1990 United Kingdom local elections
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1990 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 3 May 1990.[1][2][3] They were the last local elections held before the resignation of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in November 1990.
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All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 116 out of 296 English districts and all 12 Scottish regions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The main opposition Labour Party gained 284 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 8,920, their highest since 1981. Their projected share of the vote was 44%, an increase of 2% from 1989.
The governing Conservative Party lost 222 seats, leaving them with 9,020 councillors. Their share of the vote was projected to be 33%, a fall of 3% from the previous year. This mounted further pressure on the government of Margaret Thatcher, which had been declining for a year following the introduction of the controversial poll tax, and was a major boost for opposition leader Neil Kinnock, whose Labour Party was enjoying a wide lead in the opinion polls with a general election no more than two years away.
The Liberal Democrats lost 78 seats and had 3,265 councillors after the elections. Their projected share of the vote was 17%.