1980 North Hertfordshire District Council election

1980 North Hertfordshire District Council election
17 of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council; 26 seats needed for a majority
Leader before election; Bob Flatman; Conservative	Leader after election ; Bob Flatman; Conservative

The 1980 North Hertfordshire District Council election was held on 1 May 1980, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. There were 17 out of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council up for election, being the usual third of the council.^[1]

The election saw Labour take the largest share of the vote, winning two seats from the Conservatives, but the Conservatives retained their majority on the council.^[2]

Overall results

The overall results were as follows:^[3]

1980 North Hertfordshire District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	8	2	47.1	6	14	28.0	13,923	47.7	+13.9
	Conservative	8	2	47.1	24	32	64.0	12,306	42.2	-9.8
	Liberal	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,096	3.8	-0.9
	Ratepayers	0		0.0	2	2	4.0	777	2.7	-0.9
	Ecology	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	595	2.0	+1.0
	Independent	1		5.9	1	1	4.0	438	1.5	-3.1
	National Front	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	59	0.2	0.0

Ward results

The results for each ward were as follows. An asterisk(*) indicates a sitting councillor standing for re-election.^[3]^[4]^[2]

Ashbrook ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Tatham*	685	62.2	−1.1
	Labour	Keith Brydon	416	37.8	+1.1
Turnout				53.2
Registered electors			2,068
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.1

Baldock ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Willy Page*	1,305	56.5	+18.7
	Conservative	Colin Vaughan	798	34.6	−8.3
	Ecology	Stephen Toogood	205	8.9	+8.9
Turnout				45.8
Registered electors			5,039
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.5

Cadwell ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ron Lodge*	438	59.3	+7.2
	Conservative	Allison Ashley	163	22.1	−11.6
	Labour	Joan Kirby	137	18.6	+7.7
Turnout				42.3
Registered electors			1,745
	Independent hold		Swing	+9.4

Hitchin Bearton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Judi Smith	1,013	52.9	+8.1
	Conservative	Terry Keaveney	902	47.1	−3.7
Turnout				44.0
Registered electors			4,352
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.9

Hitchin Highbury ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phillip MacCormack	1,361	66.7	−5.1
	Labour	Keith Ruff	480	23.5	−4.7
	Ecology	Brian Goodale	200	9.8	+9.8
Turnout				41.1
Registered electors			4,966
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.2

Hitchin Oughton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Stears*	1,291	69.5	+16.6
	Conservative	Derrick Ashley	508	27.3	−11.2
	National Front	Victor Logan	59	3.2	−5.4
Turnout				41.8
Registered electors			4,445
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.9

Hitchin Priory ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Howett	965	83.6	+4.5
	Labour	Paul Prescott	189	16.4	−4.5
Turnout				41.0
Registered electors			2,815
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.5

Hitchin Walsworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Peacock*	1,202	52.1	+21.5
	Ratepayers	Basil Emery	777	33.7	−7.9
	Liberal	Bob Lord	252	10.9	+10.9
	Ecology	Melanie Hutchins	77	3.3	+3.3
Turnout				44.0
Registered electors			5,245
	Labour hold		Swing	+14.7

Knebworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alfred Grosse*	888	58.5	−1.4
	Labour	Herrmann	630	41.5	+23.6
Turnout				49.6
Registered electors			3,060
	Conservative hold		Swing	-12.5

Letchworth East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony McWalter*	1,238	61.9	+16.8
	Conservative	Allan Brett	763	38.1	−4.3
Turnout				49.0
Registered electors			4,084
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.6

Letchworth Grange ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Kearns*	1,348	64.4	+1.9
	Conservative	Christine Barclay	746	35.6	−1.9
Turnout				42.7
Registered electors			4,904
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.9

Letchworth South East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rod Playford	1,432	70.9	+25.8
	Conservative	Jenny Ritchie*	475	23.5	−31.4
	Ecology	Elspeth Rolls	113	5.6	+5.6
Turnout				48.4
Registered electors			4,174
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+28.6

Letchworth South West ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoff Woods*	1,329	57.1	−9.4
	Labour	Steve Spencer	997	42.8	+9.4
Turnout				57.1
Registered electors			4,074
	Conservative hold		Swing	-9.4

Letchworth Wilbury ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Mantle*	1,216	54.8	+15.5
	Conservative	Jeff Smith	808	36.4	−7.3
	Liberal	Ian McGinlay	197	8.9	−8.1
Turnout				57.0
Registered electors			3,896
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.4

Royston East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis John Smith*	863	61.3	+3.1
	Labour	Jessie Grace Etheridge	301	21.4	+0.9
	Liberal	Sydney Charles McLennan	243	17.3	−4.0
Turnout				37.3
Registered electors			3,772
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Royston West ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Bernard Botfield	698	42.7	−9.2
	Labour	Michael William Kernaghan	533	32.6	+7.3
	Liberal	Hazel Priscilla Lord	404	24.7	+1.9
Turnout				37.3
Registered electors			4,383
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.3

Weston ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Evans*	354	64.5	−5.4
	Labour	John Schofield	195	35.5	+5.4
Turnout				49.5
Registered electors			1,109
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.4

Changes 1980–1982

Three by-elections were held on 19 March 1981. The by-election in Letchworth South West ward was triggered by the death of Conservative councillor Bob Saunders. The two by-elections in Letchworth South East ward were triggered by the death of Conservative councillor John Yates and the resignation of Labour councillor Rod Playford. The Conservatives retained the Letchworth South West seat, but Labour won both Letchworth South East seats.^[5]

Letchworth South East ward
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	David Evans	1,261	42.1	−28.8
Labour	Joan Kirby	1,123
Conservative	Norman Prior	898	30.0	+6.5
Conservative	James Robertson	860
Liberal	Robert Stevens	836	27.9	+27.9
Labour hold		Swing	-17.7
Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Letchworth South West ward
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Conservative	John Talbot	977	44.0	−21.8
Liberal	William Armitage	640	28.8	+28.8
Labour	Pat Watson Blake	602	27.1	−22.2
Conservative hold		Swing	-25.3

References

^ The District of North Hertfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/1442)
^ ^a ^b "Swinging Labour: Now we're set for control!". The Comet. Hitchin. 7 May 1980. p. 52.
^ ^a ^b Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "North Hertfordshire District Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "Election results in city and districts". Cambridge Daily News. 13 May 1980. p. 6. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
^ "Delight at Labour victories". Letchworth and Baldock Citizen Gazette. 26 March 1981. p. 7.

[1977order-1] The District of North Hertfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/1442)

[Comet-2] "Swinging Labour: Now we're set for control!". The Comet. Hitchin. 7 May 1980. p. 52.

[electionscentre-3] Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "North Hertfordshire District Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

[4] "Election results in city and districts". Cambridge Daily News. 13 May 1980. p. 6. Retrieved 23 March 2023.

[5] "Delight at Labour victories". Letchworth and Baldock Citizen Gazette. 26 March 1981. p. 7.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]