# 1985 United Kingdom local elections

The 1985 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 2 May 1985 in England and Wales, and Wednesday 15 May 1985 in Northern Ireland. Labour had the largest share of the vote in local council elections for the first time since 1981.
Both Conservatives and Labour lost some seats to the Liberal-SDP Alliance, who were rebuilding under the leadership of David Owen and enjoying strong showings — including a brief lead — in the opinion polls.

## Summary of results

Alan Clark, writing in his diary for 11 May 1985, shortly after the election, stated: "Some stupid prick has done a 'projection' in one of the heavies showing that the SDP will have a massive overall majority in the House of Commons.."

## England
### Non-metropolitan county councils

| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Avon | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Bedfordshire ‡ | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Berkshire ‡ | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details |
| Buckinghamshire ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Cambridgeshire ‡ | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Cheshire | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Cleveland ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Cornwall ‡ | Independent | No overall control gain | Details |
| Cumbria | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Derbyshire | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Devon ‡ | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Dorset ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Durham | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| East Sussex ‡ | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Essex | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Gloucestershire ‡ | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Hampshire | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Hereford and Worcester ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Hertfordshire | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Humberside | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Isle of Wight | Alliance | Alliance hold | Details |
| Kent | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Lancashire | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Leicestershire ‡ | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Lincolnshire | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Norfolk ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| North Yorkshire ‡ | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Northamptonshire | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Northumberland | Labour | No overall control gain | Details |
| Nottinghamshire | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Oxfordshire ‡ | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Shropshire | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Somerset | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
| Staffordshire | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Suffolk ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Surrey | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Warwickshire | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| West Sussex ‡ | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details |
| Wiltshire ‡ | Conservative | No overall control gain | Details |
‡ New electoral division boundaries

### Sui generis

| Council | Previous control | Previous control | Result | Result | Details |
| Isles of Scilly | | | | | Details |

## Northern Ireland

| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Antrim | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Ards | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Armagh | No overall control | UUP | Details |
| Ballymena | DUP | DUP | Details |
| Ballymoney | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Banbridge | UUP | UUP | Details |
| Belfast | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Carrickfergus | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Castlereagh | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Coleraine | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Cookstown | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Craigavon | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Derry | SDLP | No overall control | Details |
| Down | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Dungannon | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Fermanagh | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Larne | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Limavady | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Lisburn | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Magherafelt | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Moyle | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Newry and Mourne | SDLP | No overall control | Details |
| Newtownabbey | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| North Down | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Omagh | No overall control | No overall control | Details |
| Strabane | No overall control | No overall control | Details |

## Wales
### County councils

| Council | Previous control | Result | Details |
| Clwyd | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Dyfed | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details |
| Gwent | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Gwynedd | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| Mid Glamorgan | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| Powys | Independent | Independent hold | Details |
| South Glamorgan | Labour | Labour hold | Details |
| West Glamorgan | Labour | Labour hold | Details |