1986 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 1986 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 8 May 1986 to elect members of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party kept overall control of the council.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England

20 seats were contested in the election: 12 were won by the Labour Party, 5 by the Conservative Party, 2 by the Liberal Party and 1 by the Social Democratic Party After the election, the composition of the council was:

Election result

Bolton Local Election Result 1986
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	12	3	1	+2	45.6	36,817	-1.9
Conservative	5	0	3	-3	31.4	25,307	-3.3
Alliance	3	3	2	+1	22.7	18,323	+5.0

Council Composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓
36	20	4
Labour	Conservative	L

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓
38	17	5
Labour	Conservative	L

L – Liberal / SDP Alliance

Ward results

Astley Bridge ward

Astley Bridge ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Shepherd	2,328	51.6	-2.5
	Labour	L Lee	1,520	33.7	+1.0
	SDP	D Lee	663	14.7	+1.5
Majority			808	17.9	-7.3
Turnout			4,511	44.5	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to SDP 2.0

Blackrod ward

Blackrod ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Monaghan	1,641	46.0	-8.8
	Conservative	J Barrow	1,257	35.3	+0.0
	SDP	D Boyes	463	13.0	+3.0
	Independent Labour	L Watkinson	206	5.7	+5.7
Majority			384	15.0	-4.5
Turnout			3,565	37.2	-1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to SDP 5.9

Bradshaw ward

Bradshaw ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Tetlow	2,174	48.7	-4.6
	Labour	J Sherrington	1,268	28.4	+0.5
	Liberal	A Steele	1,026	23.0	+4.2
Majority			906	20.3	-5.2
Turnout			4,468	41.0	=5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Liberal 4.4

Breightmet ward

Breightmet ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C Benjamin	2,066	53.1	+1.0
	Conservative	G Kearton	1,249	32.1	-4.6
	Liberal	D Poole	578	14.8	+3.7
Majority			817	21.0	+5.6
Turnout			3,893	34.8	-3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Liberal 4.1

Bromley Cross ward

Bromley Cross ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Hurst	1,988	42.3	-9.2
	Labour	D Doxsey	1,369	29.1	+3.5
	SDP	C Moore	1,348	28.7	+5.8
Majority			619	13.1	-12.8
Turnout			4,705	45.0	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to SDP 7.5

Burnden ward

Burnden ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P Howarth	1,874	54.5	+1.8
	Conservative	L Robertson	1,115	32.4	-7.3
	Liberal	P Howarth	452	13.1	+5.5
Majority			759	22.0	+8.9
Turnout			3,441	39.0	-2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Liberal 6.4

Central ward

Central ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B Iddon	2,480	74.8	+3.3
	Conservative	M Kershaw	569	17.2	-0.8
	Liberal	S Vickers	265	8.0	-2.5
Majority			1,911	57.7	+4.3
Turnout			3,314	40.4	+1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	Liberal to Labour 2.9

Daubhill ward

Daubhill ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G Harkin	2,387	64.3	+1.0
	Conservative	J Cosgrove	897	24.2	-5.7
	Liberal	R Ronson	429	11.6	+6.8
Majority			1,490	40.1	+6.5
Turnout			3,713	39.6	-4.9
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Liberal 6.2

Deane-cum-Heaton ward

Deane-cum-Heaton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Allanson	2,963	54.1	-3.9
	Labour	G Smith	1,335	24.4	+3.1
	SDP	I Hamilton	1,177	21.5	+0.8
Majority			1,628	29.7	-7.0
Turnout			5,475	42.0	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 3.5

Derby ward

Derby ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G Riley	3,175	82.5	+1.4
	Conservative	P Small	407	10.6	-2.7
	SDP	C Kay	267	6.9	+1.2
Majority			2,768	71.9	+4.1
Turnout			3,849	39.6	+0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.0

Farnworth ward

Farnworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P Johnston	1,897	67.6	-11.1
	Liberal	L Sanderson	536	19.1	-2.2
	Conservative	S Windsor	375	13.4	+13.4
Majority			1,361	48.5	-8.8
Turnout			2,808	29.8	+0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	Labour to Con 12.2

Halliwell ward

Halliwell ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Kilcoyne	2,022	47.0	+2.6
	Liberal	A Halliwell	1,556	36.2	-1.4
	Conservative	A Cole	721	16.8	-1.2
Majority			466	10.8
Turnout			4,299	43.7	+1.7
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	Liberal to Labour 2.0

Harper Green ward

Harper Green ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L Williamson	2,442	69.5	+4.4
	Conservative	A Hickson	644	18.3	+8.8
	Liberal	J Robinson	429	12.2	-13.2
Majority			1,798	51.1	11.4
Turnout			3,515	33.6	-1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	Liberal to Con 11.0

Horwich ward

Horwich ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	B Ronson	2,000	37.9	+23.5
	Labour	P Senior	1,914	36.3	-8.7
	Conservative	G Howard	1,366	25.9	-13.0
Majority			86	1.6
Turnout			5,280	47.4	+3.8
	SDP gain from Labour		Swing	Con to SDP 18.2

Hulton Park ward

Hulton Park ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	S Mather	1,690	39.7	+25.4
	Conservative	F Rushton	1,567	36.8	-16.2
	Labour	C Higgs	1,005	23.6	-9.1
Majority			123	2.9
Turnout			4,262	40.2
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Liberal 20.9

Kearsley ward

Kearsley ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F Hampson	1,990	50.9	-5.4
	Liberal	J Rothwell	1,541	39.4	+23.7
	Conservative	A Longmire	378	9.7	-18.3
Majority			449	11.5	-16.8
Turnout			3,909	40.1	+0.3
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	Con to Liberal 21.0

Little Lever ward

Little Lever ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Lawton	1,991	45.9	+3.4
	Labour	S Marsland	1,881	43.4	-6.2
	SDP	A Howroft	461	10.6	+2.6
Majority			110	2.5
Turnout			4,333	46.8	+6.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 4.8

Smithills ward

Smithills ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Mary Rankine Mason	2,065	49.8	+4.8
	Conservative	E Holland	1,449	34.9	-6.5
	Labour	P McFadden	633	15.3	+1.7
Majority			606	14.6	+11.0
Turnout			4,147	46.9	-0.1
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Liberal 5.6

Tonge ward

Tonge ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F White	2,774	64.3	+9.9
	Conservative	A Chadbond	1,237	28.7	-10.0
	SDP	W Woodburn	302	7.0	+0.1
Majority			1,637	37.9	+22.2
Turnout			4,313	46.3	+2.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	Con to Labour 9.9

Westhoughton ward

Westhoughton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P Jones	1,144	40.0	-9.9
	Liberal	P Mather	1,075	37.7	-12.3
	Conservative	J Cowburn	632	22.2	+22.2
Majority			68	2.3
Turnout			2,851	41.0	+3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	Liberal to Con -17.2

References

Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 12 July 2016.