1978 Bath City Council election

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.

1978 Bath City Council election

4 May 1978
16 of 48 seats (one third) to Bath City Council 24 seats needed for a majority
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

Results summary

Bath City Council election, 1978
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		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	37.7	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	57.6	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

1. "Bath City Council Election Results 1973-1994" (PDF). The Elections Centre (Plymouth University). Retrieved 28 April 2020.