1986 St Albans City and District Council election

The 1986 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 8 May 1986 to elect members of St Albans City and District Council in England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections.

At the election, the SDP-Liberal Alliance displaced the Conservatives as the largest party for the first time since the council's creation in 1973.

Summary

1986 St Albans City and District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Alliance	11	2	55.0	14	25	43.9	19,743	39.4	–1.9
	Conservative	6	2	30.0	17	23	40.4	18,776	37.5	–3.7
	Labour	3	1	15.0	5	8	14.0	9,620	19.2	+3.7
	Independent	0	1	0.0	1	1	1.8	1,067	2.1	+0.4
	Independent Labour	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	553	1.1	N/A
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	300	0.6	+0.4

Ashley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	T. Allison	1,157	48.5	–9.8
	Conservative	S. Capper	722	30.3	+2.8
	Labour	C. Leet	507	21.2	+7.0
Majority			435	18.2	N/A
Turnout			2,386	49.0	–7.4
Registered electors			4,869
	Alliance hold		Swing	6.3

Batchwood (2 seats due to by-election)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. McManus	955	38.1
	Alliance	R. Biddle	939	37.5
	Labour	R. Mills	930	37.1
	Alliance	J. Haggerty	873	34.8
	Conservative	G. Barnes	613	24.5
	Conservative	A. Smith	545	21.7
Turnout			2,507	49.0
Registered electors			5,116
	Labour gain from Alliance
	Alliance hold

Clarence
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	S. Burton	1,237	47.9	+8.0
	Conservative	J. Telfer	925	35.8	–10.4
	Labour	S. Seelig	421	16.3	+2.4
Majority			312	12.1	N/A
Turnout			2,583	59.0	+0.7
Registered electors			4,378
	Alliance hold		Swing	9.2

Colney Heath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	B. Howard*	868	59.8	–2.3
	Conservative	R. Wakeley	369	25.4	–5.3
	Labour	D. Landman	215	14.8	+7.6
Majority			499	34.4	+3.1
Turnout			1,452	52.0	+0.4
Registered electors			2,792
	Alliance hold		Swing	1.5

Cunningham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	C. Gunner*	1,052	46.9	–12.2
	Conservative	C. Ellis	739	33.0	+5.6
	Labour	T. Jones	451	20.1	+6.6
Majority			313	14.0	–17.8
Turnout			2,242	47.0	–5.3
Registered electors			4,770
	Alliance hold		Swing	8.9

Harpenden East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	P. Burrows	1,283	44.1	–1.4
	Conservative	B. Bartman*	1,214	41.7	–3.7
	Labour	D. Crew	286	9.8	+0.7
	Green	J. Bishop	128	4.4	N/A
Majority			69	2.4	+2.3
Turnout			2,911	57.0	+4.7
Registered electors			5,107
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing	1.2

Harpenden North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K. Haywood*	1,380	47.0	–5.0
	Alliance	D. Wright	1,066	36.3	+4.0
	Labour	B. Saffery	317	10.8	–0.4
	Green	H. Swailes	172	5.9	+1.3
Majority			314	10.7	–9.0
Turnout			2,935	51.0	+8.4
Registered electors			5,755
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.5

Harpenden South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K. McCaw*	1,434	56.7	–10.0
	Alliance	L. Johnstone	874	34.6	+11.6
	Labour	J. Bailey	220	8.7	+1.2
Majority			560	22.2	–21.5
Turnout			2,528	49.0	+6.8
Registered electors			5,159
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.8

Harpenden West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Roberts	1,461	54.8	–3.9
	Alliance	D. Groom	982	36.8	+3.1
	Labour	L. Fryd	225	8.4	+0.9
Majority			479	18.0	–7.0
Turnout			2,668	51.0	+2.7
Registered electors			5,231
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.5

London Colney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Ranstead	1,016	41.9	–18.3
	Conservative	T. Rodell	694	28.6	–11.2
	Independent Labour	F. Perham*	553	22.8	N/A
	Independent	I. Holt	161	6.6	N/A
Majority			322	13.3	–7.1
Turnout			2,424	43.0	+8.6
Registered electors			5,637
	Labour hold		Swing	3.6

Marshallwick North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	G. Churchard*	1,337	49.5	+0.2
	Conservative	L. Caims	1,095	40.6	–1.1
	Labour	C. Pearce	268	9.9	+0.8
Majority			242	9.0	+1.4
Turnout			2,762	53.0	–1.6
Registered electors			5,094
	Alliance hold		Swing	0.7

Marshallwick South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	A. Rowlands	1,285	44.4	+2.7
	Conservative	A. Hill	1,281	44.2	–4.9
	Labour	L. Adams	330	11.4	+2.2
Majority			4	0.2	N/A
Turnout			2,896	56.0	+3.8
Registered electors			5,171
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing	3.8

Park Street
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	W. Lawrence	935	51.9	–3.1
	Conservative	S. Biggs	581	32.3	–3.0
	Labour	J. Gipps	285	15.8	+6.1
Majority			354	19.7	±0.0
Turnout			1,801	42.0	–9.2
Registered electors			4,288
	Alliance hold		Swing	0.0

Redbourn
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Robinson*	1,065	46.9	+5.5
	Alliance	P. Schofield	759	33.4	N/A
	Labour	G. Harris	447	19.7	+4.3
Majority			306	13.5	N/A
Turnout			2,271	51.0	+3.9
Registered electors			4,453
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Sopwell
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K. Pollard*	1,245	48.1	+3.0
	Alliance	M. Saunders	784	30.3	+2.8
	Conservative	J. Rabuszko	562	21.7	–5.7
Majority			461	17.8	+0.3
Turnout			2,591	51.0	+5.3
Registered electors			5,080
	Labour hold		Swing	0.1

St. Peters
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	P. Thompson*	1,037	46.4	–1.1
	Labour	G. Powell	652	29.2	+2.9
	Conservative	F. Newton	547	24.5	–1.8
Majority			385	17.2	–4.0
Turnout			2,236	50.0	–2.7
Registered electors			4,472
	Alliance hold		Swing	2.0

St. Stephens
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Heap*	1,093	35.1	–8.1
	Independent	A. Neasel	869	27.9	N/A
	Alliance	F. Smith	812	26.1	–20.6
	Labour	K. Morcom	341	10.9	+0.8
Majority			224	7.2	N/A
Turnout			3,115	54.0	–0.9
Registered electors			5,769
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Verulam
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Moss	1,404	49.1	–0.8
	Alliance	C. White	1,107	38.7	–2.1
	Labour	M. Bromberg	309	10.8	+1.5
	Independent	A. Clifford	37	1.3	N/A
Majority			297	10.4	+1.3
Turnout			2,857	55.0	–2.9
Registered electors			5,195
	Conservative gain from Alliance		Swing	0.7

Wheathampstead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	S. Whittaker	1,356	52.0	+0.8
	Conservative	R. Norsworthy	1,052	40.3	+0.7
	Labour	J. McPheat	200	7.7	–1.5
Majority			304	11.7	+0.1
Turnout			2,608	54.0	+5.5
Registered electors			4,830
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing	0.0

^ "Results 1973 to 2012" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 23 January 2023.