# 1980 Scottish local elections

Elections for the Scottish district councils were held in 1980.
These were the third elections held to the 53 district councils established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The previous elections had been held in 1977. The elections took place a year after the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher had come to power. The local elections, which also took place in England and Wales, were seen as the first electoral test of the Thatcher ministry.

## Background

The poll was held on 1 May and all 1,182 district council seats were to be filled. Districts formed the second tier in local government in Scotland under the 1975 reorganisation, with regional councils forming the upper tier. It was intended that elections would normally take place on a four-year cycle. Regional elections were also to be on a four-year cycle, held midway between district elections.

## Party performance

Labour had a very good electoral performance, more than regaining the ground they had lost at the 1977 elections. They gained 18 councils: 3 from the Scottish National Party, one from Liberals and 14 from no overall control. Notable gains were the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow. The Conservatives suffered the loss of Edinburgh but held another six councils. The SNP vote collapsed and they lost control of the three councils they controlled. In a number of councils all of the party's sitting councillors were defeated, most notably in Glasgow where they lost all 16 seats they held. The Liberal Party lost the only council they controlled.
Summary of the 1980 Scottish District local council election results :
| Parties | Parties | Votes % | Wards |
| | Labour | 45.4 | 469 |
| | Conservative | 24.1 | 232 |
| | SNP | 15.5 | 52 |
| | Liberal | 6.2 | 33 |
| | Independent/Other | 8.9 | |
| Total | Total | | |

## Results by region

The seats on each council before and after the election were as follows:

### Borders

| District | Labour | Conservative | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control |
| Berwickshire | 1 (+1) | 11 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | Conservative hold |
| Ettrick and Lauderdale | 0 | 1 | 0 (−1) | 14 (+1) | 0 | Independent hold |
| Roxburgh | 0 (−1) | 5 (+3) | 0 | 11 (−2) | 0 | Independent hold |
| Tweeddale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | Independent hold |

### Central

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control |
| Clackmannan | 7 (+3) | 1 | 4 (−3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | Labour gain from SNP |
| Falkirk | 27 (+19) | 2 | 4 (−17) | 0 | 2 (−1) | Independent Labour 1 Independent Scottish Nationalist 0 (−1) | Labour gain from SNP |
| Stirling | 10 (+3) | 9 | 0 (−3) | 0 | 1 (+1) | Independent Conservative 0 (−1) | Labour gain from NOC |

### Dumfries and Galloway

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Independent | Control |
| Annandale and Eskdale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Independent hold |
| Nithsdale | 5 (+1) | 5 (+5) | 4 | 14 (−6) | Independent hold |
| Stewartry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Independent hold |
| Wigtown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Independent hold |

### Fife

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control |
| Dunfermline | 22 (+3) | 5 (−2) | 1 (−1) | 1 (+1) | 1 (−1) | 0 | Labour hold |
| Kirkcaldy | 23 (+7) | 3 (−2) | 4 (−4) | 0 | 3 | Ratepayers 3 (−1) | Labour gain from NOC |
| North-East Fife | 5 (+4) | 11 (−5) | 0 | 0 | 2 (+1) | 0 | Conservative hold |

### Grampian

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control |
| Banff and Buchan | 1 (+1) | 0 | 5 (+4) | 0 | 12 (−5) | Independent hold |
| City of Aberdeen | 27 (+5) | 13 (−2) | 0 (−2) | 8 (−1) | 0 | Labour gain from NOC |
| Gordon | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | No overall control |
| Kincardine and Deeside | 0 | 2 (−1) | 0 | 1 (+1) | 9 | Independent hold |
| Moray | 0 | 0 | 3 (−1) | 0 | 15 (+1) | Independent hold |

### Highland

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control |
| Badenoch and Strathspey | 0 | 0 | 2 (+2) | 0 | 8 (−2) | Independent hold |
| Caithness‡ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | Independent hold |
| Inverness‡ | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 17 | Independent hold |
| Lochaber | 4 (+1) | 0 | 0 (−1) | 0 | 8 | Independent hold |
| Nairn | 0 | 0 | 0 (−2) | 0 | 10 | Independent hold |
| Ross and Cromarty | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | Independent hold |
| Skye and Lochalsh 2 vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | Independent hold |
| Sutherland 1 vacancy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Independent hold |
‡ Changes in ward boundaries

### Lothian

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control |
| City of Edinburgh‡ | 25 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Conservatives lose to NOC |
| East Lothian | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Labour hold |
| Midlothian | 13 (+6) | 0 (−1) | 0 (−4) | 1 (+1) | 1 (−1) | Labour gain from NOC |
| West Lothian | 15 (+7) | 0 | 4 (−6) | 0 | 2 (−1) | Labour gain from NOC |
‡ Changes in ward boundaries

### Strathclyde

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Others | Control |
| Argyll and Bute | 1 (+1) | 2 (−2) | 3 | 0 | 20 (+1) | 0 | Independent hold |
| Bearsden and Milngavie | 2 (+1) | 6 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Conservative hold |
| Clydebank | 8 (+5) | 1 | 0 (−5) | 0 | 0 | Scottish Labour 1 | Labour gain from NOC |
| Cumbernauld and Kilsyth | 6 (+1) | 0 | 4 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | Labour gain from SNP |
| Cumnock and Doon Valley | 8 (+2) | 0 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Labour hold |
| Cunninghame‡ | 21 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Moderate Conservatives 1 | Labour gain from NOC |
| Dumbarton | 8 (+4) | 3 (−1) | 2 (−2) | 0 | 2 (−1) | 0 | Labour gain from NOC |
| East Kilbride | 12 (+8) | 2 | 1 (−6) | 0 | 0 (−2) | 0 | Labour gain from NOC |
| Eastwood | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ratepayers 2 | Conservative hold |
| City of Glasgow | 58 (+26) | 11 (−12) | 0 (−16) | 3 (+2) | 0 | 0 | Labour gain from NOC |
| Hamilton | 17 (+7) | 1 | 0 (−6) | 2 | 0 (−1) | 0 | Labour hold |
| Inverclyde | 13 (+5) | 1 | 0 (−1) | 9 (−4) | 0 | 0 | Labour gain from Liberals |
| Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 11 (+4) | 5 (−2) | 0 (−2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | Labour gain from NOC |
| Kyle and Carrick | 13 (+6) | 12 (−5) | 0 (−1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | Labour gain from NOC |
| Lanark | 5 (+1) | 0 | 2 (−1) | 0 | 0 | Independent Progressives 7 | NOC |
| Motherwell | 21 (+2) | 3 (−2) | 3 | 0 (−1) | 01 (=1) | Communist 1 | Labour hold |
| Monklands | 18 (+5) | 3 (−3) | 0 (−1) | 0 | 0 (−1) | 0 | Labour hold |
| Renfrew | 34 (+20) | 4 (-7) | 1 (-10) | 0 | 1 (-2) | Independent Labour 0 (-1) | Labour gain from NOC |
| Strathkelvin | 10 (+6) | 4 | 0 (−6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | Labour gain from NOC |

### Tayside

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Others | Control |
| Angus | 3 | 12 (+1) | 0 | 0 | 7 (−1) | 0 | Conservative hold |
| City of Dundee | 25 (+4) | 26 (−2) | 0 | 0 | 1 (−1) | Ratepayer-Conservatives 11 (−1) Independent Ratepayers-Conservatives 1 (+1) Progressive Conservatives 0 (−1) | Labour gain from NOC |
| Perth and Kinross | 5 (+2) | 19 (−2) | 1 | 1 (+1) | 3 (−1) | 0 | Conservative hold |