1986 Strathclyde Regional Council election

Elections to Strathclyde Regional Council were held on Thursday 8 May 1986, on the same day as the eight other Scottish regional elections. This was the fourth election to the regional council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.

1986 Strathclyde Regional Council election
← 1982 8 May 1986 (1986-05-08) 1990 →

All 103 seats to Strathclyde Regional Council
52 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Lab
Con
Lib
Leader Charles Gray
Party Labour Conservative Liberal
Last election 79 seats, 48.5% 15 seats, 22.5% 4 seats, 9.5%
Seats won 87 6 5
Seat change Increase8 Decrease9 Increase1
Popular vote 429,026 106,983 61,143
Percentage 52.6% 13.1% 7.5%
Swing Increase4.1% Decrease9.4% Decrease2.0%

Result of the election

Council Leader before election

Dick Stewart
Labour

Council Leader after election

Charles Gray
Labour

The election used the 103 electoral divisions created by the Initial Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1978. Each electoral division elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.[1]

Labour, who had won every previous election to Strathclyde Regional Council, retained a large majority by winning 87 of the 103 seats – up eight from the previous election in 1982. The Conservatives remained as the second largest party despite losing more than half of their seats. The party won six seats – down from 15 in 1982 – as their vote share fell by almost 10%. The Liberal Party increased their representation on the regional council by one after winning five seats. This would be the last Strathclyde Regional Council election contested by the Liberal Party which merged with Social Democratic Party (SDP) to form the Liberal Democrats in 1988.[2] Despite coming second in the popular vote and increasing their vote share to 17.5%, the Scottish National Party (SNP) retained only two of their three seats. The remaining three seats were won by independent candidates.

The Liberal Party and the SDP contested this election as a political alliance in which only one of the two parties would stand a candidate in any given seat.[2]

Results

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1986 Strathclyde Regional Council election
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 87 9 1  8 85.4 52.6 429,046  6.8
  Conservative 6 0 9  9 5.8 13.1 106,983  9.4
  Liberal 5 2 1  1 4.9 7.5 61,143  2.0
  Independent 3 1 0  1 2.9 1.9 15,890  0.2
  SNP 2 2 3  1 1.9 17.5 143,033  5.0
  SDP 0 0 0  0 0.0 6.7 55,039  0.9
  Independent Labour 0 0 0  0 0.0 0.3 2,211  0.2
  Green 0 0 0  0 0.0 0.2 1,810  0.1
  Communist 0 0 0  0 0.0 0.3 975  0.2
  Scottish Independence Party 0 0 0  0 0.0 0.0 169 New
  Revolutionary Communist 0 0 0  0 0.0 0.0 74 New
Total 103 816,373

Source:[3][4]

Electoral division results

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Kilmarnock North

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Kilmarnock North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP D. Coffey 3,408 34.8   21.8
Labour J. Steven 3,373 34.4   27.6
Independent Labour J. Hunter 1,098 11.2 New
SDP M. Temple 1,005 10.3 New
Conservative G. Woodford 838 8.6 New
Twentieth Century Reformation Movement J. Sloan 67 0.7   1.1
Majority 35 0.4 N/A
Turnout 9,789 49.3   9.6
Registered electors 19,877
SNP gain from Labour Swing   24.7

Source:[3][4]

Kilmarnock South

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Kilmarnock South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour R. Carson 4,389 50.4   5.0
SNP J. Robertson 1,781 20.5   9.3
Conservative T. Whale 1,477 17.0   5.2
SDP A. Hambly 1,045 12.0   9.0
Majority 2,608 29.9   6.7
Turnout 8,692 43.0   1.5
Registered electors 20,259
Labour hold Swing   5.1

Source:[3][4]

Stewarton and Irvine Valley

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Stewarton and Irvine Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour D. Fulton 5,157 55.2   8.9
Conservative A. MacDougall 1,651 17.7   7.4
SNP F. Cramond 1,493 16.0   5.1
SDP R. Beeby 1,038 11.1 New
Majority 3,506 37.5   16.7
Turnout 9,339 42.4   2.0
Registered electors 22,036
Labour hold Swing   8.1

Source:[3][4]

Cumnock

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Cumnock
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour J. Boyd 5,633 84.1   16.1
SNP C. Alston 1,036 15.5   3.0
Majority 4,597 68.6   13.1
Turnout 6,669 40.6   0.8
Registered electors 16,489
Labour hold Swing   6.5

Source:[3][4]

New Cumnock and Doon Valley

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New Cumnock and Doon Valley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour T. Farrell 5,020 68.8   8.9
SNP S. Patterson 812 11.1 New
SDP G. McCracken 748 10.2   18.0
Conservative M. Littlejohn 706 9.7   2.7
Majority 4,208 57.7   26.7
Turnout 7,286 42.8   1.7
Registered electors 17,046
Labour hold Swing   13.4

Source:[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b Cook, Chris (2010). A Short History of the Liberal Party: The Road Back to Power (seventh ed.). Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-21044-8.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1986). The Scottish Regional Elections 1986: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. ISBN 1-869820-01-0. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1982). The Scottish Regional Elections 1982: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 18 November 2022.