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1981 Hertfordshire County Council election

← 1977 7 May 1981 (1981-05-07) 1985 →
All 77 seats to Hertfordshire County Council 39 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Conservative Labour Seats won 43 29 Seat change 22 23 Popular vote 144,864 121,219 Percentage 43.1% 36.0%   Third party Fourth party   Party Liberal Residents Seats won 4 1 Seat change 4 Popular vote 63,868 2,973 Percentage 19.0% 0.9%
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Conservative

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

Boundary changes came into effect at this election with a new pattern of electoral divisions being used. The number of seats on the council was increased from 72 to 77.

At the election, the Conservatives retained control of the council, albeit with a significantly reduced majority. Labour made a major recovery, regaining many of the seats lost previously to the Conservatives in the urban areas of the county. The Liberals regained representation on the council after losing all their seats at the previous election.

Summary

Election result

1981 Hertfordshire County Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	77	43			22	55.8	43.1	144,864
	Labour	76	29			23	37.7	36.0	121,219
	Liberal	63	4			4	5.2	19.0	63,868
	Residents	3	1				1.3	0.9	2,973
	Independent	3	0				0.0	0.4	1,509
	Ecology	6	0				0.0	0.4	1,297
	Independent Labour	2	0				0.0	0.1	430
	National Front	2	0				0.0	<0.1	117
	Communist	1	0				0.0	<0.1	98
	Workers Revolutionary	1	0				0.0	<0.1	61

Division results by local authority

Broxbourne

Division results

Cheshunt Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Johnson	1,767	45.7	–25.2
	Labour	C. Robbins	1,714	44.4	+15.3
	Liberal	K. Fursse	382	9.9	N/A
Majority			53	1.4	–40.4
Turnout			3,863	44.0
Registered electors			8,796
	Conservative hold		Swing	20.2

Hoddesdon North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Rose	2,092	50.2	–14.6
	Labour	P. Garrett	1,054	25.3	+2.1
	Liberal	J. Butler	1,023	24.5	+12.5
Majority			1,038	24.9	–16.7
Turnout			4,169	46.1	+4.0
Registered electors			9,057
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.4

Dacorum

Division results

Kings Langley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Anderson	2,386	58.5	–7.5
	Labour	R. Cox	892	21.9	+5.9
	Liberal	F. O'Connor	804	19.7	+1.7
Majority			1,494	36.6	–11.5
Turnout			4,082	50.3	–3.1
Registered electors			8,131
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.7

Tring

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Servis	2,402	50.6	–20.4
	Labour	A. Maclaughlin	1,103	23.2	+9.2
	Liberal	D. Badrick	926	19.5	+4.5
	Ecology	R. Oliver	314	6.6	N/A
Majority			1,299	27.4	–28.6
Turnout			4,745	46.8	+2.4
Registered electors			10,198
	Conservative hold		Swing	14.8

East Hertfordshire

Division results

All Saints

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Forrester*	2,025	50.0	–23.5
	Labour	G. Perrett	1,353	33.4	+6.9
	Liberal	R. Fish	672	16.6	N/A
Majority			672	16.6	–30.4
Turnout			4,050	51.1	+4.1
Registered electors			7,946
	Conservative hold		Swing	15.2

St Andrews

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Mills	1,836	41.9	+0.4
	Conservative	G. Stoten	1,826	41.7	–16.8
	Liberal	R. Williams	719	16.4	N/A
Majority			10	0.2	N/A
Turnout			4,381	51.6	+1.8
Registered electors			8,519
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	8.6

Hertsmere

Division results

North Hertfordshire

Division results

Royston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Greenfield	1,786	46.9	–22.6
	Liberal	H. Lord	1,115	29.3	+15.9
	Labour	M. Kernaghan	908	23.8	+6.7
Majority			671	17.6	–34.9
Turnout			3,809	46.1	+2.0
Registered electors			8,294
	Conservative hold		Swing	17.5

St Albans

Division results

St Albans East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	D. Perrett	1,936	41.4	+19.8
	Conservative	A. Vincent	1,662	35.5	–29.9
	Labour	T. Morris	1,080	23.1	+10.1
Majority			274	5.9	N/A
Turnout			4,678	50.4	–0.3
Registered electors			9,185
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	24.9

St Albans North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Hill	1,931	40.3	–9.9
	Liberal	L. Coates	1,677	35.0	+21.6
	Labour	A. Ramsden	1,181	24.7	–11.7
Majority			254	5.3	–8.6
Turnout			4,789	49.0	–1.6
Registered electors			9,773
	Conservative hold		Swing	15.8

Stevenage

Division results

Bedwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Lawrence	2,567	57.5	+14.6
	Conservative	H. Silberstein*	1,097	24.6	–20.7
	Liberal	G. Robbins	798	17.9	+9.3
Majority			1,470	32.9	N/A
Turnout			4,462	47.6	–0.1
Registered electors			9,426
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	17.7

Old Stevenage

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Robbins	2,145	46.6	+13.5
	Conservative	W. Boyd	1,729	37.6	–16.5
	Liberal	S. Booth	727	15.8	+6.6
Majority			416	9.0	N/A
Turnout			4,601	45.3	+1.9
Registered electors			10,191
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	15.0

Three Rivers

Division results

Chorleywood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Cogan*	2,728	65.1	–9.9
	Liberal	S. Eyre	1,002	23.9	+10.7
	Labour	N. Doggett	461	11.0	–0.8
Majority			1,726	41.2	–20.6
Turnout			4,191	48.9	–5.9
Registered electors			8,431
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.3

North Mymms

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Roy	3,695	83.8	+5.0
	Labour	P. Kingsford	715	16.2	–5.0
Majority			2,980	67.6	+10.0
Turnout			4,410	51.6	–0.4
Registered electors			8,583
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.0

Watford

Division results

Welwyn Hatfield

Division results

Hatfield East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Clark*	2,018	49.1	–12.7
	Labour	J. Stephens	1,623	39.5	+9.7
	Liberal	D. Bird	472	11.5	+3.2
Majority			395	9.6	–22.4
Turnout			4,113	53.4	–1.3
Registered electors			7,717
	Conservative hold		Swing	11.2

Welwyn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Lower*	2,901	60.9	–17.6
	Labour	M. Cooper	1,863	39.1	+17.6
Majority			1,038	21.8	–35.2
Turnout			4,764	52.8	+1.4
Registered electors			9,073
	Conservative hold		Swing	17.6

Welwyn Garden City South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Charles	3,839	75.1	+17.2
	Conservative	S. Graham	1,271	24.9	–17.2
Majority			2,568	50.3	+34.5
Turnout			5,110	54.3	+0.4
Registered electors			9,474
	Labour hold		Swing	17.2

Welwyn Garden City West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	U. Bennett	3,162	47.0	+1.8
	Conservative	D. Ashworth	2,349	34.9	–19.9
	Liberal	A. Last	1,045	15.5	N/A
	Ecology	C. Nobbs	171	2.5	N/A
Majority			813	12.1	N/A
Turnout			6,727	59.0	+9.0
Registered electors			11,440
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	10.9

References

1. "Hertfordshire County Council Election Results 1973-2009" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 3 October 2024.

v t e Council elections in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire County 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 2021 2025
Broxbourne Borough Council	1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Dacorum Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
East Hertfordshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Hertsmere Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 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 2019 2023
North Hertfordshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
St Albans City and District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Stevenage Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Three Rivers District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Watford Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council	1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
See also: Wards Boundary changes Middlesex County Council elections

v t e (1980 ←) 1981 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1982)
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Sui generis	Isles of Scilly

• Hertfordshire County Council elections
• 1981 English local elections
• 1980s in Hertfordshire