1976 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Trafford Council were held on Thursday, 6 May 1976. One third of the council was up for election, with each successful candidate to serve a four-year term of office, expiring in 1980. The Conservative Party retained overall control of the council.

1976 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election

6 May 1976 (1976-05-06)
21 of 63 seats to Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council 32 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Colin Warbrick Bert Pyper Cecil Fink Party Conservative Labour Liberal Leader's seat Stretford Park Brooklands Last election 21 seats, 56.1% 1 seat, 22.2% 0 seats, 21.3% Seats before 42 13 8 Seats won 17 4 0 Seats after 47 12 4 Seat change 5 1 4 Popular vote 40,753 19,344 10,421 Percentage 57.4% 27.3% 14.7% Swing 1.3% 5.1% 6.6%
Map of results of 1976 election
Leader of the Council before election Mike King Conservative Leader of the Council after election Colin Warbrick Conservative

Election result

Party		Votes			Seats			Full Council
Conservative Party		40,753 (57.4%)		1.3	17 (81.0%)	17 / 21	5	47 (74.6%)	47 / 63
Labour Party		19,344 (27.3%)		5.1	4 (19.0%)	4 / 21	1	12 (19.0%)	12 / 63
Liberal Party		10,421 (14.7%)		6.6	0 (0.0%)	0 / 21	4	4 (6.3%)	4 / 63
Communist Party		263 (0.4%)			0 (0.0%)	0 / 21	0	0 (0.0%)	0 / 63
Independent		192 (0.3%)		N/A	0 (0.0%)	0 / 21	N/A	0 (0.0%)	0 / 63

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12

4

47

Ward results

No.1 (Altrincham South West)

Altrincham South West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Catherine Gordon	1,373	53.5	+10.6
	Labour	E. Axon	687	26.8	−0.2
	Liberal	P. C. Feanhley	506	19.7	−10.4
Majority			686	26.7	+13.9
Turnout			2,566	40.3	−1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.2 (Altrincham East)

Altrincham East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roy Hall	2,209	54.5	+6.8
	Liberal	Glen Stuart	1,153	28.4	−8.9
	Labour	Robert Coulthard	691	17.0	+2.0
Majority			1,056	26.1	+15.6
Turnout			4,053	42.6	−2.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

No.3 (Altrincham North)

Altrincham North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Finch	1,610	54.3	+6.4
	Liberal	Eric Faulkner	719	24.3	−3.4
	Labour	Alan Hadley	635	21.4	−2.9
Majority			891	30.1	+9.9
Turnout			2,964	45.0	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.4 (Timperley)

Timperley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Audrey Weedall	1,695	47.6	−0.3
	Liberal	Raymond Bowker*	983	27.6	+5.8
	Labour	J. Gregory	884	24.8	−5.4
Majority			712	20.0	+2.3
Turnout			3,562	44.5	+1.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

No.5 (Mersey-St. Mary’s)

Mersey-St. Mary's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ivor Hurst*	2,451	60.8	+4.3
	Liberal	R. Elliott	1,184	29.4	−14.1
	Labour	Raymond Tully	393	9.8	+9.8
Majority			1,267	31.5	+18.4
Turnout			4,028	45.0	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.6 (St. Martin’s)

St. Martin's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Morgan Evans*	2,778	66.8	−2.3
	Labour	G. T. Pollitt	1,378	33.2	+2.3
Majority			1,400	33.7	−4.4
Turnout			4,156	38.2	+7.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.7 (Sale Moor)

Sale Moor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. D. Turner	1,231	43.9	+1.5
	Labour	Barry Brotherton	1,221	43.6	+9.5
	Liberal	B. Willshaw	301	10.7	−10.4
	Communist	V. T. Eddisford	49	1.7	−0.6
Majority			10	0.4	−4.7
Turnout			2,802	42.1	+2.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

No.8 (St. Anne’s)

St. Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Sutton	1,789	46.4	−0.9
	Liberal	John Golding*	1,208	31.3	−3.2
	Labour	J. K. Morgan	858	22.3	+4.1
Majority			581	15.1	+2.2
Turnout			3,855	45.3	+4.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

No.9 (Brooklands)

Brooklands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. B. Ludlam	2,393	64.8	+6.8
	Liberal	Hilary Hughes	1,302	35.2	+1.5
Majority			1,091	29.5	+5.3
Turnout			3,695	45.2	−0.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

No.10 (Talbot North)

