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.8

Ince^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Banks	2,017	89.2	+7.0
	Alliance	A. Robinson	244	10.8	−7.0
Majority			1,773	78.4	+14.0
Turnout			2,261	28.2	−9.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.0

Langtree^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	J. Pigott	2,053	45.2	−3.6
	Labour	T. O'Hagan	1,762	38.8	+6.7
	Conservative	R. Gibson	723	15.9	−3.1
Majority			291	6.4	−10.2
Turnout			4,538	43.7	+2.1
	Alliance hold		Swing	-5.1

Leigh Central^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Macdonald	2,164	81.1	+7.1
	Conservative	S. Emerton	445	16.7	+1.0
	Communist	H. Kedward	59	2.2	+2.2
Majority			1,719	64.4	+6.1
Turnout			2,668	29.5	−3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.0

Leigh East^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Riley	1,914	64.0	+11.3
	Conservative	M. Stewart	830	27.7	−0.2
	Alliance	I. Smith	248	8.3	−11.1
Majority			1,084	36.2	+11.5
Turnout			2,992	29.8	−5.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.7

Lightshaw^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	N. Holt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Newtown^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Peet	2,195	80.1	+7.8
	Conservative	J. Lawson	357	13.0	−1.8
	Alliance	W. Hewer	189	6.9	−6.0
Majority			1,838	67.1	+9.5
Turnout			2,741	29.9	−3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.8

Norley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Maddocks	2,444	88.2	+9.6
	Conservative	J. Davies	168	6.1	+0.4
	Alliance	R. Richardson	158	5.7	−10.0
Majority			2,276	82.2	+19.3
Turnout			2,770	33.1	−3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.0

Orrell^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Swift	1,576	43.6	+2.3
	Conservative	F. Fairbairn	1,414	39.1	+0.1
	Alliance	C. Hughes	627	17.3	−2.4
Majority			162	4.5	+2.2
Turnout			3,617	35.5	−6.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.1

Swinley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Bond	1,637	43.9	−2.1
	Labour	P. Lees	1,395	37.4	+3.7
	Alliance	E. Parkin	697	18.7	−1.5
Majority			242	6.5	−5.8
Turnout			3,729	41.0	−3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.9

Tyldesley East^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Teece	1,986	47.0	+1.8
	Alliance	B. Aitken	1,783	42.2	−12.6
	Conservative	E. Griffiths	457	10.8	+10.8
Majority			203	4.8	−4.9
Turnout			4,226	42.6	−1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.2

Whelley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Coyle	2,224	76.5	+12.4
	Conservative	F. Sidebotham	362	12.4	−0.8
	Alliance	K. Latham	322	11.1	−11.6
Majority			1,862	64.0	+22.7
Turnout			2,908	32.8	−5.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.6

Winstanley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Whittle	1,798	43.6	+4.0
	Alliance	H. Evans	1,757	42.6	+5.9
	Conservative	C. Mugan	570	13.8	−9.9
Majority			41	1.0	−1.9
Turnout			4,125	37.9	−3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.9

Worsley Mesnes^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Brogan	2,107	74.1	+7.3
	Alliance	A. Meal	448	15.8	−5.6
	Conservative	F. Hesketh	289	10.2	−1.7
Majority			1,659	58.3	+13.0
Turnout			2,844	29.2	−6.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.4

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y "Wigan Council results from 1973 to 2008" (PDF). wigan.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2012.

[results-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y "Wigan Council results from 1973 to 2008" (PDF). wigan.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2012.

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