Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1982. The elections coincided with rising popularity of the Conservative government and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which was mostly attributed to the Falklands War. The projected share of the vote was Conservatives 40%, Labour 29%, Liberal-SDP Alliance 27%.
Elections were held in several English boroughs, including all those in London.
The Conservatives held their ground, losing only 98 seats, leaving them with 10,447 seats.
The main opposition Labour Party, under the leadership of Michael Foot, lost 225 seats, finishing with 8,774 councillors.
For the newly formed Liberal-SDP Alliance, the 1982 local elections were the first nationwide electoral test. They gained 395 seats and finished with 1,850 councillors. This meant that the Alliance had almost as many votes as Labour, but Labour still had nearly five times as many councillors.
England
London boroughs
In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election.
Council Previous control Result DetailsBarking and Dagenham holdDetailsBarnet holdDetailsBexley holdDetailsBrent holdDetailsBromley holdDetailsCamden holdDetailsCroydon holdDetailsEaling holdDetailsEnfield ‡ holdDetailsGreenwich holdDetails Hackney holdDetailsHammersmith and Fulham holdDetailsHaringey holdDetailsHarrow holdDetailsHavering holdDetailsHillingdon holdDetailsHounslow holdDetailsIslington holdDetailsKensington and Chelsea holdDetailsKingston upon Thames holdDetailsLambeth gainDetailsLewisham holdDetailsMerton holdDetailsNewham holdDetailsRedbridge holdDetailsRichmond upon Thames holdDetailsSouthwark holdDetailsSutton holdDetailsTower Hamlets holdDetailsWaltham Forest gainDetailsWandsworth holdDetailsWestminster holdDetails
‡ New ward boundaries
Metropolitan boroughs
Whole council In 13 metropolitan boroughs the whole council was up for election.
In 13 boroughs there were new ward boundaries, following electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
Council Previous control Result DetailsBirmingham ‡ gainDetailsDudley ‡ gainDetailsGateshead ‡ holdDetailsKirklees ‡ holdDetailsKnowsley ‡ holdDetailsManchester ‡ holdDetailsNewcastle upon Tyne ‡ holdDetailsNorth Tyneside ‡ holdDetailsSalford ‡ holdDetailsSouth Tyneside ‡ holdDetailsSunderland ‡ holdDetailsWakefield ‡ holdDetailsWolverhampton ‡ holdDetails
‡ New ward boundaries
Third of council 23 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
Council Previous control Result DetailsBarnsley holdDetailsBolton holdDetailsBradford gainDetailsBury holdDetailsCalderdale holdDetailsCoventry holdDetailsDoncaster holdDetailsLeeds holdDetailsLiverpool holdDetailsOldham holdDetailsRochdale gainDetailsRotherham holdDetailsSandwell holdDetailsSefton holdDetailsSheffield holdDetailsSolihull holdDetailsSt Helens holdDetailsStockport holdDetailsTameside holdDetailsTrafford holdDetailsWalsall gainDetailsWigan holdDetailsWirral holdDetails
District councils In 103 districts one third of the council was up for election.
Council Previous control Result DetailsAdur holdDetailsAmber Valley holdDetailsBarrow-in-Furness holdDetailsBasildon gainDetailsBasingstoke and Deane gainDetailsBassetlaw holdDetailsBath holdDetailsBlackburn holdDetailsBrentwood holdDetailsBroadland holdDetailsBroxbourne holdDetailsBurnley holdDetailsCambridge holdDetailsCannock Chase gainDetailsCherwell holdDetailsChester holdDetailsChorley holdDetailsColchester holdDetailsCongleton gainDetailsCraven holdDetailsCrawley holdDetailsCrewe and Nantwich holdDetailsDaventry holdDetailsDerby holdDetailsEast Devon holdDetailsEastbourne holdDetailsEastleigh holdDetailsEllesmere Port and Neston holdDetailsElmbridge holdDetailsEpping Forest holdDetailsFareham holdDetailsGillingham holdDetailsGloucester holdDetailsGosport holdDetailsGreat Grimsby holdDetailsGreat Yarmouth holdDetailsHalton holdDetailsHarlow holdDetailsHart holdDetailsHartlepool holdDetailsHastings holdDetailsHavant holdDetailsHereford holdDetailsHertsmere holdDetailsHuntingdon holdDetailsHyndburn holdDetailsIpswich holdDetailsLeominster holdDetailsLincoln gainDetailsMacclesfield holdDetailsMaidstone holdDetailsMilton Keynes gainDetailsMole Valley gainDetailsNewcastle-under-Lyme holdDetailsNorth Hertfordshire holdDetailsNorwich holdDetailsNuneaton and Bedworth holdDetailsOadby and Wigston holdDetailsOxford holdDetailsPendle holdDetailsPenwith holdDetailsPeterborough gainDetailsPreston holdDetailsPurbeck holdDetailsReigate and Banstead holdDetailsRochford holdDetailsRossendale holdDetailsRugby holdDetailsRunnymede holdDetailsRushmoor gainDetailsScunthorpe holdDetailsShrewsbury and Atcham holdDetailsSouth Bedfordshire holdDetailsSouth Cambridgeshire holdDetailsSouth Herefordshire holdDetailsSouth Lakeland holdDetailsSouthampton holdDetailsSouthend-on-Sea holdDetailsSt Albans holdDetailsStevenage holdDetailsStoke-on-Trent holdDetailsStratford-on-Avon holdDetailsSwale holdDetailsTamworth holdDetailsTandridge holdDetailsThamesdown holdDetailsThree Rivers holdDetailsThurrock gainDetailsTonbridge and Malling holdDetailsTunbridge Wells holdDetailsWatford holdDetailsWelwyn Hatfield holdDetailsWest Lancashire holdDetailsWest Lindsey holdDetailsWest Oxfordshire holdDetailsWeymouth and Portland holdDetailsWinchester holdDetailsWoking holdDetailsWokingham holdDetailsWoodspring holdDetailsWorcester holdDetailsWyre Forest holdDetailsYork holdDetails
Scotland
Regional councils
Council Previous control Result DetailsBorders holdDetailsCentral holdDetailsDumfries and Galloway holdDetailsFife holdDetailsGrampian holdDetailsHighland holdDetailsLothian gainDetailsOrkney holdDetailsShetland holdDetailsStrathclyde holdDetailsTayside holdDetailsWestern Isles holdDetails
Notes
References
Local elections 2006. House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/26. Vote 1999 BBC News Vote 2000 BBC News