# 1978 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Trafford Council were held on Thursday, 4 May 1978. One third of the council was up for election, with each successful candidate to serve a four-year term of office, expiring in 1982. The Conservative Party retained overall control of the council.

## Election result

| Party | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats | Full Council | Full Council |
| Conservative Party | 40,050 (58.5%) | 1.1 | 19 (82.6%) | 19 / 23 | 6 | 54 (85.7%) | 54 / 63 |
| Labour Party | 19,076 (27.9%) | 0.6 | 4 (17.4%) | 4 / 23 | 2 | 9 (14.3%) | 9 / 63 |
| Liberal Party | 9,180 (13.4%) | 1.3 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 / 23 | 4 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 / 63 |
| Communist Party | 136 (0.2%) | 0.2 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 / 23 | 0 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 / 63 |
| 9 | 54 |

## Ward results
### No.1 (Altrincham South West)

Altrincham South West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Marshall Rubin | 1,131 | 54.4 | +0.9 |
| | Labour | E. McPherson | 590 | 28.4 | +1.6 |
| | Liberal | G. M. R. Willmott | 357 | 17.2 | −2.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 541 | 26.0 | −0.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,078 | 32.8 | −7.5 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |

### No.2 (Altrincham East)

Altrincham East (2 vacancies) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Graham Burrows | 1,993 | 58.2 | +3.7 |
| | Conservative | H. Taylor | 1,922 | 56.1 | +1.6 |
| | Liberal | John Davenport* | 1,126 | 32.9 | +4.5 |
| | Liberal | Maureen Clancy | 1,019 | 29.7 | +1.3 |
| | Labour | J. R. Royle | 402 | 11.7 | −5.3 |
| | Labour | R. J. Ellis | 394 | 11.5 | −5.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 796 | 23.2 | −2.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,426 | 37.8 | −4.8 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.3 (Altrincham North)

Altrincham North (2 vacancies) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | M. G. Currie* | 1,264 | 57.3 | +3.0 |
| | Conservative | L. M. L. Burton | 1,187 | 53.8 | −0.5 |
| | Labour | E. Smith | 587 | 26.6 | +5.2 |
| | Labour | G. R. Gould | 542 | 24.6 | +4.2 |
| | Liberal | Eric Faulkner | 488 | 22.1 | −2.2 |
| | Liberal | B. Gaylard | 341 | 15.5 | −8.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 600 | 27.2 | −2.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,205 | 35.5 | +5.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.4 (Timperley)

Timperley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | L. E. W. McCowatt | 1,746 | 69.2 | +21.6 |
| | Labour | C. Moore | 777 | 30.8 | +6.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 969 | 38.4 | +18.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,523 | 31.2 | −13.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.5 (Mersey-St. Mary’s)

Mersey-St. Mary's :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | R. Moss | 2,208 | 59.4 | −1.4 |
| | Liberal | E. Critchlow | 973 | 26.2 | −3.2 |
| | Labour | C. Younghusband | 534 | 14.4 | +4.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,235 | 33.2 | +1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,715 | 41.0 | −4.0 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | | |

### No.6 (St. Martin’s)

St. Martin's :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael King* | 2,543 | 62.9 | −3.9 |
| | Labour | G. Woodburn | 858 | 21.2 | −12.0 |
| | Liberal | G. C. Kinsey | 550 | 13.6 | +13.6 |
| | Communist | J. E. Stitt | 89 | 2.2 | +2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,685 | 41.7 | +8.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,040 | 35.3 | −2.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.7 (Sale Moor)

Sale Moor :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Richard Mee* | 1,417 | 52.5 | +8.9 |
| | Conservative | Graham Toft | 1,283 | 47.5 | +3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 134 | 5.0 | +4.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,700 | 40.9 | −1.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### No.8 (St. Anne’s)

St. Anne's :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | J. H. Evans | 1,634 | 47.5 | +1.1 |
| | Liberal | John Phillipson* | 1,265 | 36.8 | +5.5 |
| | Labour | Barry Brotherton | 541 | 15.7 | −6.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 369 | 10.7 | −4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,440 | 40.4 | −4.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | | |

### No.9 (Brooklands)

Brooklands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Waterfall | 2,685 | 63.8 | −1.0 |
| | Liberal | Cecil Fink* | 1,098 | 26.1 | −9.1 |
| | Labour | Alan Hadley | 426 | 10.1 | +10.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,587 | 37.7 | +8.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,209 | 47.1 | +1.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | | |

### No.10 (Talbot North)

Talbot North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Marland* | 1,780 | 61.5 | +8.7 |
| | Conservative | W. Outhwaite | 1,113 | 38.5 | +4.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 667 | 23.0 | +4.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,893 | 33.3 | −4.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### No.11 (Clifford)

Clifford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Keith Summerfield | 1,319 | 50.1 | +7.2 |
| | Labour | John Maher | 1,318 | 50.0 | +0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1 | 0.03 | −6.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,637 | 39.6 | −1.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |

### No.12 (Longford)

Longford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Homer* | 1,886 | 53.7 | +0.2 |
| | Labour | Tony Lloyd | 1,284 | 36.5 | +1.8 |
| | Liberal | H. D. Locksley | 343 | 9.8 | −1.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 602 | 17.1 | −1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,513 | 34.4 | −4.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.13 (Stretford)

Stretford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Margaret Hindley* | 1,591 | 68.5 | +4.1 |
| | Labour | Raymond Tully | 732 | 31.5 | +3.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 859 | 37.0 | +0.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,323 | 40.0 | −2.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.14 (Park)

Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John Haydock | 1,118 | 49.9 | 0 |
| | Conservative | L. Sherwood | 1,076 | 48.0 | +0.7 |
| | Communist | W. Hudson | 47 | 2.1 | −0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 42 | 1.9 | −0.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,241 | 39.1 | −4.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### No.15 (Bowdon)

Bowdon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Jean Gill* | 2,572 | 77.6 | −7.1 |
| | Liberal | David Mardon | 408 | 12.3 | −3.0 |
| | Labour | G. R. Scott | 333 | 10.1 | +10.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,164 | 65.3 | −4.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,313 | 44.7 | −3.9 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.16 (Hale)

Hale :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Marjorie Hinchcliffe* | 2,812 | 75.7 | −11.5 |
| | Liberal | J. S. Whittingham | 501 | 13.5 | +13.5 |
| | Labour | Arthur Johnson | 400 | 10.8 | −2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,311 | 62.2 | −12.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,713 | 39.9 | −7.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.17 (Partington)

Partington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Frank Holland* | 1,566 | 60.0 | +11.3 |
| | Conservative | J. Strong | 1,043 | 40.0 | −0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 523 | 20.0 | +11.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,609 | 33.4 | −4.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### No.18 (Urmston West East)

Urmston West East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Allan Coupe* | 1,725 | 58.8 | +2.0 |
| | Labour | D. Horner | 842 | 28.7 | +4.6 |
| | Liberal | D. E. Unwin | 367 | 12.5 | −6.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 883 | 30.1 | −2.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,934 | 34.6 | −3.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.19 (Flixton East Central)

Flixton East Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Wroe* | 2,205 | 72.1 | +9.2 |
| | Labour | J. Shaw | 853 | 27.9 | +5.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,352 | 44.2 | +3.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,058 | 33.2 | −9.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.20 (Flixton West)

Flixton West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | George Carnall* | 2,291 | 62.6 | +2.2 |
| | Labour | Laura Seex | 1,370 | 37.4 | +7.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 921 | 25.2 | −5.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,661 | 35.8 | −5.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### No.21 (Davyhulme East)

Davyhulme East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Ray Haigh* | 1,221 | 61.8 | +1.9 |
| | Labour | R. P. F. Phillips | 412 | 20.8 | −9.6 |
| | Liberal | T. M. Owen | 344 | 17.4 | +7.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 809 | 40.9 | +11.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,977 | 36.7 | −4.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |