1986 Merton London Borough Council election

← 1982

8 May 1986

1990 →

All 57 council seats on
Merton London Borough Council

Turnout

49.8% (

2.3%)^[1]^[2]

	First party	Second party	Third party

Party	Conservative	Labour	Longthornton and Tamworth Residents
Last election	44 seats, 51.2%	13 seats, 25.4%	0 seats, 1.5%
Seats won	29	25	3
Seat change	15	12	3
Popular vote	69,161	59,974	3,919
Percentage	41.1%	35.7%	2.3%
Swing	10.1%	10.3%	0.8%

Council leader before election

Harry Cowd
Conservative

Council leader after election

Harry Cowd
Conservative

Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 8 May 1986 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and Scotland.^[1]

The whole council was up for election and the incumbent majority Conservative administration remained in overall control of the council, its majority reduced to one seat.^[3]

Background

At the last election, the Conservatives had remained in overall majority control of the council, winning 44 seats. The Labour Party was returned as the only opposition party, with 13 seats.^[3] In the same election, Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association lost all their three seats to the Conservatives.^[2]

Following the death of Cllr. Michael Page, at a by-election in Longthornton on 15 March 1984, the Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association regained one of their seats from the Conservatives.^[2]

Results

Merton Local Election Result 1986^[1]^{[n 1]}^{[n 2]}
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	29	0	15	15	50.9%	41.1%	69,161	10.1%
Labour	25	12	0	12	43.9%	35.7%	59,974	10.3%
Longthornton and Tamworth Residents	3	3	0	3	5.3%	2.3%	3,919	0.8%
Alliance	0	0	0	0	0%	20.4%	34,325	1.1%
Independent	0	0	0	0	0%	0.4%	630	n/a
National Front	0	0	0	0	0	0.1%	154

In Durnsford, future Prime Minister Theresa May was first elected to public office, holding the seat for the Conservative Party and beating Tony Colman, the future Labour MP for Putney, who also later led Merton Council between 1991 and 1997.

Ward Results

Durnsford

Durnsford (2)^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Gill	857	36.7%
	Conservative	Theresa May	818
	Labour	Arthur Kennedy	734	32.1%
	Liberal	Susan Knibbs	731	31.2%
	Labour	Anthony J. Colman	730
	Liberal	Richard Barraclough	692
Turnout			4,562
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

^ The Liberal Democrat vote count includes two candidates who stood under the description of "Liberal Alliance Focus Team" in Durnsford.
^ The Independent vote count includes one candidate who stood under the description of "Independent Labour" in Longthornton, winning 146 votes.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d London Borough Council Elections 8 May 1986 (PDF). London Residuary Body - Research and Intelligence Unit. 1986.
^ ^a ^b ^c "London Borough Council Elections 6 May 1982" (PDF). Greater London Council. 1982. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Merton Council Election Results 1964-2012" (PDF). Merton Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2018.

v t Elections and referendums in London
Mayor of London	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021 2024
London Assembly	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021 2024
Inner London Education Authority	1986
Greater London Council	1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981
London County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961
Borough councils	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Referendums	1998
See also Elections in London Boroughs Middlesex County Council elections

v t Council elections in Greater London
Barking and Dagenham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Barnet	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Bexley	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Brent	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Bromley	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Camden	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
City of London	2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2022
Croydon	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Ealing	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Enfield	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Greenwich	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Hackney	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Hammersmith and Fulham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Haringey	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Harrow	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Havering	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Hillingdon	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Hounslow	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Islington	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Kensington and Chelsea	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Kingston upon Thames	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Lambeth	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Lewisham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Merton	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Newham	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Redbridge	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Richmond upon Thames	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Southwark	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Sutton	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Tower Hamlets	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Waltham Forest	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Wandsworth	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Westminster	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Greater London	1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981
See also: London-wide elections Wards Boundary changes

v t (1985 ←) 1986 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1987)
London boroughs	Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth Westminster
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bradford Bolton Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
District councils (England)	Adur Amber Valley Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bath Blackburn Brentwood Brighton Bristol Broadland Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Carlisle Cheltenham Cherwell Chester Chorley Colchester Congleton Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Daventry Derby East Devon Eastbourne Eastleigh Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Exeter Fareham Gillingham Gloucester Gosport Great Grimsby Great Yarmouth Halton Harlow Harrogate Hart Hartlepool Hastings Havant Hereford Hertsmere Hinckley and Bosworth Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Kingston upon Hull Leicester Leominster Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Mid Sussex Milton Keynes Mole Valley Newcastle-under-Lyme North Bedfordshire North Hertfordshire Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oadby and Wigston Oxford Pendle Penwith Peterborough Portsmouth Preston Purbeck Reading Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor Scunthorpe Shrewsbury and Atcham Slough South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Herefordshire South Lakeland Southampton Southend-on-Sea St Albans Stevenage Stoke-on-Trent Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Thamesdown Three Rivers Thurrock Tonbridge and Malling Torbay Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Dorset West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Wokingham Woodspring Worcester Worthing Wyre Forest York
Regional councils (Scotland)	Borders Central Dumfries and Galloway Fife Grampian Highland Lothian Orkney Shetland Strathclyde Tayside Western Isles
LEAs	Inner London Education Authority