United Kingdom local elections, 1973
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The first elections to the new local authorities established by the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
in England and Wales and the new Northern Ireland district councils created by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 took place in 1973. Elections to the existing
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
also took place.


England and Wales

The elections took place on three dates: *12 April 1973: Metropolitan county councils (601 councillors), Non-metropolitan county councils (3,128 councillors), Welsh county councils (578 councillors) and the
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
(107 councillors & aldermen). *10 May 1973:
Metropolitan district councils A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolit ...
(2,517 councillors) and Welsh district councils (1,522 councillors). *7 June 1973:
Non-metropolitan district councils Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...
(13,540 councillors). Elections took place for all the seats on the councils. In the case of the new councils, they became shadow authorities, taking over from the existing local authorities on 1 April 1974. The elections for the new councils had been brought forward from an originally planned date in November 1973, to allow the councils more time to act as shadow authorities - the final dates were set in May 1972.


The April elections

The elections held on 12 April saw a very impressive performance by the Labour Party, which regained control of the Greater London Council and took control of all six of the new metropolitan county councils. In the rest of England, they won seven county councils, including two of the new "estuary" counties: Cleveland and Humberside. The party also won Gwent and the three
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
county councils ( West Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan) in Wales. The poor Conservative vote in London and the metropolitan counties was somewhat compensated by winning thirteen of the non-metropolitan counties. Failure to gain Essex or Hertfordshire were disappointments to the party, but taking control of Gloucestershire was a success. The party also failed to gain its only realistic Welsh prospect, South Glamorgan. There were no great successes for the Liberal party, which found itself in third place in all the metropolitan counties. They did however gain representation on the GLC for the first time, winning two seats at Sutton and Cheam and Richmond upon Thames. This followed the previous year's by-election success in winning the Sutton and Cheam parliamentary seat from the Conservatives. Independents won two English counties outright: Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They also formed the largest grouping on a number of other councils, and entered agreements with the Conservatives in the running of some of these. In Wales, Independents controlled three mainly rural counties.


The May elections

The results of the elections in May saw an improvement in the performance by the Conservatives since the county council elections, and a slight fall back in the Labour vote. The Liberals had a notable success, becoming the largest group on Liverpool council. The Conservatives took control of five metropolitan districts, gaining seats in areas where they had been beaten in the elections to the county councils. They also gained one Welsh district, Monmouth. The Labour party declared it was pleased with the results, especially as opinion polls had shown them losing support. They took control of most of the metropolitan districts, making a clean sweep of councils in Tyne and Wear and South Yorkshire and important councils such as Birmingham, Coventry and Manchester. Labour also took control of most districts in South Wales including Cardiff. The
party's organiser A party organizer or local party organizer is a position in some political parties in charge of the establishing a party organization in a certain locality. Herbert Ames wrote in his 1911 article "Organization of Political Parties in Canada" :"Pro ...
for Wales also pointed to the fact that official Labour candidates won rural seats in north and west Wales for the first time. Apart from forming a minority administration in Liverpool, the Liberals were able to hold the balance of power at Leeds, Stockport and Wirral. They were however disappointed with their performance at Calderdale which was won by Labour.


The June elections

In the June elections for 296 non-metropolitan districts, Labour won control of 71, the Conservatives 59, the Liberals 1, Democratic Labour 1, and Independents 67. 97 councils were under no overall control: in many of these councils Conservative and Independent groups formed an administration. The Labour party won 4,327 seats, the Conservatives 4,286, Independents 3,534, and the Liberals 919; with the remaining 449 seats going to various other groupings. It was a good result for the Liberal party who took control of Eastbourne and became the largest group on Adur, Newbury, Pendle and Waverley councils. The other two main parties also had notable successes: Labour considered control of Cambridge, Dacorum, Ipswich and Oxford to be good results; while the Conservatives celebrated taking Gloucester, Great Yarmouth, Lewes and Warrington councils. The break-away Lincoln Democratic Labour Association won twenty of the thirty seats on Lincoln District council. The group were supporters of
Dick Taverne Dick Taverne, Baron Taverne, (born 18 October 1928) is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1962 to 1974. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was a Labour MP until his deselection in 19 ...
, member of parliament for Lincoln who had been expelled from the Labour Party. Taverne had earlier in the year resigned his seat to force a by-election in protest against his expulsion, which he won against the official Labour candidate.


The Results


Metropolitan county councils


Non-metropolitan county councils


Welsh county councils


Greater London Council


Metropolitan districts

(1) A minority Liberal administration was formed


Welsh Districts


Non-metropolitan Districts


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Future elections

The next county council elections took place in
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
. Future elections to Metropolitan District councils were to be by thirds, with the one third of seats being elected in
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
. The next election of non-metropolitan district councils and Welsh district councils was to in
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
.


Northern Ireland

Local government in Northern Ireland was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. The county councils, county borough and municipal borough corporations and urban and
rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...
councils were replaced by twenty-six Local Government districts. Elections took place for all the seats on the district councils on 30 May, and the councils came into their power in 1 October.


Scotland

Local elections were also held in Scotland in 1973. At the time of the election, Scotland was the only part of the UK in which local government had yet to be reformed, with the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...
only receiving Royal Assent in October 1973. The election saw Labour maintaining their control of Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Dundee, although failing to make gains in Edinburgh.


References

{{United Kingdom elections
1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
Local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...