1976 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were held in May 1976. The Conservatives retained control of the Council.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton shown within England.

23 seats were contested, with 16 being won by the Conservative Party and 7 by the Labour Party.

Ernie Crook was the sitting Conservative Councillor in the Church East and North Ward, but was re-elected as an Independent Conservative due to an internal selection dispute. However he took the Conservative Party whip soon after. Therefore, this seat is regarded as a Conservative hold rather than a loss.

After the election, the composition of the Council was:

	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	16	4	0	+4	57.9	42,559	+1.3
Labour	7	2	4	-2	37.0	27,230	+4.4
Liberal	0	0	1	-1	3.9	2,902	-4.5
Other parties	0	0	1	-1	1.1	855	-1.2

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F Waterworth	2,871	77.5	+0.3
	Labour	G Riley	832	22.5	−0.3
Majority			2,039	55.0	+0.6
Turnout			3,703	38.0	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 0.3

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T Greenhalgh	2,666	85.7	+35.7
	Labour	A Grimes	446	14.3	+8.4
Majority			2,220	71.3	+46.0
Turnout			3,112	34.0	−12.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T McEwan	1,205	68.5	+5.4
	Conservative	A Mills	498	28.3	−8.6
	Socialist (GB)	N Duffield	56	3.2	+3.2
Majority			707	40.2	+14.0
Turnout			1,759	37.7	+3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 7.0

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Poulsom	2,666	81.9	+24.5
	Labour	C Benjamin	591	18.1	−1.4
Majority			2,075	63.7	+29.4
Turnout			3,257	38.5	−5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	Lab to Con 12.9

1976 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election

Election result

Ward results

Astley Bridge ward

Bradshaw North and South ward

Bradford ward

Bromley Cross, Eagley and Egerton ward

Church East and North ward

Darcy Lever cum Breightmet ward

Deane cum Lostock ward

Derby ward

Farnworth North ward

Farnworth South ward

Great Lever ward

Halliwell ward

Heaton ward

Horwich North, Central and East ward

Horwich South and Blackrod ward

Hulton and Rumworth ward

Kearsley ward

Little Lever ward

Smithills ward

Tonge ward

West ward

Westhoughton East and Hulton ward

Westhoughton North, Central and South ward

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Conservative	E Crook	1,227	41.1	+41.1
	Conservative	B Hall	961	32.2	−30.4
	Labour	P Johnson	799	26.7	−2.6
Majority			266	8.9
Turnout			2,987	48.3	+8.3
	Ind. Conservative hold		Swing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M Walsh	2,900	55.5	−4.7
	Labour	K McIvor	2,327	44.5	+4.7
Majority			573	11.0	−9.4
Turnout			5,227	39.0	+8.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Con to Labour 4.7

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F Rushton	2,260	77.7	+0.3
	Labour	J Walker	648	22.3	−0.3
Majority			1,612	55.4	+0.7
Turnout			2,908	41.0	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 0.3

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R Lever	1,170	63.8	+2.3
	Conservative	D Smith	663	36.2	−2.3
Majority			507	27.6	+4.6
Turnout			1,833	31.0	+3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.3

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R Neary	1,428	47.7	+6.2
	Conservative	A Nuttall	1,232	41.2	−4.7
	Liberal	M Harmsworth	331	11.1	+1.3
Majority			196	6.5
Turnout			2,991	31.9	+3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 5.4

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W Hardman	1,290	55.3	+5.6
	Liberal	J Barrow	550	23.6	−1.7
	Conservative	L Sharples	493	21.1	−3.9
Majority			740	31.7	+7.4
Turnout			2,333	25.3	+4.3
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 4.7

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S Haslam	2,283	60.3	−6.1
	Labour	G Harkin	1,504	39.7	+6.1
Majority			779	20.4	−12.2
Turnout			3,787	36.0	+8.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Con to Labour 6.1

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W Hall	1,742	55.6	+0.3
	Labour	R Johnson	1,389	44.4	+5.9
Majority			353	11.2	−5.6
Turnout			3,131	32.0	−1.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Hanscomb	1,996	90.4	−1.8
	Labour	T Moor	213	9.6	+1.8
Majority			1,783	80.8	−3.6
Turnout			2,210	47.0	−1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 1.8

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Crumblehulme	2,159	52.9	+10.3
	Labour	J McBurnie	1,924	47.1	+10.6
Majority			235	5.8	−0.3
Turnout			4,083	40.0	+7.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Horwich South and Blackrod ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Everin	1,915	61.6	+12.4
	Labour	L Watkinson	1,194	38.4	+7.3
Majority			721	23.2	+4.2
Turnout			3,109	48.0	+8.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hulton and Rumworth ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Gledhill	2,112	55.1	+0.6
	Labour	P Jones	1,381	36.0	−0.7
	National Front	J Walsh	341	8.9	+1.0
Majority			731	19.0	+1.2
Turnout			3,834	38.5	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 1.6

Kearsley ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T Lewis	1,479	40.4	+4.9
	Liberal	E Bell	1,376	37.5	−0.0
	Conservative	T Rothwell	810	22.1	−4.9
Majority			103	2.9
Turnout			3,665	42.6	+5.6
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	Con to Labour 4.9

Little Lever ward (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R Hodson	1,192	40.5	−6.2
	Labour	E Blackwell	1,105	37.6	+11.2
	Liberal	R Richardson	645	21.9	−5.0
Majority			87	2.9	−16.8
Turnout			2,942	38.0	−0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 8.7

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M Howarth	3,057	74.5	−1.6
	Labour	G Hart	897	21.9	+3.5
	Independent	B Langley	151	3.7	−1.8
Majority			2,160	52.6	−5.1
Turnout			4,105	37.9	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K Knowles	2,631	57.0	−7.4
	Labour	Brian Iddon	1,983	43.0	+7.4
Majority			648	14.0	−14.8
Turnout			4,614	42.0	+9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 7.4

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Clarke	1,419	54.8	+5.9
	Conservative	B Holland	1,171	45.2	−5.9
Majority			248	9.6
Turnout			2,590	32.0	+8.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 5.9

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F Walsh	1,870	74.9	+0.4
	Labour	C Knowles	625	25.1	−0.4
Majority			1,245	49.8	+0.9
Turnout			2,495	42.8	+3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 0.4

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Clee	1,331	47.2	−5.1
	Conservative	J Roden	1,184	42.0	−5.7
	Independent	K Brown	307	10.9	+10.9
Majority			147	5.2	+0.6
Turnout			2,822	39.8	+2.8
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing	Con to Ind 8.3