1978 Merton London Borough Council election

Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 4 May 1978 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and Scotland.[1]

4 May 1978

All 57 council seats on
Merton London Borough Council

Turnout

46.4%[1]

	First party	Second party	Third party

Party	Conservative	Labour	Longthornton and Tamworth Residents
Last election	33 seats[n 1]	27 seats[n 2]	3 seats
Seats won	39	15	3
Seat change	6	12
Popular vote	85,773	56,501	5,336
Percentage	52.6%	34.7%	3.9%

Council leader before election

Allan Jones
Conservative

Council leader after election

Allan Jones
Conservative

The whole council was up for election and the incumbent majority Conservative administration maintained its overall control of the council.[1] This was the first election held in which no aldermen were elected onto the council.[2] Boundary changes also meant that the number of elected seats increased by 3.[1]

Background

At the last election, the Conservatives had won a majority of three seats on the council, with twenty-nine elected members and four aldermen.[2] They subsequently gained a seat from the Labour Party in a by-election in the ward of Wimbledon South on 19 September 1974 and then lost a seat to the Liberal Party in the ward of Cannon Hill on 30 October 1975.[1]

Prior to the election, elected councillors appointed nine aldermen to serve on Merton London Borough Council. This was the first election in which this arrangement ended,[2] as was required by the Local Government Act 1972, which rendered the post merely an honorary title.[1]

The Conservatives did not stand in the newly-created ward of Longthornton, leaving the three-member ward as a two-way contest between the Labour Party and the Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association.[1]

Results

The Conservatives maintained their overall majority control of the council, increasing their majority to 21 seats.[2]

Merton Local Election Result 1978[1][n 3]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes
Conservative	39	n/a	n/a	6	68.4%	52.6%	85,773
Labour	15	n/a	n/a	12	26.3%	34.7%	56,501
Longthornton and Tamworth Residents	3	n/a	n/a		5.3%	3.9%	6,336
Liberal	0	n/a	n/a	0	0%	8.3%	13,532
National Front	0	n/a	n/a	0	0%	0.3%	457
Independent	0	n/a	n/a	0	0%	0.2%	272
Workers Revolutionary	0	n/a	n/a	0	0%	0.0%	74

Notes and references

Notes

In the 1974 election, 4 Conservative aldermen and 29 Conservative councillors were elected, giving the Conservative Party a total of 33 seats.
In the 1974 election, 5 Labour aldermen and 22 Labour councillors were elected, giving the Labour Party a total of 27 seats.
The Independent vote count includes one candidate who stood under the description of "Theatrical Agent" in Village, winning 169 votes.

References

"London Borough Council Elections 4 May 1978" (PDF). Greater London Council. 1978. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
"London Borough of Merton Results Summary 1964-2012" (PDF). Merton Electoral Services. Retrieved 20 June 2018.

Elections and referendums in London
Mayor of London	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021
London Assembly	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021
Inner London Education Authority	1986
Greater London Council	1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981
London County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961
Borough Councils	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Referendums	1998
See also Elections in London Boroughs Middlesex County Council elections

Council elections in Greater London
Barking and Dagenham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Barnet	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Bexley	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Brent	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Bromley	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Camden	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
City	2001 2005 2009 2013 2017
Croydon	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Ealing	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Enfield	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Greenwich	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Hackney	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Hammersmith and Fulham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Haringey	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Harrow	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Havering	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Hillingdon	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Hounslow	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Islington	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Kensington and Chelsea	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Kingston upon Thames	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Lambeth	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Lewisham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Merton	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Newham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Redbridge	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Richmond upon Thames	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Southwark	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Sutton	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Tower Hamlets	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Waltham Forest	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Wandsworth	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Westminster	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Greater London	1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981
See also: London-wide elections Wards Boundary changes

(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
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bradford Bolton Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
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 article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.