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1977 Dorset County Council election

← 1973

5 May 1977

1981 →


Party	Conservative	Independent	Labour

The County of Dorset within England

Council control before election

Conservative

Council control after election

Conservative

Elections to Dorset County Council were held on Thursday, 5 May 1977. The whole council of 91 members was up for election and the result was that the Conservatives comfortably retained their control, winning seventy-nine seats, a gain of 19, of which nine were from Labour and seven from the Liberals. Labour, the Liberals, and the Independents ended with only four county councillors each.^[1]

Results

Result of Dorset County Council election, 1977^[1]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %
Conservative	79	19	0	+ 19	86.8
Independent	4	0	3	– 3	4.4
Labour	4	0	9	– 9	4.4
Liberal	4	0	7	– 7	4.4

Election result by division

Bournemouth (25 seats)

Bournemouth (Boscombe East)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	M Green	1,187	85.0
	Labour	E Hourihane	210	15.0
Turnout			1,397	29.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Boscombe West)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R Wotton	1,390	68.3
	Ind. Conservative	H Mears	483	23.7
	Labour	I Evison	162	8.0
Turnout			2,035	31.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Central)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Williams	1,214	77.2
	Liberal	J Stone	227	14.4
	Labour	J Reidy	131	8.3
Turnout			1,572	27.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (East Cliff)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Curtis	1,575	87.7
	Labour	N Howard	220	12.3
Turnout			1,795	30.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Kings Park) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	E Hollies-Smith	1,748
	Conservative	D Jenkinson	1,616
	Liberal	R Beale	498
	Liberal	B Leake	405
	Labour	N Copage	311
Turnout				38.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Independent Liberal		Swing

Bournemouth (Kinson North) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	L Cade	1,852
	Conservative	L Cox	1,609
	Residents	R Haskell	1,467
	Labour	R Bennett	1,129
	Labour	L Bennett	1,124
	Liberal	D Cobb	619
Turnout				42.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Bournemouth (Kinson South) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	K Baily	2,188
	Conservative	G Graham	1,878
	Labour	G Spicer	1,551
	Labour	P Brushett	1,377
Turnout				35.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Bournemouth (Moordown North) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	R Whittaker	2,539
	Conservative	S McQueen	2,122
	Labour	A Tankard	656
Turnout				46.2
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Moordown South)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	W Sayers	753	46.9
	Liberal	P Bamborough	643	40.0
	Labour	N Pankhurst	211	13.1
Turnout			1,607	36.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Bournemouth (Queens Park) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	P Hogarth	2,032
	Conservative	G Knops	1,438
	Residents	C Dyer	1,270
	Residents	G Griffiths	683
	Labour	H Cutler	405
Turnout				33.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Redhill Park) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Ind. Conservative	P Whitelegg	2,031
	Conservative	G Masters	1,762
	Conservative	B Wallace-Smith	704
	Labour	W Bishop	240
	Labour	V Williams	212
Turnout				38.9
	Ind. Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Southbourne) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	E Day	1,971
	Conservative	B Beckett	1,954
	Ind. Conservative	E Ruston	1,778
	Labour	D Dykes	390
Turnout				35.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (West Cliff) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R Judd	1,656
	Conservative	S Dunscombe	1,633
	Residents	H Nettleton-Walker	256
	Labour	A Shead	250
Turnout				30.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (West Southbourne)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D Scott	1,415	63.7
	Liberal	D Eyre	637	28.7
	Labour	W Gaskin	170	7.7
Turnout			2,222	36.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Westbourne) (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	B Bicknell	3,093
	Conservative	L Pardy	2,891
	Labour	R Woodley	274
Turnout				37.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bournemouth (Winton)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	P Haley	1,180	57.2
	Labour	B Grower	882	42.8
Turnout			2,062	40.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Christchurch (6 seats)

