1979 Reading Borough Council election

1979 Reading Borough Council election

← 1976 3 May 1979 (1979-05-03) 1983 →
49 seats (whole council) 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Con Lab Lib Leader Deryck Morton Geoff Mander Geoff Salisbury Party Conservative Labour Liberal Seats before 24 13 12 Seats after 22 16 11 Seat change 2 3 1 Popular vote 123,224 86,591 68,404 Percentage 44.2% 31.1% 24.6%

The 1979 Reading Borough Council election was held on 3 May 1979, alongside local elections across England and Wales and the general election. All 49 seats on Reading Borough Council were contested.

Prior to the election, the council had been under no overall control, with the Conservatives the largest party. Labour saw the biggest net increase in its seats, gaining three, but the council remained under no overall control with the Conservatives as the largest party. After the election the Conservatives had 22 seats (down from 24), Labour had 16 seats (up from 13), and the Liberals had 11 seats (down from 12).^[1]

The party leaders on the council ahead of the election were Deryck Morton for the Conservatives, Geoff Mander for Labour, and Geoff Salisbury for the Liberals. Geoff Salisbury did not stand at the election, and the Liberals' former leader Jim Day became party leader again after the election, having spent the 1978–1979 civic year as mayor of Reading.^[2][3] Deryck Morton was re-appointed to the council's most senior political role as chair of the policy committee after the election, effectively leading a Conservative minority administration.^[4]