1971 Havering London Borough Council election

The 1971 Havering Council election took place on 13 May 1971 to elect members of Havering London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party gained overall control of the council.

1971 Havering London Borough Council election

← 1968 13 May 1971 (1971-05-13) 1974 →
All 55 seats to the Havering London Borough Council 28 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   LAB CON RES Party Labour Conservative Residents Seats won 30 13 12[a] Seat change 23 22 1

Electoral arrangements

The election used the wards from the 1964 election for a third time. Councillors were elected for a three-year term for the final time, with a four-year from the next election in 1974.

Polling took place on 13 May 1971.^[1]

Results

General election of councillors

The Labour Party regained the twenty seats that had been lost in 1968 and won the Harold Wood ward for the first time, gaining three further seats. This gave 30 seats in total with 28 needed for a majority. All transfers of power were from Conservative to Labour, except for the one seat in Hylands that went back from Independent Residents to Labour (having switched the other way in 1968).^[1][2][3]

Havering London Borough Council election result, 1971

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	30	23	0	23	54.5	47.1
	Conservative	13	0	22	22	23.6	32.5
	Ind. Ratepayers	12	0	1	1	21.8
	Liberal	0	0	0		0	1.4	2,804
	Independent	0	0	0		0		682
	Communist	0	0	0		0		524

Aldermanic election

In addition to the 55 elected councillors, there were nine aldermen on the council. Four aldermen elected in 1968 continued to serve until 1974 and the other five retired before the 1971 election.

Aldermen elected in 1971, to retire in 1977:^[4]

Party		Alderman
	Labour	Reta Coffin
	Labour	William Cole
	Labour	Stanley Heath-Coleman
	Labour	Arthur Latham
	Labour	Michael Ward

Five aldermen were elected by the council in 1971 to serve until 1977. All five aldermen were for the Labour Party. The aldermen on the council divided five Labour and four Conservative after the 1971 election.

Ward results

Bedfords

Bedfords (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Kemp	1,349
	Conservative	F. Orrin	1,289
	Labour	A. Mills	928
	Labour	Denis O'Flynn	908
	Independent	J. Squire	411
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Central

Central (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Carrick	1,867
	Labour	H. Miller	1,863
	Labour	J. Taylor	1,782
	Conservative	N. Symonds	1,310
	Conservative	A. Smith	1,270
	Conservative	W. Whittingham	1,258
	Communist	C. Harper	193
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Collier Row

Collier Row (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Cole	2,522
	Labour	A. Capon	2,421
	Labour	R. Kilbey	2,352
	Conservative	R. Adaire	2,352
	Conservative	E. Joslin	1,247
	Conservative	R. Daniels	1,229
	Communist	H. Reeves	96
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Cranham

Cranham (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Ratepayers	L. Sinclair	2,875
	Ind. Ratepayers	W. Topp	2,856
	Ind. Ratepayers	A. Good	2,835
	Conservative	D. Walker	1,096
	Labour	S. Jack	1,086
	Conservative	R. Baker	1,061
	Labour	I. Barber	1,053
	Conservative	J. Cooke	1,044
	Labour	P. O'Donoghue	1,037
Turnout
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing

Elm Park

Elm Park (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Burn	2,529
	Labour	J. Hoepelman	2,503
	Labour	G. Saunders	2,488
	Conservative	M. Noyes	926
	Conservative	D. Owen	895
	Conservative	D. Falconer	876
	Ind. Ratepayers	D. Cox	814
	Ind. Ratepayers	E. Cunnew	715
	Ind. Ratepayers	G. Ellis	707
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Emerson Park

Emerson Park (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jack Moultrie	2,339
	Conservative	E. Gallant	2,317
	Conservative	William Sibley	2,303
	Labour	J. Gillman	1,135
	Labour	G. Mulhern	1,116
	Labour	D. Ramstead	1,099
	Ind. Ratepayers	J. Bates	382
	Ind. Ratepayers	I. Wilkes	346
	Ind. Ratepayers	G. Morris	340
	Liberal	J. Bastick	287
	Liberal	A. Chudley	279
	Liberal	S. Howard	266
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gidea Park

Gidea Park (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Johnston	1,730
	Conservative	N. Kemble	1,677
	Labour	P. Ridley	458
	Labour	A. Houghton	451
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gooshays

Gooshays (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Reta Coffin	3,456
	Labour	Frank Coffin	3,310
	Labour	G. Dodge	3,119
	Liberal	P. Collins	529
	Conservative	C. Mawson	372
	Conservative	H. Everitt	348
	Conservative	H. Nock	347
	Liberal	T. Hurlstone	263
	Liberal	T. Keeper	222
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Hacton

Hacton (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Ratepayers	A. Davis	1,647
	Ind. Ratepayers	N. Miles	1,628
	Ind. Ratepayers	N. Richards	1,567
	Labour	H. Moss	1,455
	Labour	E. Jones	1,452
	Labour	E. Rawlins	1,418
	Conservative	C. Stancombe	880
	Conservative	D. Forster	875
	Conservative	D. Biddlecombe	818
Turnout
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing

