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1976 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election

← 1975 6 May 1976 (1976-05-06) 1978 →
23 of 66 seats (One Third and one by-election) to Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council 34 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	37.8% (1.1%)
First party Second party Third party   Con Lab Leader Malcolm Thornton Bill Wells Gruff Evans Party Conservative Labour Liberal Leader's seat North Liscard-Upper Brighton Street Leasowe Cathcart-Claughton-Cleveland Last election 16 seats, 54.7% 5 seats, 25.0% 1 seat, 19.7% Seats before 37 21 8 Seats won 17 5 1 Seats after 42 18 6 Seat change 5 3 2 Popular vote 53,029 26,276 17,928 Percentage 54.3% 26.9% 18.4% Swing 0.4% 1.9% 1.3%
Map of results of 1976 election
Leader of the Council before election Malcolm Thornton Conservative Leader of the Council after election Malcolm Thornton Conservative

The 1976 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 6 May 1976 to elect Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council members in England. This election was held on the same day as other local elections.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Party		Seats	±
	Conservative	42	5
	Labour	18	3
	Liberal	6	2

Election results

Overall election result

Overall result compared with 1975.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election results, 1976
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative	23	17	5	0	5	72.7	54.3	53,029	0.4
	Labour	23	5	0	3	3	22.7	26.9	26,276	1.9
	Liberal	21	1	0	2	2	4.5	18.4	17,928	1.3
	Communist	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	187
	Ind. Conservative	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	98	N/A
	National Party	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	89	N/A
	Independent	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.0	37	0.1

Ward results

Birkenhead

No. 1 (Argyle-Clifton-Holt)

Argyle-Clifton-Holt

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Lungley	1,354	46.9	2.3
	Liberal	Roy Perkins	1,135	39.3	0.5
	Conservative	F. Morton	397	13.8	2.9
Majority			219	7.6	1.8
Registered electors			8,498
Turnout				34.0	5.4
	Labour hold		Swing	0.9

No. 2 (Bebington and Mersey)

Bebington and Mersey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Welsh	1,224	50.9	6.1
	Labour	K. Muir	987	41.1	3.0
	Liberal	J. Hughes	193	8.0	9.1
Majority			237	9.8	3.1
Registered electors			7,846
Turnout				30.6	0.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	1.6

No. 3 (Cathcart-Claughton-Cleveland)

Cathcart-Claughton-Cleveland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Evans	1,605	42.9	0.4
	Conservative	R. Stretch	1,209	32.3	1.4
	Labour	Walter Smith	798	21.3	4.5
	National Party	R. Williams	89	2.4	New
	Communist	J. Gowling	44	1.2	New
Majority			396	10.6	1.8
Registered electors			9,235
Turnout				40.6	2.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	0.9

No. 4 (Devonshire and Egerton)

Devonshire and Egerton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Lee	1,902	45.5	7.3
	Labour	J. Macdougal	1,322	31.6	7.1
	Liberal	E. Hughes	958	22.9	14.4
Majority			580	13.9	13.0
Registered electors			12,209
Turnout				34.3	0.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	6.5

No. 5 (Gilbrook and St James)

Gilbrook and St James

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Jones	1,579	58.7	1.6
	Conservative	H. Kirkby	562	20.9	0.2
	Liberal	Roy Wood	551	20.5	1.7
Majority			1,017	37.8	2.9
Registered electors			8,611
Turnout				31.3	3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	1.5

No. 6 (Grange and Oxton)

Grange and Oxton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Hesketh	2,490	48.6	1.5
	Liberal	A. Halliday	1,689	33.0	0.2
	Labour	A. Woods	944	18.4	1.7
Majority			801	15.6	1.3
Registered electors			12,849
Turnout				39.9	3.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	0.6

No. 7 (Prenton)

Prenton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Deverill	3,304	64.6	9.3
	Labour	J. Pennington	1,382	27.0	0.1
	Liberal	J. Edwards	427	8.4	9.4
Majority			1,922	37.6	9.2
Registered electors			15,492
Turnout				33.0	2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.6

No. 8 (Upton)

Upton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Winter	3,271	56.9	1.6
	Labour	Bernard Gilfoyle	2,338	40.6	7.3
	Communist	G. Hughes	143	2.5	1.0
Majority			933	16.3	5.7
Registered electors			20,914
Turnout				27.5	0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.9

Wallasey

No. 9 (Leasowe)

Leasowe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Wells	2,135	50.2	1.4
	Conservative	J. Merrill	1,707	40.1	4.8
	Liberal	M. Goodwin	373	8.8	New
	Independent	G. Smith	37	0.9	2.6
Majority			428	10.1	3.4
Registered electors			11,715
Turnout				36.3	10.0
	Labour hold		Swing	1.7

No. 10 (Marlowe-Egremont-South Liscard)

Marlowe-Egremont-South-Liscard

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Ebbs	2,439	54.9	13.0
	Labour	E. Williams	1,306	29.4	2.7
	Liberal	D. Green	695	15.7	New
Majority			1,133	25.5	10.3
Registered electors			12,883
Turnout				34.5	0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.2

No. 11 (Moreton and Saughall Massie)

