1986 Strathclyde Regional Council election

Elections to Strathclyde Regional Council were held on Thursday 8 May 1986, on the same day as the eight other Scottish regional elections. This was the fourth election to the regional council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.

1986 Strathclyde Regional Council election

← 1982 8 May 1986 (1986-05-08) 1990 →
All 103 seats to Strathclyde Regional Council 52 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Lab Con Lib Leader Charles Gray Party Labour Conservative Liberal Last election 79 seats, 48.5% 15 seats, 22.5% 4 seats, 9.5% Seats won 87 6 5 Seat change 8 9 1 Popular vote 429,026 106,983 61,143 Percentage 52.6% 13.1% 7.5% Swing 4.1% 9.4% 2.0%
Result of the election
Council Leader before election Dick Stewart Labour Council Leader after election Charles Gray Labour

The election used the 103 electoral divisions created by the Initial Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1978. Each electoral division elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.^[1]

Labour, who had won every previous election to Strathclyde Regional Council, retained a large majority by winning 87 of the 103 seats – up eight from the previous election in 1982. The Conservatives remained as the second largest party despite losing more than half of their seats. The party won six seats – down from 15 in 1982 – as their vote share fell by almost 10%. The Liberal Party increased their representation on the regional council by one after winning five seats. This would be the last Strathclyde Regional Council election contested by the Liberal Party which merged with Social Democratic Party (SDP) to form the Liberal Democrats in 1988.^[2] Despite coming second in the popular vote and increasing their vote share to 17.5%, the Scottish National Party (SNP) retained only two of their three seats. The remaining three seats were won by independent candidates.

The Liberal Party and the SDP contested this election as a political alliance in which only one of the two parties would stand a candidate in any given seat.^[2]

Results

1986 Strathclyde Regional Council election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	87	9	1	8	85.4	52.6	429,046	6.8
	Conservative	6	0	9	9	5.8	13.1	106,983	9.4
	Liberal	5	2	1	1	4.9	7.5	61,143	2.0
	Independent	3	1	0	1	2.9	1.9	15,890	0.2
	SNP	2	2	3	1	1.9	17.5	143,033	5.0
	SDP	0	0	0	0	0.0	6.7	55,039	0.9
	Independent Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	2,211	0.2
	Green	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	1,810	0.1
	Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	975	0.2
	Scottish Independence Party	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	169	New
	Revolutionary Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	74	New
Total		103						816,373

Source:^[3][4]

Electoral division results

Kilmarnock North

Kilmarnock North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	D. Coffey	3,408	34.8	21.8
	Labour	J. Steven	3,373	34.4	27.6
	Independent Labour	J. Hunter	1,098	11.2	New
	SDP	M. Temple	1,005	10.3	New
	Conservative	G. Woodford	838	8.6	New
	Twentieth Century Reformation Movement	J. Sloan	67	0.7	1.1
Majority			35	0.4	N/A
Turnout			9,789	49.3	9.6
Registered electors			19,877
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	24.7

Source:^[3][4]

Kilmarnock South

Kilmarnock South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Carson	4,389	50.4	5.0
	SNP	J. Robertson	1,781	20.5	9.3
	Conservative	T. Whale	1,477	17.0	5.2
	SDP	A. Hambly	1,045	12.0	9.0
Majority			2,608	29.9	6.7
Turnout			8,692	43.0	1.5
Registered electors			20,259
	Labour hold		Swing	5.1

Source:^[3][4]

Stewarton and Irvine Valley

Stewarton and Irvine Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Fulton	5,157	55.2	8.9
	Conservative	A. MacDougall	1,651	17.7	7.4
	SNP	F. Cramond	1,493	16.0	5.1
	SDP	R. Beeby	1,038	11.1	New
Majority			3,506	37.5	16.7
Turnout			9,339	42.4	2.0
Registered electors			22,036
	Labour hold		Swing	8.1

Source:^[3][4]

Cumnock

Cumnock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Boyd	5,633	84.1	16.1
	SNP	C. Alston	1,036	15.5	3.0
Majority			4,597	68.6	13.1
Turnout			6,669	40.6	0.8
Registered electors			16,489
	Labour hold		Swing	6.5

Source:^[3][4]

New Cumnock and Doon Valley

New Cumnock and Doon Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Farrell	5,020	68.8	8.9
	SNP	S. Patterson	812	11.1	New
	SDP	G. McCracken	748	10.2	18.0
	Conservative	M. Littlejohn	706	9.7	2.7
Majority			4,208	57.7	26.7
Turnout			7,286	42.8	1.7
Registered electors			17,046
	Labour hold		Swing	13.4

Source:^[3][4]

References

1. "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
2. Cook, Chris (2010). A Short History of the Liberal Party: The Road Back to Power (seventh ed.). Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-21044-8.
3. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1986). The Scottish Regional Elections 1986: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. ISBN 1-869820-01-0. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
4. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1982). The Scottish Regional Elections 1982: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 18 November 2022.