Harold Wood

Harold Wood (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Ward	1,845
	Labour	R. Whitworth	1,815
	Labour	Geoffrey Otter	1,788
	Conservative	A. Finn	1,684
	Conservative	R. Ramsey	1,676
	Conservative	C. Devlin	1,645
	Ind. Ratepayers	V. Mari	798
	Ind. Ratepayers	D. Warren	793
	Ind. Ratepayers	P. Morgan	763
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Heath Park

Heath Park (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K. Brown	2,673
	Conservative	A. Gladwin	2,645
	Conservative	L. Hutton	2,641
	Labour	A. Mills	952
	Labour	H. Packham	947
	Labour	J. Smith	933
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heaton

Heaton (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Spindler	2,234
	Labour	Michael Ward	2,211
	Conservative	D. Cure	286
	Conservative	E. Souter	279
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Hilldene

Hilldene (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stanley Heath-Coleman	2,684
	Labour	R. Whiting	2,668
	Conservative	M. Heagerty	213
	Conservative	M. Orrin	199
	Communist	R. Cohen	137
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Hylands

Hylands (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	V. Birnie	1,992
	Labour	P. Osborne	1,971
	Labour	A. Prescott	1,970
	Conservative	Jean Frost	1,041
	Ind. Ratepayers	R. Reid	1,037
	Conservative	T. Kemp	1,023
	Conservative	G. Panormo	962
	Ind. Ratepayers	K. Roe	850
	Ind. Ratepayers	L. Long	825
	Independent	B. Percy-Davis	271
Turnout
	Labour gain from Ind. Ratepayers		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Mawney

Mawney (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ruby Latham	2,125
	Labour	R. Groizard	2,055
	Labour	J. Selby	2,043
	Conservative	I. Harlock	1,391
	Conservative	K. Allen	1,361
	Conservative	V. Bush	1,333
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Oldchurch

Oldchurch (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Baker	1,389
	Labour	J. Riley	1,366
	Conservative	S. Swift	837
	Conservative	W. Todd	817
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Rainham

Rainham (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Ratepayers	L. Waterman	2,488
	Ind. Ratepayers	H. Turner	2,473
	Ind. Ratepayers	D. Poole	2,411
	Labour	I. Whysall	2,124
	Labour	H. Wright	2,079
	Labour	H. Hull	2,017
	Conservative	A. North	538
	Conservative	I. Lamont	531
	Conservative	V. Manning	531
	Communist	T. Stapleton	98
Turnout
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing

St Andrew's

St Andrew's (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert James	1,685
	Conservative	Edward Hoad	1,653
	Conservative	D. Peters	1,622
	Labour	K. Ince	1,566
	Labour	M. Rudlin	1,516
	Labour	B. Carroll	1,501
	Ind. Ratepayers	M. Gay	575
	Ind. Ratepayers	P. Littlechild	545
	Ind. Ratepayers	A. Wright	529
	Liberal	B. Grant	174
	Liberal	T. Rimmer	170
	Liberal	W. Wallace	170
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

South Hornchurch

South Hornchurch (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Bygate	2,897
	Labour	H. Rivers	2,862
	Labour	J. Whysall	2,753
	Conservative	B. Boakes	931
	Conservative	J. Smith	929
	Conservative	J. Collins	922
	Ind. Ratepayers	G. Reynolds	344
	Ind. Ratepayers	A. Robertson	320
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Upminster

Upminster (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Ratepayers	F. Everett	2,245
	Ind. Ratepayers	F. Morley	2,201
	Ind. Ratepayers	R. Manning	2,196
	Conservative	O. Collins	1,669
	Conservative	Bruce Gordon-Picking	1,635
	Conservative	L. Reilly	1,554
	Labour	S. Miller	433
	Labour	S. Gibson	412
	Labour	M. Hoepelman	394
	Liberal	P. Atkinson	164
	Liberal	A. Rabone	160
	Liberal	D. Kruger	120
Turnout
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing
	Ind. Ratepayers hold		Swing

By-elections

The following by-elections took place between the 1971 and 1974 elections:

• 1971 Collier Row by-election
• 1971 Gooshays by-election
• 1971 Heaton (Havering) by-election
• 1971 Hilldene by-election
• 1971 Emerson Park by-election
• 1972 Central (Havering) by-election
• 1973 Cranham by-election

Notes

1. Includes all candidates elected as (Independent) Residents or Ratepayers

References

1. "London Borough Council Elections 13 May 1971" (PDF). London Datastore. Greater London Council. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
2. "1971 London Borough of Havering local election results". Havering Council. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
3. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "London Borough of Havering Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
4. London Borough of Havering Aldermen 1964-1978. Havering Local Studies Library. September 2024.