Wiltshire County Council election, 1985

Elections to Wiltshire County Council were held on 2 May 1985. The whole council of seventy-five members was up for election and the result was that the Conservatives lost their majority, winning only thirty seats, resulting in no overall control. The Liberals gained seats, winning seventeen, the Social Democrats won eight seats, the first time they had been represented in the council, while Labour had losses, finishing like the Liberals with seventeen members. Three Independents, including one Ratepayer, were also elected.^[1]

In an editorial on 4 May headed "Local Lessons", The Times commented that "The Conservatives predominate as the single largest party in the counties still. Generalizations from such elections are always flawed by local factors. Intra-party disputes help explain the loss of Conservative seats in Wiltshire".^[2]

Following the elections, an informal agreement between the leader of the Liberal group, Jack Ainslie, and the leader of the Labour members, Mary Salisbury, led to the formation of a minority SDP–Liberal Alliance administration. Salisbury commented to The Times "Where the Liberals put forward what seem to be measures which are beneficial to the people of Wiltshire, we will support them."^[3]

Election result

Wiltshire Local Election Result 1985^[1]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	30			- 10	40.0
	Liberal	17			+ 5	22.7
	Labour	17			- 3	22.7
	Social Democratic	8			+ 8	10.7
	Independent	3			+ 1	4.0

References

1 2 Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Local Elections' in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 4
↑ 'Local Lessons', editorial in The Times of London, issue 62129 dated 4 May 1985, p. 9
↑ Hugh Clayton (Local Government Correspondent), 'Emerging figure in new Lib-Lab pact: an Alliance shire leader cast in Tory mould', in The Times of London, issue 62135 dated 11 May 1985, p. 2

(1984 ←) United Kingdom local elections, 1985 (→ 1986)

County council elections (England)	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hereford and Worcester Hertfordshire Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Warwickshire West Sussex Wiltshire

County council elections (Wales)	Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan

District councils (Northern Ireland)	Northern Irish District councils Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Derry Down Dungannon Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane

Sui generis	Isles of Scilly

Council elections in Wiltshire

Wiltshire Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017

Swindon Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016

Kennet District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished

North Wiltshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished

Salisbury District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished

West Wiltshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Abolished

See also: Wards Boundary changes

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