United Kingdom local elections, 1979

← 1978

3 May 1979

1980 →

All 36 metropolitan boroughs, all 296 English districts and all 37 Welsh districts

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Margaret Thatcher	James Callaghan	David Steel
Party	Conservative	Labour	Liberal
Leader since	11 February 1975	5 April 1976	7 July 1976
Councils +/-	6	12
Councillors	12,222	7,410	1,059
Councillors +/-	423	766	136

Local elections were held in the United Kingdom on 3 May 1979 (the same day as the general election). The results provided some source of comfort to the Labour Party (UK), who recovered some lost ground from local election reversals in previous years, despite losing the general election to the Conservative Party on the same day.

Labour gained 766 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 7,410.

The Conservatives lost 423 seats, leaving them with 12,222 councillors.

The Liberal Party gained 136 seats and finished with 1,059 councillors.

Changes in council control were as follows;

Labour gain from no overall control: Bassetlaw, Carlisle, Hartlepool, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Tyneside

Labour gain from Conservative: Barrow-in-Furness, Coventry, Derby, Ipswich, Nottingham, Sandwell, Tameside, Welwyn Hatfield

Labour lose to no overall control: Thurrock

Conservative lose to no overall control: Birmingham, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Kirklees, Leeds, Pendle, Rochdale, Rugby, Warrington, Wyre Forest

Conservative gain from no overall control: Adur, Stratford-on-Avon

Conservative gain from Independent: Hart

Conservative gain from Democratic Labour: Lincoln

Independent lose to no overall control: South Lakeland, West Lindsey

In 6 metropolitan boroughs the whole council was up for election.

In 6 boroughs there were new ward boundaries, following electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

‡ New ward boundaries

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

In 252 districts the whole council was up for election.

In 153 districts there were new ward boundaries, following electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

‡ New ward boundaries

In 44 districts one third of the council was up for election.

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