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1981 Greater London Council election
Local election in England
Local election in England
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| election_name | 1981 Greater London Council election | |
| country | United Kingdom | |
| flag_image | Flag of Greater London.svg | |
| type | parliamentary | |
| ongoing | no | |
| party_colour | yes | |
| previous_election | 1977 Greater London Council election | |
| previous_year | 1977 | |
| seats_for_election | 92 councillors | |
| majority_seats | 47 | |
| election_date | 7 May 1981 | |
| <!-- Labour --> | image1 | |
| leader1 | Andrew McIntosh | |
| leaders_seat1 | Tottenham | |
| party1 | Labour Party (UK) | |
| seats1 | **50** | |
| seat_change1 | **22** | |
| popular_vote1 | **939,457** | |
| percentage1 | **41.8%** | |
| swing1 | **8.9%** | |
| <!-- Tories --> | image2 | |
| leader2 | Horace Cutler | |
| leaders_seat2 | Harrow West | |
| party2 | Conservative Party (UK) | |
| seats2 | 41 | |
| seat_change2 | 23 | |
| popular_vote2 | 894,234 | |
| percentage2 | 39.7% | |
| swing2 | 12.8% | |
| <!-- Liberal --> | image3 | |
| leader3 | Adrian Slade | |
| leaders_seat3 | Richmond | |
| party3 | Liberal Party (UK) | |
| seats3 | 1 | |
| seat_change3 | 1 | |
| popular_vote3 | 323,856 | |
| percentage3 | 14.4% | |
| swing3 | 6.6% | |
| <!-- map --> | map_image | Greater London Council election, 1981.svg |
| map_caption | Results by electoral division | |
| <!-- bottom --> | title | Leader |
| before_election | Horace Cutler | |
| before_party | Conservative Party (UK) | |
| posttitle | Leader after election | |
| after_election | Ken Livingstone | |
| after_party | Labour Party (UK) |
The sixth election to the Greater London Council (GLC) was held on 7 May 1981. Following the election Andrew McIntosh the leader of the Labour Group was replaced by Ken Livingstone, a member of the party's left-wing. This was the last election to the GLC. The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher soon decided to abolish the council in the mid-1980s. Following the abolition of the GLC, there was a direct election to the Inner London Education Authority in 1986.
Electoral arrangements
The GLC was elected from 92 single-member electoral divisions which were identical with the Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London. The election date was fixed by section 43 of the Local Government Act 1972 as the first Thursday in May.
Councillors were elected for a four-year term. This was extended for an extra year in 1984 when the elections that had been scheduled for 1985 were cancelled.
Results
The leader of the Labour GLC group Andrew McIntosh led the party into the election. Within 24 hours of the result, however, McIntosh's leadership was toppled by Ken Livingstone; a member of the party's left-wing. Livingstone was then elected GLC leader. The results were as follows (all parties shown):
| Party | Votes | Seats | Number | % | +/- | Stood | Seats | % | +/- | Total | 2,250,118 | 489 | 92 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **939,457** | **41.8** | **8.9** | **92** | **50** | **54.3** | **22** | ||||||||||||||||||
| 894,234 | 39.7 | 12.8 | 92 | 41 | 44.6 | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 323,856 | 14.4 | 6.6 | 89 | 1 | 1.1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 21,582 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 41 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Social Democratic Alliance | 21,582 | 1.0 | *New* | 10 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 17,515 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 38 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7,763 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 25 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5,877 | 0.3 | *New* | 18 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5,275 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 16 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4,857 | 0.2 | *New* | 23 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2,753 | 0.1 | *New* | 16 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Save London Action Group | 1,727 | 0.1 | *New* | 13 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Abolish the GLC | 1,158 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 7 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Irish National Party | 793 | 0.0 | *New* | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 637 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 362 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 346 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Workers (Leninist) | 145 | 0.0 | *New* | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 116 | 0.0 | *New* | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 83 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
Constituency results
Member of the old council*
Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Bexley
Brent
Bromley
Camden
Croydon
Ealing
Enfield
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith and Fulham
Haringey
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea
Kingston upon Thames
Russell: Abolitionist
Lambeth
Lewisham
Merton
Newham
Redbridge
Richmond upon Thames
Southwark
Sutton
Tower Hamlets
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth
Westminster and the City of London
By-elections 1981-1986
The following by-elections took place between May 1981 and May 1986.
Notes
References
References
- "Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984".
- Webber, Esther. (31 March 2016). "The rise and fall of the GLC".
- Boothroyd, David. "GLC Election Results Summaries".
- (1981). "Greater London Council Election: 7 May 1981".
- "Appendix B By-elections for Greater London councillors, May 1981 to May 1986".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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