# 1986 United Kingdom local elections

The 1986 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 8 May 1986. There was a 3% reduction in the number of councillors, owing to the abolition of the Greater London Council and the Metropolitan County Councils.
The national projected share of the vote was Labour 37%, Conservative 34%, Liberal-SDP Alliance 26%. The Conservatives lost 975 seats, Labour gained 13 seats and the Liberal-SDP Alliance gained 338 seats.
Two parliamentary by-elections were also held on the same day in the West Derbyshire and Ryedale constituencies. The Conservatives held West Derbyshire, though only by 100 votes. The Alliance gained Ryedale from the Conservatives.

## England
### London boroughs

In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Barking and Dagenham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Barnet | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Bexley | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Brent | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Bromley | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Camden | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Croydon | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Ealing | Conservative | Labour gain | Details |
| Enfield | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Greenwich | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Hackney | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Haringey | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Harrow | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Havering | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Hillingdon | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Hounslow | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Islington | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Kensington and Chelsea | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Kingston upon Thames | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Lambeth | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Lewisham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Merton | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Newham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Redbridge | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Richmond upon Thames | Conservative | Alliance gain | Details |
| Southwark | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Sutton | Conservative | Alliance gain | Details |
| Tower Hamlets | Labour | Alliance gain | Details |
| Waltham Forest | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Wandsworth | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Westminster | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |

### Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Barnsley | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Birmingham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Bolton | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Bradford | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Bury | Conservative | Labour gain | Details |
| Calderdale | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Coventry | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Doncaster | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Dudley | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Gateshead | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Kirklees | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Knowsley | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Leeds | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Liverpool | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Manchester | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| North Tyneside | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Oldham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Rochdale | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Rotherham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Salford | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Sandwell | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Sefton | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Sheffield | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Solihull | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| South Tyneside | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| St Helens | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Stockport | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Sunderland | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Tameside | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Trafford | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Wakefield | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Walsall | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Wigan | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Wirral | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Wolverhampton | Labour | Labour hold | Details |

### District councils
#### Whole council

In 2 districts the whole council was up for election.
In 2 districts there were new ward boundaries, following further electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
| Council | Previous control | Previous control | Result | Result | Details |
| Halton ‡ | | Labour | | Labour hold | Details |
| Thamesdown ‡ | | Labour | | Labour hold | Details |
‡ New ward boundaries

#### Third of council

In 121 districts one third of the council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Adur | No overall control | Alliance gain | Details |
| Amber Valley | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Barrow-in-Furness | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Basildon | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Basingstoke and Deane | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details |
| Bassetlaw | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Bath | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Blackburn | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Brentwood | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Brighton | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Bristol | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Broadland | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Broxbourne | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Burnley | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Cambridge | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Cannock Chase | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Carlisle | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Cheltenham | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Cherwell | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Chester | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Chorley | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Colchester | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Congleton | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Craven | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Crawley | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Crewe and Nantwich | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Daventry | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Derby | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| East Devon | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Eastbourne | No overall control | Alliance gain | Details |
| Eastleigh | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Ellesmere Port and Neston | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Elmbridge | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Epping Forest | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Exeter | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Fareham | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Gillingham | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Gloucester | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Gosport | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Great Grimsby | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Great Yarmouth | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Harlow | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Harrogate | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Hart | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Hartlepool | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Hastings | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Havant | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Hereford | Alliance | Alliance hold | Details |
| Hertsmere | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Hinckley and Bosworth | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Huntingdonshire | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Hyndburn | Conservative | Labour gain | Details |
| Ipswich | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Kingston upon Hull | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Leicester | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Leominster | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Lincoln | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Macclesfield | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Maidstone | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Mid Sussex | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Milton Keynes | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Mole Valley | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| North Bedfordshire | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| North Hertfordshire | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Norwich | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Oadby and Wigston | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Oxford | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Pendle | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Penwith | Independent | No overall control gain | Details |
| Peterborough | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Portsmouth | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Preston | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Purbeck | Independent | No overall control gain | Details |
| Reading | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Redditch | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Reigate and Banstead | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Rochford | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Rossendale | Conservative | Labour gain | Details |
| Rugby | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Runnymede | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Rushmoor | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Scunthorpe | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Shrewsbury and Atcham | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Slough | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| South Bedfordshire | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| South Cambridgeshire | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| South Herefordshire | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| South Lakeland | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Southampton | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Southend-on-Sea | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| St Albans | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Stevenage | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Stoke-on-Trent | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Stratford-on-Avon | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Stroud | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Swale | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Tamworth | Conservative | Labour gain | Details |
| Tandridge | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Three Rivers | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Thurrock | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Tonbridge and Malling | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Torbay | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Tunbridge Wells | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Watford | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Waveney | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Welwyn Hatfield | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| West Dorset | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| West Lancashire | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| West Lindsey | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| West Oxfordshire | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Weymouth and Portland | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Winchester | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Woking | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Wokingham | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Woodspring | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Worcester | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Worthing | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Wyre Forest | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| York | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |

### Local education authority

This was the first and only election to the directly elected local education authority established by the Local Government Act 1985. However, it was short-lived, being abolished four years later by the Education Reform Act 1988.
| Council | Previous control | Previous control | Result | Result | Details |
| Inner London Education Authority | | New Council | | Labour | Details |

## Scotland
### Regional councils

| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Borders | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Central | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Dumfries and Galloway | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Fife | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Grampian | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Highland | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Lothian | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Orkney | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Shetland | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Strathclyde | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Tayside | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Western Isles | Independent | Independent hold | Details |