Talbot North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Daniel Sullivan*	1,786	52.8	+7.2
	Conservative	T. W. Thompson	1,143	33.8	+3.0
	Liberal	T. A. Dixon	451	13.3	−10.3
Majority			643	19.0	+4.2
Turnout			3,380	37.9	+3.0
	Labour hold		Swing

No.11 (Clifford)

Clifford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Vincent Wynne*	1,355	49.6	+6.8
	Conservative	Edward Kelson	1,172	42.9	−14.3
	Liberal	R. N. Stott	206	7.5	+7.5
Majority			183	6.7	−7.6
Turnout			2,733	41.5	+6.6
	Labour hold		Swing

No.12 (Longford)

Longford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Olive Chandler*	2,033	53.5	+0.3
	Labour	Tony Lloyd	1,319	34.7	+4.0
	Liberal	H. D. Locksley	446	11.7	−4.4
Majority			714	18.8	−3.7
Turnout			3,798	39.0	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.13 (Stretford)

Stretford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Warbrick*	1,587	64.4	+1.2
	Labour	G. R. Scott	698	28.3	+3.0
	Liberal	C. R. Hedley	181	7.3	−4.2
Majority			889	36.1	−1.8
Turnout			2,466	42.3	+3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.14 (Park)

Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herber Pyper*	1,353	49.9	+8.3
	Conservative	William Matthews	1,282	47.3	+4.5
	Communist	M. A. Murray	75	2.8	+0.3
Majority			71	2.6	+1.4
Turnout			2,710	43.3	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing

No.15 (Bowdon)

Bowdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barbara Sutton Hall*	2,948	84.7	+12.8
	Labour	J. Wynne	534	15.3	+2.7
Majority			2,414	69.3	+13.0
Turnout			3,482	48.6	−1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.16 (Hale)

Hale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roy Godwin*	3,807	87.2	+5.9
	Labour	P. Scott	560	12.8	N/A
Majority			3,247	74.4	+23.4
Turnout			4,367	47.4	+3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.17 (Partington)

Partington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Paul*	1,438	48.7	+2.1
	Conservative	M. E. Hindley	1,182	40.1	−6.7
	Communist	P. S. Gallagher	139	4.7	−1.9
	Independent	W. J. Graham	120	4.1	+4.1
	Independent	K. M. Stewart	72	2.4	+2.4
Majority			256	8.7	+8.5
Turnout			2,951	37.4	+9.8
	Labour hold		Swing

No.18 (Urmston West East)

Urmston West East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ruth Royle-Higginson*	1,798	56.8	+2.3
	Labour	D. T. Taylor	763	24.1	+0.5
	Liberal	A. Scanlon	604	19.1	−2.8
Majority			1,035	32.7	+1.9
Turnout			3,165	37.6	−5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.19 (Flixton East Central)

Flixton East Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Fitzpatrick*	2,492	62.9	+8.4
	Labour	D. J. Watts	894	22.6	+3.0
	Liberal	M. G. Maxfield	575	14.5	−11.4
Majority			1,598	40.3	+11.7
Turnout			3,961	42.9	−4.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.20 (Flixton West)

Flixton West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. E. Williams*	2,432	60.4	+1.5
	Labour	Laura Seex	1,212	30.1	+3.6
	Liberal	D. J. Gilbert	384	9.5	−5.1
Majority			1,220	30.3	−2.0
Turnout			4,028	41.2	−1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.21 (Davyhulme East)

Davyhulme East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Eadie*	1,348	59.9	+9.8
	Labour	M. F. Treadaway	685	30.4	+5.2
	Liberal	W. A. Munden	218	9.7	−15.0
Majority			663	29.5	+4.6
Turnout			2,251	41.4	−0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 1976 and 1978

No.4 (Timperley) By-Election 14 October 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronald Holden	1,307	67.1	+19.5
	Labour	J. Gregory	640	32.9	+8.1
Majority			667	34.3	+11.5
Turnout			1,947	24.3	−20.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

No.3 (Altrincham North) By-Election 24 March 1977

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. G. Currie	1,183	56.7	+2.4
	Liberal	Eric Faulkner	579	27.7	−3.4
	Labour	P. B. Ayo	325	15.6	−5.8
Majority			604	28.9	−1.2
Turnout			2,087	31.7	−13.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

No.6 (St. Martin's) By-Election 24 March 1977

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Almond	1,862	58.7	−8.1
	Labour	Barry Brotherton	744	23.5	−9.7
	Liberal	John Golding	566	17.8	+17.8
Majority			1,118	35.2	+1.5
Turnout			3,172	28.1	−10.1
	Conservative hold		Swing