Christchurch No. 1 (Central)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Richardson	1,041	61.3
	Labour	T Staniforth	656	38.7
Turnout			1,697	41.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Christchurch No. 2 (Highcliffe East)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Beattie	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Christchurch No. 3 (Highcliffe West)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M Williams	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Christchurch No. 4 (Mudeford)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W Freestone	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Christchurch No. 5
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D Fox	1,850	83.3
	Labour	H Blake	372	16.7
Turnout			2,222	30.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Christchurch No. 6
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A Green	1,553	56.3
	Labour	R Holloway	799	29.0
	Liberal	B Toms	405	14.7
Turnout			2,757	44.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

East Dorset (9 seats)

Ringwood and Fordingbridge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Slater	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wimborne and Cranborne No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	P Hargreaves	1,192	55.7
	Residents	J Williams	665	31.1
	Liberal	P Smith	283	13.2
Turnout			2,140	36.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wimborne and Cranborne No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	W Iremonger	2,773	74.5
	Liberal	M Herridge	949	25.5
Turnout			3,722	38.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wimborne and Cranborne No. 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A Morgan	1,065	52.2
	Residents	G Hibbs	828	40.1
	Liberal	F Goater	149	7.3
Turnout			2,042	42.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wimborne and Cranborne No. 4
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Guarella	1,489	68.6
	Liberal	F Beal	682	31.4
Turnout			2,171	35.4
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Wimborne and Cranborne No. 5
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J Bingham	unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Wimborne and Cranborne No. 6
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M Wicken	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wimborne and Cranborne No. 7
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	W Wells	1,236	63.5
	Liberal	D Bussey	710	36.5
Turnout			1,946	47.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Wimborne Minster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W Tapper	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

North Dorset (7 seats)

Blandford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D Trench	1,298	81.2
	Labour	P Cheater	300	18.8
Turnout			1,598	33.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blandford Rural No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Mitchell	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blandford Rural No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D Jones	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shaftesbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D Newman	1,892	60.2
	Liberal	K Waights	1,252	39.8
Turnout			3,144	52.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Shaftesbury Rural
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	N Scott	2,197	73.1
	Liberal	V Cane	809	26.9
Turnout			3,006	49.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sturminster Rural No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Rose	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sturminster Rural No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R Rose	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole (17 seats)

Poole No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	E Weeks	1,034	39.0
	Conservative	J Gardner	983	37.0
	Labour	H Rosser	637	24.0
Turnout			2,654	36.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

Poole No. 2 (East)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	I Duncan	1,620	59.4
	Liberal	R Feltham	642	23.6
	Labour	M Knight	464	17.0
Turnout			2,726	42.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 2 (West)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	E Webster	1,454	66.2
	Labour	G Partington	376	17.1
	Liberal	B Clements	366	16.7
Turnout			2,196	41.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 3 (North)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Bradley	711	51.3
	Independent Socialist	M Pauley	332	24.0
	Labour	D Coleman	191	13.8
	Liberal	J Allen	152	11.0
Turnout			1,386	35.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Poole No. 3 (South)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	K McIntyre	925	68.6
	Labour	R Ledwith	297	22.0
	Liberal	J Brown	126	9.3
Turnout			1,348	40.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 4 (North)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A Watts	1,145	63.1
	Liberal	W Rigler	670	36.9
Turnout			1,815	46.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Poole No. 4 (South)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	V Braham	1,199	70.0
	Residents	D Ward	418	24.4
	Liberal	P Rowland	95	5.5
Turnout			1,712	36.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 5 (North)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Peters	960	69.6
	Liberal	M Churchill	419	30.4
Turnout			1,379	36.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 5 (South)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	B McIntyre	1,690	91.6
	Liberal	A Giles	154	8.4
Turnout			1,844	51.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 6
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Bisgood	2,511	96.3
	Liberal	F Kara	96	3.7
Turnout			2,607	43.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 7
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	F Rowe	1,684	63.8
	Liberal	G Goode	957	36.2
Turnout			2,641	38.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Poole No. 8 (North)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	R Buyers	641	57.0
	Labour	J Payne	483	43.0
Turnout			1,124	31.2
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

