1988 Epping Forest District Council election

The 1988 Epping Forest District Council election was held on 5 May 1988 to elect members of Epping Forest District Council in Essex, England. The Conservatives strengthened their control of the council, increasing their majority from the previous year. Labour suffered notable declines across the district, while the newly-formed Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD) - emerging from the recent merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party - lost two of their existing seats and suffered a heavy fall in their vote share. Independent Councillor Ridgewell of Sheering joined the Conservatives ahead of these elections, retaining his seat at the election, which left Councillor Easton as the sole independent on the council.

Nationally, 1988 was a year of political consolidation and socio-economic change. Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving prime minister of the century, while her government continued to oversee economic growth and declining unemployment, which fell to just over 2.5 million by March. The Social and Liberal Democrats emerged from the merger of the Liberal Party and the SDP, uniting centrist opposition forces but struggling to make major breakthroughs in local elections such as Epping Forest. The government implemented major tax cuts in the March budget and pursued inner-city regeneration schemes, while social issues, including public sector strikes and welfare debates, remained prominent.

The Conservative success in Epping Forest mirrored the national trend of growing support for the Tories in suburban and rural districts, consolidating their political dominance and leaving Labour and the SLD to contend with eroding influence at the local level. Overall, the 1988 council election reinforced Conservative control, reflecting both national political trends and local electoral realities.

Just 7 months after these elections, Epping Forest would see a by-election following the death of incumbent MP Sir John Biggs-Davison, who had served Epping Forest as its MP since 1974, and its predecessor seat of Chigwell since 1955. The Conservatives would hold the seat with 39.5% of the vote (a fall of 21.5% in 1987), with the Social and Liberal Democrats gaining 26.0%, coming just over 4,500 behind Steven Norris, who would serve as the MP for Epping Forest until 1997.

Source:^[1]

1988 Epping Forest District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	14	3	73.6	23	37	62.7	10,620	48.1	3.9
	Labour	3	1	5.0	8	11	18.6	6,481	29.3	5.5
	Loughton Residents	3	1	5.0	4	7	11.8	2,434	11.0	7.6
	Liberal	0	2	0.0	2	2	3.3	2,373	10.7	7.9
	Independent	1	1	1.6	0	1	1.6	0	0.0	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	0		0.0	1	1	1.6	N/A	N/A	N/A
	SDP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	168	0.7	N/A

Buckhurst Hill East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Yearley	708	45.8	0.2
	SLD	S. Anderson	571	36.9	5.6
	Labour	S. Goodwin	268	17.3	5.8
Majority			137	8.9	5.4
Turnout			1,547	39.8	10.0
Registered electors			3,887
	Conservative gain from SLD		Swing

Buckhurst Hill West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Welch*	1,017	64.8	0.8
	SLD	R. Eveling	391	24.9	4.1
	Labour	R. Baddock	162	10.3	4.9
Majority			626	39.9	3.3
Turnout			1,570	33.2	11.1
Registered electors			4,729
	Conservative hold		Swing

Chigwell Village

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Gilliham	701	79.5	20.9
	SLD	C. Bartrip	99	11.2	13.6
	Labour	B. Mooney	82	9.3	1.9
Majority			602	68.3	34.4
Turnout			882	27.1	8.1
Registered electors			3,255
	Conservative hold		Swing

Debden Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Huckle*	1,020	75.1	13.7
	Conservative	J. Yates	338	24.9	13.7
Majority			682	50.2	27.3
Turnout			1,358	34.6	3.4
Registered electors			3,925
	Labour hold		Swing

Epping Hemnall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Aldworth*	872	59.1	0.9
	Conservative	A. Rose	840
	Labour	D. Tetlow	358	24.3	7.9
	Labour	D. Wing	339
	SLD	J. Gent	245	16.6	8.8
	SLD	S. Mann	234
Majority			514	32.5	0.3
Turnout			1,579	33.0	9.0
Registered electors			4,376
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Epping Lindsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Brady	880	52.8	4.8
	Labour	D. Sturrock	471	28.3	12.6
	SLD	D. Gent	315	18.9	17.5
Majority			409	24.5	12.9
Turnout			1,666	34.1	12.6
Registered electors			4,886
	Conservative hold		Swing

Grange Hill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Tomkins	867	54.6	0.8
	SLD	G. West	557	35.1	5.0
	Labour	G. Easter	165	10.4	4.3
Majority			310	19.5	5.8
Turnout			1,589	33.7	12.8
Registered electors			4,715
	Conservative gain from SLD		Swing

High Ongar

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Morton*	249	55.2	0.1
	SDP	S. Ormsby	168	37.3	N/A
	Labour	L. Horgan	34	7.5	14.2
Majority			81	18.0	13.9
Turnout			451	51.1	8.1
Registered electors			883
	Conservative hold		Swing

Loughton Broadway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Worby*	1,258	79.7	12.3
	Conservative	A. Swallow	320	20.3	12.3
Majority			938	59.4	24.6
Turnout			1,578	37.9	1.6
Registered electors			4,164
	Labour hold		Swing

Loughton Forest

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Loughton Residents	K. Ellis	741	63.2	2.9
	Conservative	L. Pugh	350	29.9	2.4
	Labour	H. McSweeney	81	6.9	0.5
Majority			391	33.4	5.4
Turnout			1,172	39.4	6.3
Registered electors			2,975
	Loughton Residents hold		Swing

Loughton Roding

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Fairbanks	911	55.2	2.8
	Labour	J. Ormston	739	44.8	11.0
Majority			172	10.4	8.3
Turnout			1,650	39.6	5.7
Registered electors			4,167
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Loughton St. Johns

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Loughton Residents	R. Wilmot	877	52.6	4.0
	Conservative	C. Finn	658	39.4	3.9
	Labour	C. Wardell	133	8.0	0.1
Majority			219	13.1	N/A
Turnout			1,668	39.9	5.8
Registered electors			4,180
	Loughton Residents gain from Conservative		Swing

Loughton St. Marys

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Loughton Residents	D. Paddon*	816	69.7	13.4
	Conservative	G. Best	222	19.0	11.3
	Labour	A. Bryant	133	11.4	2.0
Majority			594	50.7	24.7
Turnout			1,171	39.6	2.0
Registered electors			2,957
	Loughton Residents hold		Swing

Roothing Country

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Green*	391	66.7	18.9
	SLD	D. Kelly	195	33.3	N/A
Majority			196	33.4	37.7
Turnout			586	48.7	10.3
Registered electors			1,203
	Conservative hold		Swing

Theydon Bois

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Axon*	819	82.0	18.1
	Labour	J. Davy	180	18.0	7.5
Majority			639	64.0	25.7
Turnout			999	31.6	9.7
Registered electors			3,161
	Conservative hold		Swing

Waltham Abbey East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Demetriou	845	56.0	10.5
	Labour	D. Sherman	663	44.0	10.5
Majority			182	12.1	20.9
Turnout			1,508	31.8	11.3
Registered electors			4,742
	Conservative hold		Swing

Waltham Abbey Paternoster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P. Bourn	734	60.9	10.4
	Conservative	A. Day	472	39.1	10.5
Majority			262	21.7	20.7
Turnout			1,206	35.1	6.2
Registered electors			3,436
	Labour hold		Swing