1970 County Councils England & Wales
Aug 7, 2020 11:52:09 GMT
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Post by David J. Glanfield on Aug 7, 2020 11:52:09 GMT
From The Times & The Economist (subscription) and the Daily Mirror (BNA).
These were the final county council elections with staggered polling days. The Labour government was hoping to see a boost in their support after appalling local election results since 1967. The GLC, the jewel within the municipal crown, could be within their grasp. (Their lowest expectation was a gain of 18 seats, 63-37 split, but more marginal boroughs were ‘in play’).
Polling days:-
Monday 6th April – Monmouthshire and Norfolk
Tuesday 7th April – Beds, Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, Carmarthenshire, Cornwall, Durham, East Sussex, Lindsey, North Riding, Notts, West Sussex.
Wednesday 8th April – East Riding
Thursday 9th April – GLC (bar Hammersmith, election delayed owing to the death of a candidate), Berks, Breconshire, Bucks, Cheshire, Cumberland, Devon, Dorset, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Hants, Herefordshire, Holland, Hunts and Peterborough, IOW, Kent, Kesteven, Lancs, Leics, Northants, Northumberland, Oxon, Pembrokeshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffs, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Worcs.
Friday 10th April – Denbighshire
Saturday 11th April – Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, Carmarthenshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Flintshire, Gloucs, Herts, Merioneth, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Somerset, Surrey, West Suffolk, Wilts, West Riding.
According to The Times 3,812 seats were up for election. Labour had nominated 1,618 candidates. Unopposed returns totaled 248 for Labour and 901 for Conservative/Independents with Conservative support. The Times wrote ‘in local government terms, Labour is still the town party and, with exceptions like Lancashire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and the West Riding, leaves the counties to the Tories.
By the Wednesday morning Conservative Central Office was claiming 14 net gains and a net loss for eight for Labour. The Daily Mirror wrote ‘Council polls blow to Labour’. The nature of the contests, the candidature pattern and designation of candidates gave parties some scope to ‘spin’ the gains and losses but it was clear that Labour was not making much or any headway.
Thursday morning and the Daily Mirror was reporting (quoting CCO) 17 net gains for the Tories and six net losses for Labour. The Tory performance was a surprise and Labour were disappointed especially failing to take control of Carmarthenshire and Notts. Perhaps Thursday night would bring success for Labour however they were no longer hopeful of victory in the GLC.
Friday morning brought some relief for Labour with gains in the GLC. The Times were forecasting a final result of 70-30 in the Tories’ favour (down from 81-19). Outside London the Tories were, again, doing better than they had hoped. They had held control in Lancashire (a bellwether county). (The Daily Mirror reported a 6% swing to Labour in Huyton, the PM’s constituency). Labour MPs were no longer talking of an early summer election; October looked more probable.
Saturday brought more statistics. The Times reported a Tory lead of 11.8% in the GLC (down from 19.9%). Labour had leads of 5% (1964 GLC), 1.5% (1964 General Election) and 7.4% (1966 General Election). Notts had seen an average swing of 5.1% (since 1967) to the Tories. The swings in Lancashire and Staffordshire were minuscule. There was some consolation for Labour in capturing control of ILEA. The Daily Mirror quoted Bob Mellish, Government Chief Whip, the 13 Labour gains in the GLC were a ‘great triumph’. The party strengths stood at 65 -32 pending the Hammersmith election.
The Times reported that the GLC results were not a signpost to an election election. Labour was now claiming 84 gains and 84 losses across all counties polled so far. The expected final outcome for the GLC was 65-35. A counting error in Harrow had led to an extra 21,000 votes being assigned to the candidates. (This made no difference to the result in that borough).
On Tuesday 14th April The Times wrote (no source) that the Conservatives had a net gain of 76 seats and Labour a net loss of 11 seats after all 58 counties had been polled.
The following Saturday’s Economist (always tip top local election coverage in those days) printed this table of votes cast and swings (where calculated). There had been a 7.6% swing to Labour in the ILEA area, 2.8% in Outer London but a 0.3% swing to the Tories in all other counties.
