1985 Dorset County Council election

Elections to Dorset County Council were held on Thursday, 2 May 1985. The whole council was up for election with the number of members to be elected reducing from 91 to 77. The result was that the Conservatives retained their control, winning 42 seats, a loss of 11. The Alliance of Liberals and SDP gained 10 seats to finish with 16. Labour lost 7 seats to finish with 4. 5 others were elected, down 6.^[1]

Election result by division

Source:^[2]

Members of the old council *

North Dorset (11 seats)

Blackmore Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	G. 'Joe' Rose	1,498	48.7	n/a
	Conservative	G Pitt-Rivers*	1,434	46.6	-30.8
	Labour	D Wardleworth	147	4.8	-17.8
Majority				2.1
Turnout				50.0	+6.8
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+39.7

Blandford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Barrie Cooper	1,237	49.1	n/a
	Conservative	F Nightingale*	893	35.5	-5.1
	Labour	Hadyn White	389	15.4	n/a
Majority				13.7
Turnout				39.6	+4.4
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+27.1

Colehill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	B Morden	1,439	51.8
	Liberal	P Bartlett	1,133	40.8
	Labour	Ms R Pitman	204	7.3
Majority				11.0
Turnout				39.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cranborne Chase
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Alan Humphries	1,242	51.4
	Conservative	H Swatridge	1,047	43.3
	Labour	J Allen	127	5.3
Majority				8.1
Turnout				43.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

Gillingham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R Bircumshaw	1,478	55.8
	SDP	D Lawrence	960	36.2
	Labour	J Hanley	213	8.0
Majority				2.6
Turnout				44.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hambledon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Mitchell*	1,352	47.7
	Liberal	Ms P Hamilton	1,279	45.2	n/a
	Labour	W Kingswell	201	7.1	n/a
Majority				2.6	n/a
Turnout				44.9	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Corfe Mullen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	Ms S Goss-Custard	1,370	48.0	+16.6
	Conservative	Ms M Guarella*	1,225	43.0	-25.6
	Labour	L Shooter	257	9.0	n/a
Majority				5.1	42.2
Turnout				40.6	+5.2
	SDP gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.1

Lytchett
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	C Lees	1,377	49.9
	Liberal	M Wilkins	987	35.8
	Labour	D Barker	395	14.3
Majority				14.1
Turnout				37.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Minster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SDP	Ms P Hymers	1,306	48.6
	Conservative	Ms A Wright*	1,117	41.6
	Labour	G White	265	9.9
Majority				7.0
Turnout				41.6
	SDP gain from Conservative		Swing

Shaftesbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G Hine	1,540	49.9	+5.6
	Liberal	Ms Audrey Perry*	1,325	42.9	-12.8
	Labour	K Davies	221	7.2	n/a
Majority				7.0	18.5
Turnout				45.8	-5.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.2

Winterborne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ms D Jones*	1,430	54.2
	SDP	L Dean	861	32.7	n/a
	Labour	Ms J Fox	346	13.1	n/a
Majority				21.6	n/a
Turnout				39.8	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

References

^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1985). Local Elections Handbook 1985: The 1985 Local Election Results. Vol. 1. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 218.
^ https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Dorset-County.pdf

[1] Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1985). Local Elections Handbook 1985: The 1985 Local Election Results. Vol. 1. Plymouth: The Elections Centre. p. 218.

[2] ttps://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Dorset-County.pdf

[1]

[2]

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

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