1973 Guildford Borough Council election

Election in Surrey, England July 2015 July 2015 The first ever Guildford Borough Council full-council elections were held on 7 June 1973. The Conservatives won control of the council with a majority of 16, winning 29 of the 42 seats. The Local Government Act 1972 decreed that a new Guildford Borough Council was to replace the previous two councils for the area, namely the town council, Guildford Municipal Borough Council, and the council for the rural area surrounding Guildford, Guildford Rural District Council. The wards used for this election were largely based on the previously wards used by Guildford Municipal Borough Council and the parish boundaries of Guildford Rural District Council. There was some alteration to the wards in the run up to the election, but full scale rewarding would only be implemented in time for the 1976 council elections. Changes included Friary ward and St Nicolas ward being merged with 3 councillors for the new joint ward; they had previously been separate wards with 3 councillors each on Guildford Municipal Borough Council. Holy Trinity ward and Stoughton ward each saw the number of councillors represent them reduce from 3 to 2. Merrow and Burpham ward, which at this point included much of what was from 1976 onwards to become the Christchurch ward, saw its representation increase from 3 to 5 councillors.See "Guildford Borough Council - A Compendium of Municipal Election Results 1835 to 1974" by Roger Ottewill The new council was initially to be elected once every 3 years (this was to change to once every 4 years from 1979 onwards). This replaced the annual elections, where one third of councillors were elected each year, which had previously been used for elections to Guildford Municipal Borough Council. Going into the election the councillorsPrior to the local government reforms of the early 1970s, councils consisted of 3/4 coucillors who were directly elected by the local populace and 1/4 aldermen who were indirectly elected by their fellow councillors. The reference here refers purely to the directly elected councillors. for the town wards under the old Guildford Municipal Borough Council were as follows - Friary (2 Lib, 1 Lab), St Nicolas (2 Lib, 1 Con), Stoke (3 Lab), Westborough (3 Lab), Holy Trinity (3 Con), Merrow & Burpham (3 Con), Onslow (3 Con), Stoughton (3 Con). Thus Friary & St Nicolas was predominantly Liberal, Stoke and Westborough were Labour plus Holy Trinity, Merrow & Burpham, Onslow and Stoughton were Conservative going into the election. With one exception those allegiances were maintained in the 1973 council elections. The Liberals took all 3 councillors for the new Friary & St Nicolas ward. Labour retained all 6 councillors in its two strongholds Stoke and Westborough. The Conservatives won all the seats in Merrow & Burpham, Onslow and Stoughton wards. However, in Holy Trinity ward a change to previous voting behaviour occurred in that an official Liberal Party candidateThe reference to "official Liberal Party candidate" is to differentiate from candidates who were members of the Liberal Party but had stood as "independents". took a seat for the first time in Holy Trinity's history; the ward having been created in 1899. This resulted in Holy Trinity ward being split 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal.For further information see "Guildford Borough Council - A Compendium of Municipal Election Results 1835 to 1974" by Roger Ottewill. All bar 3 of the councillors elected for wards within the area formerly covered by Guildford Rural District Council were Conservatives. The three exceptions were 2 Independents were returned for Albury, Shere & St Martha's, plus one of the three councillors elected for East Clandon, West Clandon, East Horsley & West Horsley was a Liberal, the other two being Conservatives. Overall the election results were Conservatives 29, Labour 6, Liberals 5, Independents 2. Results by ward Albury, Shere & St Martha's (top 2 candidates elected) Independent (politician) Mrs M Elston 990 Independent (politician) G Witheridge 847 Conservative Party (UK) W Whiting 805 Conservative Party (UK) Mrs Dent 768 42 Artington, Compton, Puttenham, Seale and Tongham, Shackleford & Wanborough (top 2 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) LR Gillingham 962 Conservative Party (UK) JP Moore 897 Independent (politician) Mrs DM Bond 560 Independent (politician) Miss ND Fox 323 Labour Party (UK) Mrs DF Saunders 230 Labour Party (UK) K Horne 227 337 Ash (top 5 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) Mrs IF Towler 1644 Conservative Party (UK) JG Ades 1550 Conservative Party (UK) Mrs RC Hall 1550 Conservative Party (UK) SA Lunn 1547 Conservative Party (UK) RN Renton 1435 Labour Party (UK) Mrs J Curwell 883 Labour Party (UK) PA Hawthorne 832 Labour Party (UK) GB Smith 789 Labour Party (UK) AR Roberts 775 Liberal Party (UK) RJ Leigh 755 Labour Party (UK) BC Winter 717 Independent Conservative PH Cody 518 552 East Clandon, West Clandon, East Horsley & West Horsley (top 3 candidates elected) Liberal Party (UK) Mrs PM IliffInitials from 1976 results as published in Surrey Advertiser. 1811 Conservative Party (UK) J Skene-Brown 1562 Conservative Party (UK) D May 1493 Conservative Party (UK) D Blackstone 1250 Liberal Party (UK) W Pearson 1226 Liberal Party (UK) E Oxford 1100 Labour Party (UK) Mrs J Haimes 214 Labour Party (UK) Mrs J Henmand 151 243 Effingham (only 1 candidate elected) Conservative Party (UK) BP Tyrwhitt-Drake unopposed Friary & St. Nicolas (top 3 candidates elected) Liberal Party (UK) Dr RE Blundell 1235 Liberal Party (UK) RG Marks 1159 Liberal Party (UK) Mrs M Bateman 1107 Conservative Party (UK) G Stuart-Hill 721 Conservative Party (UK) BJ Gibbs 712 Conservative Party (UK) Mrs FM Puttock 705 Labour Party (UK) F Adams 369 Labour Party (UK) Mrs CA Rogers 294 Labour Party (UK) CP Gale 288 386 Holy Trinity (top 2 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) CJK Boyce 858 Liberal Party (UK) BAH Banks 766 Conservative Party (UK) DJA Morgan 732 Liberal Party (UK) PJ Stokoe 581 Independent (politician) Mrs E Nicklin 478 Labour Party (UK) BO Lloyd 191 26 Merrow & Burpham (top 5 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) Mrs MM Walls 2276 Conservative Party (UK) RH Beatrip 1963 Conservative Party (UK) SR Brearley 1900 Conservative Party (UK) JP Twining 1887 Conservative Party (UK) SN Trusty 1800 Liberal Party (UK) Mrs GM Oldfield 1173 Liberal Party (UK) Mrs MA Walton 1145 Liberal Party (UK) RM Wilson 1063 Liberal Party (UK) BRM Avery 1062 Liberal Party (UK) AR Dakers 1045 Labour Party (UK) P Henderson 523 Labour Party (UK) MP Hill 490 Labour Party (UK) G Hall 470 Labour Party (UK) RSL Rees 438 Labour Party (UK) Mrs GCD Lines 423 627 Normandy (only 1 candidate elected) Conservative Party (UK) AA Cook 499 Labour Party (UK) PJ Dyson 344 155 Onslow (top 3 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) Mrs PE Harding 1118 Conservative Party (UK) RM Hardy 1090 Conservative Party (UK) DE Steer 963 Liberal Party (UK) R Symes-Schutzmann 816 Liberal Party (UK) Mrs B Harris 800 Liberal Party (UK) Dr S Harris 797 Labour Party (UK) RT Rogers 685 Labour Party (UK) BA Naish 616 Labour Party (UK) Mrs PM Coyle 597 147 Pirbright (only 1 candidate elected) Conservative Party (UK) D Gibbs 310 Independent (politician) CJ Hendon 258 52 Ripley, Wisley & Ockham (only 1 candidate elected) Conservative Party (UK) RHA Amis unopposed Send (top 2 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) Mrs MH Sanger 793 Conservative Party (UK) SE Roberts 721 Liberal Party (UK) Mrs GM Blundell 589 Liberal Party (UK) Mrs JM Copeland 444 Labour Party (UK) J Cox 123 132 Shalford (only 1 candidate elected) Conservative Party (UK) Mrs ECS Stewart 603 Independent (politician) GA Goulty 471 Labour Party (UK) J Fahy 201 132 Stoke (top 3 candidates elected) Labour Party (UK) GR BellerbyGR Bellerby was more commonly known as Bill Bellerby. He appears in every Surrey Advertiser summary of Guildford BC election results from 1973 to 1991 as either B Bellerby or Bill Bellerby. For example both the 1973 and 1976 results list all other candidates in all the wards in Guildford by initials except one who they list as 'Bill Bellerby'. "Guildford Borough Council - A Compendium of Municipal Election results 1835 to 1974" by Roger Ottewill repeated lists his initials as 'GR Bellerby' and that form is used herein. 1790 Labour Party (UK) RGK Burgess 1521 Labour Party (UK) Mrs E Pullan 1397 Conservative Party (UK) AJE Hodges 1166 Conservative Party (UK) WR Jordan 1146 Conservative Party (UK) FH Nicholson 1124 231 Stoughton (top 2 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) LJ May 1061 Conservative Party (UK) RE Price 1003 Labour Party (UK) OJE Sefton 554 The Surrey Advertiser omitted any political description off this candidate from its results published on 8 June 1973 Mrs LM Harper 546 449 Westborough (top 3 candidates elected) Labour Party (UK) Mrs DW Bellerby 1434 Labour Party (UK) JRG Dale 1296 Labour Party (UK) JB Patrick 1159 Liberal Party (UK) KG Briggs 868 Liberal Party (UK) PW Tidy 803 Liberal Party (UK) PA Toovey 771 Conservative Party (UK) DJ Puttock 478 Conservative Party (UK) Mrs PC Jenner 451 Conservative Party (UK) Mrs BM Woodhatch 445 291 Worplesdon (top 2 candidates elected) Conservative Party (UK) Mrs SE Simkins 825 Conservative Party (UK) JC Henderson 755 Independent (politician) H Carter 663 92 References 1973 Category:1973 English local elections Category:1970s in Surrey