1986 Cheltenham Borough Council election

The 1986 Cheltenham Council election took place on 8 May 1986 to elect members of Cheltenham Borough Council in Gloucestershire, England. One third of the council was up for election. The SDP–Liberal Alliance made gains but fell one seat short of a majority, meaning the council stayed in no overall control.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• SDP–Liberal Alliance 16
• Conservative 11
• Residents Associations 4
• Labour 2

Election result

Cheltenham Local Election Result 1986^[1][2]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Alliance	8	2	0	+2	61.5	40.4	11,874	-2.3
	Conservative	3	0	1	-1	23.1	35.4	10,427	-3.9
	Labour	1	1	1	-	7.7	16.3	4,793	+3.0
	Residents	1	0	0	-	7.7	4.6	1,358	-0.1
	Independent Ratepayer	0	0	1	-1	0.0	3.3	963	N/A

Ward results

All Saints^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Adelaide Hodges*	1,261	47.5	-0.1
	Alliance	Stephen Jordan	1,146	43.2	-4.4
	Conservative	Daphne Pennell	1,079	40.7	-1.4
	Conservative	Anthony Cronk	1,048	39.5	-2.6
	Labour	Diana Hale	412	15.5	+5.3
	Labour	Reginald Pope	350	13.2	+3.0
Majority			67	2.5
Turnout			2,654	38.86
	Alliance hold		Swing
	Alliance hold		Swing

Charlton Kings^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Residents	Donald Perry*	1,356	39.4	-12.2
	Alliance	Rosemary Daffurn	1,223	35.5	N/A
	Conservative	Nicholas Norman	864	25.1	-15.1
Majority			133	3.9
Turnout			3,443	53.89
	Residents hold		Swing

College^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bryan Howell*	1,782	51.0	+4.6
	Alliance	Garth Barnes	1,481	42.4	-6.3
	Labour	Louise Luker	228	6.5	+1.6
Majority			301	8.6
Turnout			3,491	51.28
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hatherley^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Eric Phillips*	1,490	60.6	+2.8
	Alliance	Dorothy Rosser-Smith	1,339	54.4	-3.4
	Conservative	Timothy Ockwell	974	39.6	+6.2
	Conservative	Annalisa Shahlaei	819	33.3	-0.1
	Labour	Andrew Palmer	294	12.0	+3.2
Majority			365	14.8
Turnout			2,460	37.93
	Alliance hold		Swing
	Alliance hold		Swing

Hesters Way^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Alistair Cameron	947	36.0	+8.8
	Labour	Terence Ruck*	870	33.1	-0.1
	Conservative	Brian Chaplin	811	30.9	-8.7
Majority			77	2.9
Turnout			2,628	37.21
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing

Lansdown^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	May Dent*	1,307	55.9	-1.1
	Alliance	Clive Lloyd	753	32.2	-2.1
	Labour	Linda Stapleton	279	11.9	+3.1
Majority			554	23.7
Turnout			2,339	40.75
	Conservative hold		Swing

Park^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maureen Stafford*	1,586	57.4	+2.5
	Alliance	Joyce Norman	961	34.8	-10.3
	Labour	Maria Bottomley	216	7.8	N/A
Majority			625	22.6
Turnout			2,763	49.62
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pittville^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Hale	1,070	40.9	+4.9
	Conservative	Kenneth Burke*	883	33.8	+1.4
	Alliance	Alan Wadley	661	25.3	-6.3
Majority			187	7.1
Turnout			2,614	42.31
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

St Mark's^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Janet Watson*	1,099	53.0	-11.8
	Labour	Jonquil Naish	585	28.2	+13.4
	Conservative	Simon Richards	390	18.8	-1.6
Majority			514	24.8
Turnout			2,074	35.60
	Alliance hold		Swing

St Paul's^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Deborah Griggs	1,045	45.6	-10.3
	Independent Ratepayer	Dudley Aldridge*	963	42.0	N/A
	Labour	Sandra Thomas	285	12.4	±0.0
Majority			82	3.6
Turnout			2,293	41.22
	Alliance gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing

St Peter's^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Pat Thornton	953	42.2	-11.8
	Conservative	Antony English	751	33.3	+3.3
	Labour	Phillip Chappell	554	24.5	+8.5
Majority			202	8.9
Turnout			2,258	38.60
	Alliance hold		Swing

References

1. "Borough council election 8th May, 1986". Cheltenham Borough Council. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
2. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1986.