These were the final county council elections with staggered polling days. The Labour government was hoping to see a boost in their support after appalling local election results since 1967. The GLC, the jewel within the municipal crown, could be within their grasp. (Their lowest expectation was a gain of 18 seats, 63-37 split, but more marginal boroughs were ‘in play’).
Polling days:-
Monday 6th April – Monmouthshire and Norfolk
Tuesday 7th April – Beds, Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, Carmarthenshire, Cornwall, Durham, East Sussex, Lindsey, North Riding, Notts, West Sussex.
Wednesday 8th April – East Riding
Thursday 9th April – GLC (bar Hammersmith, election delayed owing to the death of a candidate), Berks, Breconshire, Bucks, Cheshire, Cumberland, Devon, Dorset, East Suffolk, Glamorgan, Hants, Herefordshire, Holland, Hunts and Peterborough, IOW, Kent, Kesteven, Lancs, Leics, Northants, Northumberland, Oxon, Pembrokeshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffs, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Worcs.
Friday 10th April – Denbighshire
Saturday 11th April – Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, Carmarthenshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Flintshire, Gloucs, Herts, Merioneth, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Somerset, Surrey, West Suffolk, Wilts, West Riding.
According to The Times 3,812 seats were up for election. Labour had nominated 1,618 candidates. Unopposed returns totaled 248 for Labour and 901 for Conservative/Independents with Conservative support. The Times wrote ‘in local government terms, Labour is still the town party and, with exceptions like Lancashire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and the West Riding, leaves the counties to the Tories.
By the Wednesday morning Conservative Central Office was claiming 14 net gains and a net loss for eight for Labour. The Daily Mirror wrote ‘Council polls blow to Labour’. The nature of the contests, the candidature pattern and designation of candidates gave parties some scope to ‘spin’ the gains and losses but it was clear that Labour was not making much or any headway.
Thursday morning and the Daily Mirror was reporting (quoting CCO) 17 net gains for the Tories and six net losses for Labour. The Tory performance was a surprise and Labour were disappointed especially failing to take control of Carmarthenshire and Notts. Perhaps Thursday night would bring success for Labour however they were no longer hopeful of victory in the GLC.
Friday morning brought some relief for Labour with gains in the GLC. The Times were forecasting a final result of 70-30 in the Tories’ favour (down from 81-19). Outside London the Tories were, again, doing better than they had hoped. They had held control in Lancashire (a bellwether county). (The Daily Mirror reported a 6% swing to Labour in Huyton, the PM’s constituency). Labour MPs were no longer talking of an early summer election; October looked more probable.
Saturday brought more statistics. The Times reported a Tory lead of 11.8% in the GLC (down from 19.9%). Labour had leads of 5% (1964 GLC), 1.5% (1964 General Election) and 7.4% (1966 General Election). Notts had seen an average swing of 5.1% (since 1967) to the Tories. The swings in Lancashire and Staffordshire were minuscule. There was some consolation for Labour in capturing control of ILEA. The Daily Mirror quoted Bob Mellish, Government Chief Whip, the 13 Labour gains in the GLC were a ‘great triumph’. The party strengths stood at 65 -32 pending the Hammersmith election.
The Times reported that the GLC results were not a signpost to an election election. Labour was now claiming 84 gains and 84 losses across all counties polled so far. The expected final outcome for the GLC was 65-35. A counting error in Harrow had led to an extra 21,000 votes being assigned to the candidates. (This made no difference to the result in that borough).
On Tuesday 14th April The Times wrote (no source) that the Conservatives had a net gain of 76 seats and Labour a net loss of 11 seats after all 58 counties had been polled.
The following Saturday’s Economist (always tip top local election coverage in those days) printed this table of votes cast and swings (where calculated). There had been a 7.6% swing to Labour in the ILEA area, 2.8% in Outer London but a 0.3% swing to the Tories in all other counties.
