# 1978 United Kingdom local elections

Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1978. Elections took place in the London boroughs and metropolitan districts.
The main opposition Conservative Party gained 275 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 12,645. They gained Oldham and Havering from no overall control, and Ealing, Hillingdon, Wandsworth and Sandwell from Labour.
The governing Labour Party lost 461 seats, leaving them with 6,644 councillors. In addition to their losses to the Conservatives they also lost South Tyneside, Hammersmith and Fulham and Wolverhampton to no overall control.
The Liberal Party lost 163 seats in total, leaving them with 923 councillors.

## England
### London boroughs

In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Barking ‡ | 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 ‡ | Labour | Conservative gain | Details |
| Enfield | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Greenwich ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Hackney ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Hammersmith ‡ | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Haringey ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Harrow ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Havering ‡ | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details |
| Hillingdon ‡ | Labour | Conservative gain | Details |
| Hounslow ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Islington ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Kensington and Chelsea ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Kingston upon Thames ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Lambeth ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | 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 | Conservative hold | Details |
| Southwark ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Sutton ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Tower Hamlets ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Waltham Forest ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Wandsworth ‡ | Labour | Conservative gain | Details |
| Westminster ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
‡ New ward boundaries

### 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 | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Bolton | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Bradford | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Bury | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Calderdale | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Coventry | Labour | Conservative gain | Details |
| Doncaster | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Dudley | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Gateshead | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Kirklees | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Knowsley | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Leeds | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Liverpool | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Manchester | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| North Tyneside | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Oldham | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details |
| Rochdale | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Rotherham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Salford | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Sandwell | Labour | Conservative gain | Details |
| Sefton | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Sheffield | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Solihull | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| South Tyneside | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| St Helens | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Stockport | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Sunderland | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Tameside | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Trafford | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Wakefield | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Walsall | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Wigan | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Wirral | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Wolverhampton | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |

### District councils

In 44 districts one third of the council was up for election.
These were the first councils which had passed a resolution under section 7 (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972, requesting a system of elections by thirds. They could do so because they had had their new ward boundaries introduced at the 1976 elections.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Basingstoke and Deane | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Bath | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Brentwood | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Broxbourne | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Burnley | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Cambridge | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Cannock Chase | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Chorley | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Colchester | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Congleton | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Eastbourne | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Eastleigh | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Ellesmere Port and Neston | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Elmbridge | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Fareham | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Halton | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Harlow | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Hart | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Hartlepool | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Havant | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details |
| Hertsmere | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Huntingdon | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Milton Keynes | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Mole Valley | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Pendle | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Peterborough | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Preston | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Rochford | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Rossendale | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Runnymede | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Shrewsbury and Atcham | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| South Bedfordshire | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| South Cambridgeshire | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Southend-on-Sea | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Tamworth | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details |
| Tandridge | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Thamesdown | No overall control | Labour gain | Details |
| Three Rivers | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Tunbridge Wells | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Watford | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Welwyn Hatfield | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| West Lancashire | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Winchester | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Woking | Conservative | Conservative hold | 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 | Conservative hold | 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 | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details |
| Western Isles | Independent | Independent hold | Details |