# 1979 Fenland District Council election

The 1979 Fenland District Council election took place on 3 May 1979 to elect members of Fenland District Council in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. This was on the same day as the 1979 General Election and other local elections however the town and the parish council elections were pushed back to 24 May 1979 and may well have affected both sets of local elections. Despite a net loss of 3 seats the Conservatives retained overall control of the council. Sitting town mayors and deputy mayors were particularly unsuccessful, in Wisbech Labour mayor Charles Bowden and his conservative deputy Feodor Rikovski failed to win seats and in March Labour mayor Don Dagless lost his seat. The Liberals gained two seats in Wisbech. 1983 Fenland District Council election is next election.

## 1979 Fenland District Council elections

1979 Fenland Local Election Results :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % |
| Conservative | 24 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 60 |
| Independent | 7 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 17.5 |
| Liberal | 3 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 7.5 |
| Labour | 6 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 15 |

## Ward results

(* denotes sitting councillor)
Benwick and Doddington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Richard Dunham* | 747 | 66 |
| | Independent | Heinz Miller | 384 | 34 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 85.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Chatteris East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Noel Carney | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Chatteris North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Rita Goodge* | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Chatteris South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Geoffrey Brinton | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Chatteris West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Albert German* | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Elm (2 seats) :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Conservative | Mac Cotterell | unopposed |
| Independent | Arthur Ingle* | unopposed |
| Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |
| Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing |
Leverington (2 seats) :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Conservative | Robert Wallace* | unopposed |
| Independent | Ronald Dixon | unopposed |
| Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |
| Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing |
Manea :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | George Acton | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
March East (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Fred Clark* | 1,733 | 39.7 |
| | Conservative | George Brewin | 1,438 | 32.9 |
| | Labour | Don Cherry* | 1,351 | |
| | Labour | Wilfred Fordham | 992 | |
| | Conservative | Andrew Woollard | 911 | |
| | Liberal | John Longley | 775 | 17.8 |
| | Independent | Bruce Pearce | 420 | 9.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 81.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
March North (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Peter Jackman | 1,570 | 35.2 |
| | Conservative | Geoff Taylor | 1,451 | 32.5 |
| | Labour | George Campbell* | 1,445 | 32.4 |
| | Labour | Don Dagless* | 1,405 | |
| | Labour | Paddy Overland | 762 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
March West (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Freddie Grounds* | 1,330 | 40.7 |
| | Conservative | Doreen Fleming* | 1,324 | |
| | Conservative | Peter Skoulding* | 1,178 | |
| | Liberal | Barry Fox | 1,028 | 31.5 |
| | Labour | Ann Clark | 908 | 27.8 |
| | Labour | Alan Guy | 709 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Newton and Tydd St Giles :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Palmer* | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Outwell and Upwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Bloom | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Parson Drove and Wisbech St Mary (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Peter Barnes* | 1,348 | 49.9 |
| | Liberal | Ellis Plumb* | 954 | 35.3 |
| | Independent | Neil Payne | 783 | |
| | Conservative | Clifford Edwards | 397 | 14.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 2,569 | |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | |
Whittlesey Bassenhally :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Geoffrey Shelton* | 797 | 64.6 |
| | Independent | George Scott | 436 | 35.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 77.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Whittlesey East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Ursula Cuffe | 677 | 69 |
| | Labour | Gordon Owen | 303 | 31 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 374 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 980 | 75.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Whittlesey Kingsmoor :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Albert Hannington* | 536 | 55.1 |
| | Conservative | Donald Roberts | 437 | 44.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 73.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
Wimblington and Stonea :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Dorothy Camp | 583 | 68.1 |
| | Labour | Geoffrey Lambert | 273 | 31.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 83.5 |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | |
Wisbech East (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Bob Lake* | 1,074 | 55.7 |
| | Conservative | Leslie Slaymaker* | 1,043 | |
| | Labour | Marian Usher | 853 | 44.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Whittlesey Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Hinton* | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Whittlesey South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Raymond Whitwell* | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Whittlesey West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Harold Lilley* | unopposed | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Wisbech North (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Harry Potter* | 1,168 | 41.9 |
| | Labour | Ken Williams* | 959 | |
| | Liberal | Kathleen Brennan | 899 | 32.3 |
| | Liberal | Bernard Martin | 889 | |
| | Conservative | Feodor Rikovsky | 720 | 25.8 |
| | Labour | Alec Worlding | 701 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
| | Liberal gain from Labour | Liberal gain from Labour | Swing | |
Wisbech North East (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Beryl Petts* | 774 | 41.1 |
| | Conservative | Michael Osborn* | 749 | |
| | Liberal | Gary Morgen | 614 | 32.6 |
| | Labour | Charles Bowden | 494 | 26.2 |
| | Labour | Ron Harris | 389 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Wisbech South West (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | June Bond* | 1,931 | 57.0 |
| | Liberal | Michael Sharp | 1,459 | 43.0 |
| | Conservative | Leslie Rands* | 1,280 | |
| | Conservative | Tom Piggott* | 1,238 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |