1979 Guildford Borough Council election

The third Guildford Borough Council full-council elections were held on 3 May 1979, the same day as the General Election. The Conservatives retained control over the council winning 34 of the 45 seats. This represented a net loss of one seat from the 1976 elections. Labour retained all 6 councillors in its two strongholds Stoke and Westborough. The Liberals won 3 seats, a net gain of one seat from the 1976 elections. The Independents won 2 seats.

Measured from a party point of view, four wards changed hands partly or wholly in 1979, compared to the previous full-council elections in 1976. In two of those wards the councillors stayed the same but fought under a different party label. In Tongham a councillor who had been elected as an Independent Conservative in 1976 was reelected as a Conservative in 1979. The reverse occurred in Lovelace where a councillor who had been elected as a Conservative in 1976 was reelected as an Independent in 1979.

The Liberals lost their only seat in Holy Trinity ward to the Conservatives, but gained two of the three seats in Stoughton ward from the Conservatives.

Results

[1]

Ash (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	JG Ades	3157
	Conservative	Mrs RC Hall	2957
	Conservative	RK Arnett	2864
	Labour	Mrs J Curwell	1849
	Labour	PD Green	1669
	Labour	AR Roberts	1627
Majority			1015
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ash Vale (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mrs JB Golding	1830
	Conservative	Mrs MJ Lloyd-Jones	1748
	Labour	ML Hawkins	743
	Labour	BJK Thompson	695
Majority			1005
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Christchurch (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Twining	2429
	Conservative	A Hodges	2428
	Labour	Ms S Arber	455
Majority			1973
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Clandon & Horsley (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M Whittingdale	3448
	Conservative	G Greenhead	3281
	Conservative	D May	3237
	Liberal	F Oxford	1760
	Labour	Ms D Dyer	604
	Labour	H Richards	523
Majority			1477
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Effingham (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P Tyrwhitt-Drake	1075
	Liberal	P McCarthy	338
	Labour	Miss F Lines	157
Majority			737
	Conservative hold		Swing

Friary & St. Nicolas (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	RE Blundell	1854
	Conservative	Mrs J Harris	1775
	Conservative	DS Cobbet	1736
	Conservative	SE Moss	1592
	Liberal	RJ Marks	1564
	Liberal	Mrs B O'Hara	1438
	Labour	BK Chesterton	731
	Labour	DG Hopkins	687
	Labour	AF Daborn	659
Majority			144
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Holy Trinity [2](top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Boyce	1845
	Conservative	Mrs E Cobbett	1693
	Liberal	G Maynard	1197
	Liberal	D O'Donghue	1049
	Labour	J Dale	282
	Labour	Mrs J Daborn	231
Majority			496
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lovelace (only 1 candidate elected)[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	R Amis	1040
	Independent	L Donoghue	355
Majority			685
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Merrow & Burpham (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	RHG Beatrip	2694
	Conservative	SR Brearley	2542
	Conservative	Mrs MO Uniacke	2385
	Liberal	AR Drakers	1340
	Liberal	CJ Oliver	1320
	Labour	G Hall	1088
	Labour	MP Hill	1078
	Labour	MP Hornsby-Smith	1066
Majority			1045
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Normandy (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	AA Cook	1080
	Labour	PJ Dyson	647
Majority			433
	Conservative hold		Swing

Onslow (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mrs B Woodhatch	1660
	Conservative	K Johns	1625
	Conservative	B Parke	1607
	Liberal	Mrs L Strudwick	1049
	Liberal	S Hemelryk	1010
	Liberal	K Borthwick	1008
	Labour	J Cox	844
	Labour	Mrs C Rogers	805
	Labour	Mrs L Harper	754
Majority			558
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pilgrims (top 2 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	JP Moore	1668
	Conservative	MAHM Williamson	1596
	Labour	Mrs JL Godward	432
	Labour	GE Dinnage	384
Majority			1164
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pirbright (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mrs CF Cobley	819
	Labour	MC Yates	214
Majority			605
	Conservative hold		Swing

Send (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S Roberts	returned unopposed
	Conservative	G Smith	returned unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shalford (only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mrs ECS Stewart	1067
	Independent	GA Goulty	533
	Liberal	L Grugeon	330
	Labour	GH Herrington	304
Majority			534
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stoke (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	GR Bellerby[4]	3062
	Labour	R Burgess	2429
	Labour	Mrs E Pullan	2263
	Conservative	R Gregory	919
	Conservative	H Harris	888
	Conservative	P Hooper	762
	Liberal	Mrs M Goldstone	649
Majority			1344
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Stoughton (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	CJ Fox	1650
	Conservative	WR Jordan	1595
	Liberal	Mrs S Holroyd	1591
	Liberal	PJ Goldstone	1542
	Conservative	LJ May	1513
	Conservative	RE Price	1441
	Labour	Mrs LA Dollery	786
	Labour	PV Cole	733
	Labour	C Pitt	708
Majority			49
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Tillingbourne (top 2 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mrs MR Elston	2084
	Conservative	Miss BA Pattman	1915
	Liberal	TN Wills	1288
Majority			627
	Independent hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Tongham [5](only 1 candidate elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	PM Davies	431
	Independent	AP Cross	239
	Labour	WR Owen	234
		BHF Cobb	107
		RT Oliver	68
Majority			192
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Westborough (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mrs D Bellerby	2601
	Labour	J Dale	2189
	Labour	J Patrick	2141
	Conservative	G Scott	1212
	Conservative	R Majoribanks	1187
	Conservative	R Shorto	1092
	Liberal	K Briggs	868
	Liberal	J West	685
	Liberal	Mrs D Nithsdale	672
Majority			929
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Worplesdon (top 3 candidates elected)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G Hellicar	2615
	Conservative	F Ross-Symons	2547
	Conservative	Ms C Griffin	2222
	Liberal	P Stokoe	1589
	Independent	H Cater	1426
	Labour	Ms P Yates	978
	Labour	R Shred	893
Majority			633
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. Surrey Advertiser May 1979
2. Gains and losses are shown relative to the May 1976 council elections.
3. Although this is described as a gain, the same candidate retained his seat. In 1976 he had stood as a Conservative but in 1979 he stood as an independent, unopposed by any official Conservative candidate.
4. GR Bellerby was more commonly known as Bill Bellerby. He appears in every Surrey Advertiser summary of Guildford BC election results from 1973 to 1991 as either B Bellerby or Bill Bellerby. For example both the 1973 and 1976 results list all other candidates in all the wards in Guildford by initials except one who they list as 'Bill Bellerby'. "Guildford Borough Council - A Compendium of Municipal Election results 1835 to 1974" by Roger Ottewill repeated lists his initials as 'GR Bellerby' and that form is used herein.
5. Although this is described as a gain, the same candidate retained his seat. In 1976 he had stood as an Independent Conservative but in 1979 he stood as an official Conservative candidate.