Moreton and Saughall Massie

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	I. Walker	1,653	53.8	7.1
	Labour	G. Watkins	1,134	36.9	2.2
	Liberal	J. Jenkins	188	6.1	New
	Ind. Conservative	G. Brotherton	98	3.2	New
Majority			519	16.9	4.9
Registered electors			7,266
Turnout				42.3	6.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	2.5

No. 12 (New Brighton-Wallasey-Warren)

New Brighton-Wallasey-Warren

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kate Wood	3,513	53.1	9.8
	Liberal	D. Caldwell	2,509	37.9	12.3
	Labour	B. Lloyd	593	9.0	1.1
Majority			1,004	15.2	22.1
Registered electors			14,758
Turnout				44.8	2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	11.1

No. 13 (North Liscard-Upper Brighton Street)

North Liscard-Upper Brighton Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Venner	2,304	58.7	11.5
	Liberal	F. Storey	982	25.0	10.5
	Labour	John McCabe	637	16.2	1.2
Majority			1,322	33.7	21.5
Registered electors			11,662
Turnout				33.6	2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.8

No. 14 (Seacombe-Poulton-Somerville)

Seacombe-Poulton-Somerville

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Duffy	2,288	58.4	8.4
	Conservative	A. Chantry	1,418	36.2	7.3
	Liberal	R. Edge	215	5.5	1.1
Majority			870	22.2	15.7
Registered electors			11,730
Turnout				33.4	6.5
	Labour hold		Swing	7.9

Bebington

No. 15 (Higher Bebington and Woodhey)

Higher Bebington and Woodhey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tim Richmond	3,805	75.9	6.1
	Labour	M. Irvine	1,208	24.1	4.3
Majority			2,597	51.8	1.8
Registered electors			10,128
Turnout				49.5	3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.9

No. 16 (Park-New Ferry-North Bromborough)

Park-New Ferry-North Bromborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P. McCarthy	1,775	47.4	1.2
	Conservative	O. Donaldson	1,643	43.8	4.5
	Liberal	W. Walsh	329	8.8	5.7
Majority			132	3.6	3.3
Registered electors			9,774
Turnout				38.3	2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	1.7

No. 17 (South Bromborough and Eastham)

South Bromborough and Eastham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Jones	2,457	38.0	9.7
	Liberal	Phillip Gilchrist	2,330	36.0	16.6
	Labour	M. Halliday	1,686	26.0	7.0
Majority			127	2.0	12.7
Registered electors			13,509
Turnout				47.9	5.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.4

No. 18 (Lower Bebington and Poulton)

Lower Bebington and Poulton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Moore	4,040	71.1	10.0
	Labour	D. Roscoe	1,063	18.7	2.3
	Liberal	P. Cubbin	581	10.2	12.2
Majority			2,977	52.4	13.7
Registered electors			12,417
Turnout				45.8	3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.9

Hoylake

No. 19 (Caldy and Frankby)

Caldy and Frankby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Gaughan	3,528	72.3	0.9
	Liberal	B. Crosbie	824	16.9	0.4
	Labour	J. Seaman	526	10.8	0.5
Majority			2,704	55.4	1.3
Registered electors			12,785
Turnout				38.2	0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.7

No. 20 (Central-Hoose-Meols-Park)

Central-Hoose-Meols-Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Jones	3,621	69.8	14.1
	Liberal	I. Smith	1,214	23.4	20.9
	Labour	J. Pennington	351	6.8	New
Majority			2,407	46.4	35.0
Registered electors			11,708
Turnout				44.3	3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	17.5

Wirral

No. 21 (Barnston-Gayton-Heswall-Oldfield)

Barnston-Gayton-Heswall-Oldfield (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Maddox	4,143	85.3	6.8
	Conservative	M. Gates	4,120	–	–
	Liberal	G. Collins	501	10.3	7.6
	Liberal	A. Conway	495	–	–
	Labour	Peter Corcoran	212	4.4	0.8
	Labour	J. Gilfoyle	204	–	–
Majority			3,642	75.0	14.4
Registered electors			11,178
Turnout				43.4	2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	–

No. 22 (Irby-Pensby-Thurstaston)

Irby-Pensby-Thurstaston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Jones	2,399	65.1	5.9
	Labour	H. Ellis-Thomas	658	17.9	12.7
	Liberal	G. Hunt	629	17.1	6.9
Majority			1,741	47.2	18.6
Registered electors			9,632
Turnout				38.3	5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.3

Notes

• italics denote the sitting councillor • bold denotes the winning candidate

1. % of total refers to % of wards won.
2. Elected as a Liberal.
3. Elected to serve a 4-year term.
4. Elected to serve a 2-year term.

References

1. ^ "Local Election Summaries 1976". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
2. ^ "Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Election Results 1973-2012 (Pg. 2 and 3)" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
3. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
4. "Councillor Walter Smith". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
5. "Councillor Mrs Kate Wood". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
6. "Councillor Phil Gilchrist". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

Mellows-Facer, Adam (10 May 2006). "Local election 2006". parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
"BBC NEWS VOTE 2003 WIRRAL". BBC News. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 29 December 2018.

v t e (1975 ←) 1976 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1977)
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See also: Wards Boundary changes

• 1976 English local elections
• Council elections in Wirral
• 1970s in Merseyside