Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1982. The elections coincided with rising popularity of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

government and

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, which was mostly attributed to the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

. The projected share of the vote was Conservatives 40%, Labour 29%, Liberal-SDP Alliance 27%. Elections were held in several English boroughs, including all those in London. The Conservatives held their ground, losing only 98 seats, leaving them with 10,447 seats. The main opposition Labour Party, under the leadership of

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...

, lost 225 seats, finishing with 8,774 councillors. For the newly formed Liberal-SDP Alliance, the 1982 local elections were the first nationwide electoral test. They gained 395 seats and finished with 1,850 councillors. This meant that the Alliance had almost as many votes as Labour, but Labour still had nearly five times as many councillors.

Summary of results

England

London boroughs

In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election. ‡ New ward boundaries

Metropolitan boroughs

Whole council

In 13 metropolitan boroughs the whole council was up for election. In 13 boroughs there were new ward boundaries, following electoral boundary reviews by the

Local Government Boundary Commission for England The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in England. The LGBCE is independent of government and po ...

. ‡ New ward boundaries

Third of council

23 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

District councils

In 103 districts one third of the council was up for election.

Scotland

Regional councils

Notes

References

Local elections 2006. House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/26.Vote 1999 BBC NewsVote 2000 BBC News
{{United Kingdom elections

Local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...