The 1978 Havering Council election took place on 4 May 1978 to elect members of

Havering London Borough Council Havering London Borough Council, also known as Havering Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London boroughs#London borough councils, London borough council, one of 32 in London. T ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council for the second time.

Electoral arrangements

The election was originally scheduled for 1977, but was delayed for one year to bring London borough council elections into a four-year election cycle. New ward boundaries were used for the first time. Prior to the 1978 election the council had 64 members (55 councillors and 9 aldermen). From the 1978 election, 63 councillors were elected from 25 wards. Each ward returned two or three councillors. Ten of the wards were entirely new, including

Airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

ward covering the new Airfield estate in Hornchurch. The remaining wards shared the names of previously used wards but with new boundaries. Councillors were elected for a four-year term with the next election scheduled for 1982. Polling took place on 4 May 1978, except in Gooshays ward where the election was delayed until 25 May 1978, due to the death of a candidate.

Results

With 38 seats, the Conservative Party won overall control of the council for the second time. Labour Party wins were concentrated in the wards covering the

Harold Hill Harold Hill is a suburban area in the London Borough of Havering, East London. northeast of Charing Cross. It is a district centre in the London Plan. The name refers to King Harold II, who held the manor of Havering-atte-Bower, and who wa ...

estate ( Heaton, Hilldene and Gooshays) with the addition of the new Airfield ward in Hornchurch. Residents and ratepayers candidates were successful in the two seats covering Cranham ( Cranham East and Cranham West) as well as Rainham and wards covering southern Hornchurch ( Hacton and

South Hornchurch South Hornchurch is a locality to the south of Hornchurch in London Borough of Havering, east London. It is a suburban development situated 13.6 miles (21.8 km) east of Charing Cross. The area is a relatively recent addition, compared with t ...

Ward results

Airfield

Ardleigh Green

Brooklands

Chase Cross

Collier Row

Cranham East

Cranham West

Elm Park

Emerson Park

Gidea Park

Gooshays

Hacton

Harold Wood

Heath Park

Heaton

Hilldene

Hylands

Mawney

Oldchurch

Rainham

Rise Park

St Andrew's

St Edward's

South Hornchurch

Upminster

By-elections

The following by-elections took place between the 1978 and 1982 elections: * 1978 St Andrew's (Havering) by-election * 1980 Gooshays by-election * 1980 Heaton (Havering) by-election * 1980 Rise Park by-election * 1981 Upminster by-election (Ratepayers gain from Conservative)

Notes

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1978

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1978 London Borough council elections