Poole No. 8 (South)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	H Ballam	unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Poole No. 9 (North)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	S Hodge	385	37.5
	Independent	J Dyke	374	36.4
	Liberal	S Beauchamp	269	26.2
Turnout			1,028	25.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Poole No. 9 (South)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D Gooding	546	61.1
	Liberal	C Vincent	348	38.9
Turnout			894	24.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Poole No. 10 (North)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	E Adams	2,849	79.1
	Liberal	D James	754	20.9
Turnout			3,603	48.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Poole No. 10 (South)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R Hann	1,490	73.3
	Liberal	A Foster	542	26.7
Turnout			2,032	34.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Purbeck (6 seats)

Swanage
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R Montague-Jones	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wareham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Hodge	unopposed
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Wareham and Purbeck No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K Ferguson	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wareham and Purbeck No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D Franklin	1,620	78.6
	Labour	S Shinn	440	21.4
Turnout			2,060	44.8
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Wareham and Purbeck No. 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	C Perkins	1,340	78.3
	Liberal	M Dawson	372	21.7
Turnout			1,712	38.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wareham and Purbeck No. 4
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	M Bond	1,688	69.6
	Labour	W Bartlett	738	30.4
Turnout			2,426	46.2
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

West Dorset (12 seats)

Beaminster Rural No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G Best	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Beaminster Rural No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R Earle	1,393	67.1
	Independent	K Macksey	682	32.9
Turnout			2,075	43.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bridport
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Stickland	1,057	57.7
	Independent	J Booker	776	42.3
Turnout			1,833	36.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bridport Rural
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J Mallinson	2,383	87.7
	Labour	J McKenzie	333	12.3
Turnout			2,716	46.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dorchester No. 1 (West)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	C Lucas	1,200	54.6
	Liberal	R Brissenden	526	23.9
	Labour	R Wakely	473	21.5
Turnout			2,199	41.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Dorchester No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	P Seaton	1,476	63.5
	Liberal	D Smith	593	23.5
	Labour	G Standfield	254	10.9
Turnout			2,323	44.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Dorchester Rural No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H Bond	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dorchester Rural No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Lord Digby	1,641	75.4
	Labour	P Gregory	536	24.6
Turnout			2,177	49.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dorchester Rural No. 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P Meaden	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lyme Regis
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Nuttall	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sherborne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	G Buchanan	1,620	48.5
	Liberal	P Winch	1,051	31.4
	Labour	E Noake	671	20.1
Turnout			3,342	59.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Sherborne Rural
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H Chapman	unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weymouth and Portland (9 seats)

Portland (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J Morris	1,401
	Conservative	E Wright	1,287
	Residents	J Neimer	1,075
	Conservative	W Perry	696
	Labour	F Morris	470
	Labour	J Bishop	404
Turnout				36.7
	Independent hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weymouth No. 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R Russell	1,172	70.6
	Labour	C Cousins	488	29.4
Turnout			1,660	40.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weymouth No. 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	L Hill	1,069	74.2
	Labour	P Rendall	372	25.8
Turnout			1,441	33.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weymouth No. 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A Biles	1,721	80.5
	Labour	R Clayton	417	19.5
Turnout			2,138	40.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weymouth No. 4
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J O'Brien	1,879	85.9
	Labour	V McCarthy	309	14.1
Turnout			2,188	37.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weymouth No. 5
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P Jevons	unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Weymouth No. 6
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A Griffin	1,145	57.7
	Labour	M Jewkes	839	42.3
Turnout			1,984	46.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Weymouth No. 7
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R Gainey	unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b 'Conservatives triumph in Greater London and metropolitan counties' in The Times of London, issue 59997 dated 7 May 1977, p. 3

v t e Council elections in Dorset
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council	2019 2023
Dorset Council	2019 2024
Dorset County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 Abolished
Bournemouth Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Christchurch Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
East Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
North Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Poole Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1996 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Purbeck District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Abolished
West Dorset District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

v t e (1976 ←) 1977 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1978)
County councils (England)	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Greater Manchester Hampshire Hereford and Worcester Hertfordshire Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Merseyside Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Salop Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire
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Unicameral area	Greater London
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District councils (Northern Ireland)	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Down Dungannon Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Londonderry Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane
Sui generis	Isles of Scilly