1981 Merseyside County Council election

The 1981 Merseyside County Council election took place on 7 May to elect members of Merseyside County Council in England.[1] This was on the same day as other local elections.

Main article: 1981 United Kingdom local elections

1981 Merseyside County Council election

7 May 1981 (1981-05-07)
All 99 seats to Merseyside County Council 50 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	36.9% (1.3%)[1]
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour Conservative Liberal Last election 26 seats, 27.4% 67 seats, 55.1% 6 seats, 16.3% Seats before 26 67 6 Seats won 57 27 15 Seat change 31 40 9 Popular vote 190,757 122,050 100,218 Percentage 45.8% 29.3% 24.1% Swing 18.4% 25.8% 7.8%
Control of Council before election Conservative Control of Council after election Labour

Election results

Overall election result

Overall result compared with 1977.

Merseyside County Council election, 1981
Party		Candidates				Votes
		Stood	Elected	Net	% of total	%	№	Net %
	Labour	97	57	31	57.6	45.8	190,757	18.4
	Conservative	99	27	40	27.3	29.3	122,050	25.8
	Liberal	88	15	9	15.2	24.1	100,218	7.8
	Residents	2	0		0.0	0.4	1,728	N/A
	Ecology	2	0		0.0	0.1	585	N/A
	Communist	7	0		0.0	0.1	545	0.5
	British Democratic	2	0		0.0	0.1	264	N/A
	Independent	1	0		0.0	0.0	184	0.1
	Independent Liberal	1	0		0.0	0.0	61

[1]

Results by borough

Knowsley

Merseyside County Council election, 1981 (Knowsley)
Party		Candidates				Votes
		Stood	Elected	Net	% of total	%	№	Net %
	Labour	11	10	3	90.9	68.5	27,110	23.7
	Conservative	11	1	3	9.1	18.6	7,350	29.9
	Liberal	9	0		0.0	13.0	5,136	9.6

[1]

Turnout: 31.9% (2.1%)

Liverpool

Merseyside County Council election, 1981 (Liverpool)
Party		Candidates				Votes
		Stood	Elected	Net	% of total	%	№	Net %
	Labour	36	21	11	58.3	46.9	67,144	18.7
	Liberal	36	8	5	22.2	30.9	44,273	7.4
	Conservative	36	7	16	19.4	21.7	31,057	25.3
	Communist	7	0		0.0	0.4	545	0.5
	Independent Liberal	1	0		0.0	0.0	61	0.1

[1]

Turnout: 37.1% (3.2%)

Sefton

Merseyside County Council election, 1981 (Sefton)
Party		Candidates				Votes
		Stood	Elected	Net	% of total	%	№	Net %
	Conservative	19	9	6	47.4	38.1	31,108	25.6
	Labour	17	6	3	31.6	34.4	28,070	14.2
	Liberal	15	4	3	21.1	24.8	20,190	10.1
	Residents	2	0		0.0	2.1	1,728	N/A
	Ecology	1	0		0.0	0.6	474	N/A

[1]

Turnout: 36.6% (2.6)

St Helens

Merseyside County Council election, 1981 (St Helens)
Party		Candidates				Votes
		Stood	Elected	Net	% of total	%	№	Net %
	Labour	11	9	6	81.8	56.8	28,191	20.4
	Conservative	11	2	6	18.2	26.6	13,172	31.4
	Liberal	8	0		0.0	16.2	8,061	10.6
	Independent	1	0		0.0	0.4	184	N/A

[1]

Turnout: 35.7% (1.6%)

Wirral

Merseyside County Council election, 1981 (Wirral)
Party		Candidates				Votes
		Stood	Elected	Net	% of total	%	№	Net %
	Labour	22	11	8	50.0	39.2	40,242	18.1
	Conservative	22	8	9	36.4	38.4	39,363	22.0
	Liberal	20	3	1	13.6	22.0	22,558	4.0
	British Democratic	2	0		0.0	0.3	264	N/A
	Ecology	1	0		0.0	0.1	111	N/A

[1]

Turnout: 39.9% (1.9%)

Notes

References

1. "Local Election Summaries 1981". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 2 December 2018.