1980 Hamilton District Council election

1980 Hamilton District Council election
All 20 seats to Hamilton District Council; 11 seats needed for a majority
Registered	78,670
Turnout	50.2%
Council Leader before election; ; No overall control	Council Leader after election ; ; Labour

Elections to Hamilton District Council were held on 1 May 1980, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the third election to the district council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.

The election was the last to use the original 20 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.^[1] Following the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in October 1981, several wards were changed or abolished.^[2]

Labour regained overall control of the council after winning 17 seats – an increase of seven from the previous election – and taking more than half of the popular vote. The Liberals leapfrogged the Scottish National Party (SNP) into second as they maintained their total of two councillors and the Conservatives won the remaining seat to maintain their number on the council. The SNP lost all six of their seats as their vote share fell by 25 percentage points.

Results

1980 Hamilton District Council election result
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	17	7	0	7	85.0	56.5	15,648	14.4
	Liberal	2	0	0		10.0	10.3	2,849	4.1
	Conservative	1	0	0		5.0	22.0	6,093	9.4
	SNP	0	0	6	6	0.0	8.3	2,290	24.8
	Independent Labour	0	0	1	1	0.0	2.3	658	0.8
	Independent Nationalist	0	0	0		0.0	0.6	178	New
Total		20						27,716

Source:^[3]^[4]

Ward results

Hillhouse

Hillhouse
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Newberry	1,206	81.7	34.2
	Independent Nationalist	M. Sneddon	178	12.1	New
	Conservative	D. Ogg	91	6.2	New
Majority			1,028	69.6	N/A
Turnout			1,475	46.3	4.1
Registered electors			3,139
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	34.2

Source:^[3]^[4]

Udston

Udston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Dallas	1,473	85.1	52.7
	Independent Labour	A. Reid	248	14.3	23.7
Majority			1,225	70.8	N/A
Turnout			1,721	52.3	0.3
Registered electors			3,308
	Labour gain from Independent Labour		Swing	52.7

Source:^[3]^[4]

Wellhall North

Wellhall North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B. McKinnon	800	49.5	22.8
	Conservative	A. Aitchison	429	26.5	1.2
	SNP	A. McCubbin	387	23.9	18.0
Majority			371	23.0	N/A
Turnout			1,616	50.4	3.4
Registered electors			3,206
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	20.4

Source:^[3]^[4]

Central

Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Murphy	771	63.9	25.7
	Conservative	M. Stepek	432	35.8	7.4
Majority			339	28.1	23.2
Turnout			1,203	50.5	4.4
Registered electors			2,392
	Labour hold		Swing	25.7

Source:^[3]^[4]

Burnbank

Burnbank
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	I. McKillop	1,416	69.5	8.1
	Independent Labour	A. Hosie	410	20.1	New
	Conservative	J. Urquhart	208	10.2	New
Majority			1,006	49.4	23.1
Turnout			2,034	51.8	4.6
Registered electors			3,936
	Labour hold		Swing	8.1

Source:^[3]^[4]

Bent

Bent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Lowe	806	49.5	24.8
	Conservative	A. Kegg	502	30.8	8.0
	SNP	T. Fox	319	19.6	32.8
Majority			304	18.7	N/A
Turnout			1,627	50.8	4.4
Registered electors			3,205
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	28.8

Source:^[3]^[4]

Fairhill

Fairhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	N. Cochrane	1,941	84.4	29.8
	Conservative	D. Murray	356	15.5	New
Majority			1,585	68.9	56.5
Turnout			2,297	44.9	6.0
Registered electors			5,125
	Labour hold		Swing	29.8

Source:^[3]^[4]

Wellhall South

Wellhall South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Puetherer	1,250	80.6	42.7
	Conservative	G. Young	290	18.7	0.2
Majority			960	61.9	60.5
Turnout			1,540	42.7	8.5
Registered electors			3,634
	Labour hold		Swing	42.7

Source:^[3]^[4]

Low Waters

Low Waters
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Williamson	1,681	63.1	2.5
	Labour	P. Grenfell	976	36.6	17.7
Majority			705	26.5	13.6
Turnout			2,657	55.3	0.9
Registered electors			4,823
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.5

Source:^[3]^[4]

Cadzow

Cadzow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Smith	2,032	58.7	27.1
	Conservative	J. Dorricott	736	21.3	10.1
	SNP	I. Campbell	691	20.0	16.9
Majority			1,296	37.4	N/A
Turnout			3,459	56.4	5.3
Registered electors			6,143
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	27.1

Source:^[3]^[4]

Dalserf

Dalserf
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Cochrane	1,025	59.7	16.1
	SNP	D. Broadfoot	346	20.2	36.2
	Conservative	J. Newton	344	20.0	New
Majority			679	39.5	N/A
Turnout			1,715	45.9	2.3
Registered electors			3,742
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	16.1

Source:^[3]^[4]

Machan

Machan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Borland	1,131	55.6	17.8
	SNP	M. Miller	547	26.9	26.8
	Conservative	D. Eadie	353	17.4	New
Majority			584	28.7	N/A
Turnout			2,031	45.3	2.1
Registered electors			4,493
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	17.8

Source:^[3]^[4]

Avonholm

Avonholm
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	J. Speirs	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,017
	Labour hold

Source:^[3]

Strutherhill

Strutherhill
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	S. Casserley	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,463
	Labour hold

Source:^[3]

Stonehouse

Stonehouse
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	R. Gibb	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,757
	Labour hold

Source:^[3]

Bothwell and Uddingston North

Bothwell and Uddingston North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	T. Maxwell	1,080	51.6	6.1
	Labour	S. Sloss	821	39.2	6.6
	Conservative	J. Bain	191	9.1	12.9
Majority			259	12.4	0.5
Turnout			2,092	56.8	1.0
Registered electors			3,685
	Liberal hold		Swing	6.1

Source:^[3]^[4]

Bothwell and Uddingston South

Bothwell and Uddingston South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	T. Grieve	1,769	78.3	17.4
	Conservative	A. Thomson	480	21.3	5.9
Majority			1,289	57.0	24.3
Turnout			2,249	50.6	11.7
Registered electors			4,459
	Liberal hold		Swing	17.4

Source:^[3]^[4]

High Blantyre

High Blantyre
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	J. Swinburne	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,951
	Labour hold

Source:^[3]

Blantyre

Blantyre
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	M. D. Tremble	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,718
	Labour hold

Source:^[3]

Stonefield

Stonefield
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	G. McInally	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,474
	Labour hold

Source:^[3]

References

^ "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1980). The Scottish District Elections 1980: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1977). The Scottish District Elections 1977: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

[1] "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[2] "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[SCE1980-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1980). The Scottish District Elections 1980: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

[SCE1977-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1977). The Scottish District Elections 1977: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

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