1979 Thurrock Borough Council election

1979 Thurrock Borough Council election

3 May 1979 (1979-05-03)
All 39 seats to Thurrock Borough Council 20 seats needed for a majority
Registered	91,737
Turnout	~74.6%
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour Conservative Independent Seats won 18 15 3 Seat change 7 4 Popular vote 74,438 67,400 9,519 Percentage 45.9% 41.6% 5.9%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Independent Labour Residents Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 2,539 2,997 Percentage 1.6% 1.8%
Winner of each seat at the 1979 Thurrock Borough Council election.
Council control before election Labour Council control after election No overall control

The 1979 Thurrock Borough Council election took place on 3 May 1979 to elect members of Thurrock Borough Council in Essex, England.[1] This was on the same day as other local elections in England and the 1979 general election.

The whole council was up for election on new ward boundaries. Labour lost control of the council to No overall control.

Summary

Election result

1979 Thurrock Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	39	18	1	6	7	46.2	45.9	74,438
	Conservative	39	15	4	1	4	38.5	41.6	67,400
	Independent	3	3	0	0		7.7	5.9	9,519
	Independent Labour	2	2	2	0	2	5.1	1.6	2,539
	Residents	2	1	0	0	1	2.6	1.8	2,997
	Liberal	10	0	0	0		0.0	3.2	5,180

Ward results

Aveley

Aveley (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Geaney*	2,155	60.4	–5.4
	Labour	J. Clark	1,926	53.9	–5.1
	Conservative	F. Beasley	1,882	52.7	+10.2
	Labour	A. May*	1,654	46.3	–6.5
	Conservative	J. Dobson	1,550	43.4	+2.0
	Conservative	V. Lanigan	1,544	43.2	+4.8
Turnout			~4,541	74.4	+38.6
Registered electors			6,103
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

Belhus

Belhus (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	P. Maynard*	2,330	68.5
	Labour	S. Davis*	2,230	65.5
	Labour	J. Aberdein*	2,075	61.0
	Conservative	J. Brereton	1,302	38.3
	Conservative	V. Dobson	1,195	35.1
	Conservative	L. Swain	1,078	31.7
Turnout			~4,178	67.7
Registered electors			6,171
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Chadwell St Mary

Chadwell St Mary (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Siddons*	2,951	64.5	+8.0
	Labour	J. Taylor*	2,842	62.1	+13.7
	Labour	P. Bolger*	2,808	61.4	+17.3
	Conservative	P. Cleverley	1,603	35.0	+1.1
	Conservative	J. Everett	1,527	33.4	+5.9
	Conservative	J. Everett	1,390	30.4	+4.0
	Liberal	M. Haynes	603	13.2	–4.0
Turnout			~5,622	75.4	+39.0
Registered electors			7,456
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Corringham & Fobbing

Corringham & Fobbing (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	R. Wood*	3,345	53.2
	Conservative	D. Hart*	3,340	53.1
	Labour	A. Price	3,130	49.8
	Conservative	D. Awcock	3,108	49.4
	Labour	A. Clarke	3,030	48.2
	Conservative	I. Harrison	2,920	46.4
Turnout			~6,965	76.5
Registered electors			9,105
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

East Tilbury

East Tilbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Residents	D. Allchin	1,384	44.7
	Conservative	A. Hardy	997	32.2
	Labour	E. Godley	716	23.1
Majority			387	12.5
Turnout			3,097	78.0
Registered electors			4,028
	Residents win (new seat)

Grays Thurrock (North)

Grays Thurrock (North)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	M. Thomas	1,224	60.4
	Labour	B. Newsome	804	39.6
Majority			420	20.7
Turnout			2,028	77.7
Registered electors			2,609
	Conservative win (new seat)

Grays Thurrock (Town)

Grays Thurrock (Town) (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	S. Josling*	2,015	50.1
	Labour	R. Pye*	2,000	49.8
	Labour	K. Evans*	1,908	47.5
	Residents	B. Taylor	1,613	40.1
	Conservative	E. Attewell	1,312	32.7
	Conservative	D. Sutton	1,280	31.9
	Conservative	G. Riches	1,207	30.0
	Liberal	P. Gillard	720	17.9
Turnout			~4,842	73.4
Registered electors			6,597
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Little Thurrock

