1981 Cumbria County Council election

1981 UK local government election

← 1977

7 May 1981

1985 →

All 83 seats of Cumbria County Council
42 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party

Party	Labour	Conservative
Last election	23 seats, 36.7%	52 seats, 52.1%
Seats won	42	35
Seat change	19	17
Popular vote	74,286	61,242
Percentage	49.0%	40.4%
Swing	12.3%	11.7%

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Liberal	Independent
Last election	0 seats, 2.0%	7 seats, 9.2%
Seats won	3	3
Seat change	3	4
Popular vote	13,053	2,242
Percentage	8.6%	1.5%
Swing	6.6%	7.7%

The County of Cumbria within England

Council control before election

Conservative Party

Council control after election

Labour Party

Elections to Cumbria County Council were held on 7 May 1981. This was on the same day as other UK county council elections. The council size was increased to 83 members following a boundary review. The Labour Party gained control of the council from the Conservative Party.

Results

1981 Cumbria County Council election
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	42	19	50.6	49.0	74,286	12.3
Conservative	35	17	42.2	40.4	61,242	11.7
Liberal	3	3	3.6	8.6	13,053	6.6
Independent	3	4	3.6	1.5	2,242	7.7
Ecology	0		0.0	0.5	683	New
PARA	0		0.0	0.1	134	New
National Front	0		0.0	0.0	59	New

References

^ "Local Election Summaries 1981". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
The County of Cumbria (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1981

v t e (1980 ←) 1981 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1982)
County councils (England)	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hereford and Worcester Hertfordshire Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Warwickshire West Sussex Wiltshire
County councils (Wales)	Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan
Metropolitan counties	Greater Manchester Merseyside South Yorkshire Tyne and Wear West Midlands West Yorkshire
Unicameral area	Greater London
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

v t e Council elections in Cumbria
Cumberland Council	2022
Westmorland and Furness Council	2022
Cumbria County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 Abolished
Allerdale Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Abolished
Barrow-in-Furness 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 2015 2019 Abolished
Carlisle City Council	1973 1976 1979 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 2018 2019 Abolished
Copeland Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Abolished
Eden District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Abolished
South Lakeland 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 2016 2018 2019 Abolished
Cumberland 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 Abolished
Westmorland 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 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes

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