Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1982. The elections coincided with rising popularity of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

government and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, which was mostly attributed to the Falklands War. The projected share of the vote was Conservatives 40%,

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the 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 Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...

, lost 225 seats, finishing with 8,774 councillors. For the newly formed Liberal-SDP Alliance, the 1982 local elections were the first annual 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.

Summary of results

England

London boroughs

In all 32 London boroughs the whole council was up for election. ‡ 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. ‡ New ward boundaries

Third of council

23 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

District councils

In 103 districts one third of the council was up for election.

Scotland

Regional councils

References

Local elections 2006. House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/26.Vote 1999 BBC NewsVote 2000 BBC News
{{United Kingdom elections

Local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...