Little Thurrock (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Andrews	3,242	65.0	+14.6
	Conservative	A. Edwards*	3,081	61.8	+11.6
	Conservative	J. Edwards*	3,078	61.7	+13.9
	Labour	T. Codley	1,910	38.3	–4.3
	Labour	B. Le Grys	1,862	37.4	–2.7
	Labour	N. Hawes	1,781	35.7	–3.2
Turnout			~5,810	77.3	+28.3
Registered electors			7,516
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Ockendon

Ockendon (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. Barnes*	2,297	62.9
	Labour	J. Mathison	2,166	59.3
	Labour	R. Abel	2,152	58.9
	Conservative	A. Bland	1,516	41.5
	Conservative	C. Clark	1,436	39.3
	Conservative	B. Lawrence	1,393	38.1
Turnout			~5,052	73.2
Registered electors			6,902
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Orsett

Orsett (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Greatrex*	1,742	71.1	–4.3
	Conservative	B. Beardwell	1,739	71.0	–1.8
	Labour	G. Miles	743	30.3	+1.8
	Labour	Z. Chaudhri	675	27.6	–0.6
Turnout			~2,725	77.2	+30.1
Registered electors			3,530
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Stanford-le-Hope

Stanford-le-Hope (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Butt	2,559	53.1	+9.2
	Labour	F. Thompson	2,519	52.3	+10.2
	Labour	M. Meen*	2,443	50.7	+13.3
	Labour	J. Fuller	2,389	49.6	+12.5
	Conservative	P. Povey*	2,281	47.3	+4.9
	Conservative	A. McCartney	2,266	47.0	+5.8
Turnout			~5,661	75.2	+41.5
Registered electors			7,528
	Conservative hold
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour hold

Stifford

Stifford (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Greatrex	2,657	55.9	+8.2
	Conservative	H. Lott	2,463	51.8	+7.2
	Conservative	A. Turner	2,420	50.9	+8.5
	Labour	P. Rice*	2,307	48.5	–8.8
	Labour	G. Watts*	2,287	48.1	–6.2
	Labour	A. Fitzmaurice*	2,131	44.8	–8.9
Turnout			~5,114	78.4	+33.7
Registered electors			6,523
	Conservative gain from Labour
	Conservative gain from Labour
	Conservative gain from Labour

The Homesteads

The Homesteads (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	M. Dalton	1,754	46.6
	Conservative	L. Povey	1,672	44.4
	Conservative	B. Fenner	1,661	44.1
	Labour	D. Clarke	1,257	33.4
	Labour	R. Clark	1,222	32.5
	Labour	M. Bonfield	1,146	30.4
	Liberal	C. Farrand	896	23.8
	Liberal	G. Basson	868	23.1
	Liberal	C. Bowler	820	21.8
Turnout			~4,217	78.1
Registered electors			5,399
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Tilbury

Tilbury (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	M. Bibby*	3,646	72.7	+10.5
	Independent	A. Bragg*	2,963	59.1	+3.8
	Independent	T. Kendel*	2,910	58.0	+9.6
	Labour	T. Lockwood	1,392	27.7	–15.1
	Labour	T. O'Neill	1,319	26.3	–14.6
	Labour	E. Rimmell	1,112	22.2	–16.4
	Conservative	T. Lester	380	7.6	–4.2
	Conservative	R. Windley	314	6.3	N/A
	Liberal	M. Bamford	298	5.9	N/A
	Conservative	D. Revell	288	5.7	N/A
	Liberal	A. Maynard	230	4.6	N/A
	Liberal	J. Maynard	199	4.0	N/A
Turnout			~5,665	68.3	+30.9
Registered electors			8,295
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
	Independent hold

West Thurrock

West Thurrock (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent Labour	E. Vellacott*	1,406	51.2
	Independent Labour	E. May	1,133	41.3
	Labour	L. Gay*	782	28.5
	Labour	M. Epsley	627	22.8
	Conservative	P. Budge	522	19.0
	Conservative	M. Grant	477	17.4
	Liberal	K. Crowson	300	10.9
	Liberal	J. Norris	246	9.0
Turnout			~2,953	74.3
Registered electors			3,975
	Independent Labour gain from Labour
	Independent Labour gain from Labour

References

1. "Thurrock Borough Council Election Results 1973-1996" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 29 January 2025.