Elections for the Scottish district councils were held in 1980.
These were the third elections held to the 53 district councils established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The previous elections had been held in 1977. The elections took place a year after the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher had come to power. The local elections, which also took place in England and Wales, were seen as the first electoral test of the Thatcher ministry.
Background The poll was held on 1 May and all 1,182 district council seats were to be filled. Districts formed the second tier in local government in Scotland under the 1975 reorganisation, with regional councils forming the upper tier. It was intended that elections would normally take place on a four-year cycle. Regional elections were also to be on a four-year cycle, held midway between district elections.
Party performance Labour had a very good electoral performance, more than regaining the ground they had lost at the 1977 elections. They gained 18 councils: 3 from the Scottish National Party, one from Liberals and 14 from no overall control. Notable gains were the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow. The Conservatives suffered the loss of Edinburgh but held another six councils. The SNP vote collapsed and they lost control of the three councils they controlled. In a number of councils all of the party's sitting councillors were defeated, most notably in Glasgow where they lost all 16 seats they held. The Liberal Party lost the only council they controlled.
!colspan=2|Parties !Votes !Votes % !Wards
|45.4 |469
|24.1 |232
|15.5 |52
|6.2 |33 |- | style="width: 10px" bgcolor=| | style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Independent/Other | |8.9
!colspan=2|Total!! !! !!
Results by region The seats on each council before and after the election were as follows:
Borders District Labour Conservative Liberal Independent Other Control Berwickshire1 (+1)11 (−1)000 hold Ettrick and Lauderdale010 (−1)14 (+1)0 hold Roxburgh0 (−1)5 (+3)011 (−2)0 hold Tweeddale000100 hold
Central District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Other Control Clackmannan7 (+3)14 (−3)000 gain from SNP Falkirk27 (+19)24 (−17)02 (−1)Independent Labour 1Independent Scottish Nationalist 0 (−1) gain from SNP Stirling10 (+3)9 0 (−3)01 (+1)Independent Conservative 0 (−1) gain from NOC
Dumfries and Galloway District Labour Conservative SNP Independent Control Annandale and Eskdale00016 hold Nithsdale5 (+1)5 (+5)4 14 (−6) hold Stewartry00012 hold Wigtown00014 hold
Fife District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Other Control Dunfermline22 (+3)5 (−2)1 (−1)1 (+1)1 (−1)0 hold Kirkcaldy23 (+7)3 (−2)4 (−4)03Ratepayers 3 (−1) gain from NOC North-East Fife5 (+4)11 (−5)002 (+1)0 hold
Grampian District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control Banff and Buchan1 (+1)05 (+4)012 (−5) hold City of Aberdeen27 (+5)13 (−2)0 (−2)8 (−1)0 gain from NOC Gordon03036No overall control Kincardine and Deeside02 (−1)01 (+1)9 hold Moray003 (−1)015 (+1) hold
Highland District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control Badenoch and Strathspey002 (+2)08 (−2) hold Caithness‡100113 hold Inverness‡801217 hold Lochaber4 (+1)00 (−1)08 hold Nairn000 (−2)010 hold Ross and Cromarty010019 hold Skye and Lochalsh2 vacancies00009 hold Sutherland1 vacancy000013 hold ‡ Changes in ward boundaries
Lothian District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Control City of Edinburgh‡2531222Conservatives lose to NOC East Lothian107000 hold Midlothian13 (+6)0 (−1)0 (−4)1 (+1)1 (−1) gain from NOC West Lothian15 (+7)04 (−6)02 (−1) gain from NOC ‡ Changes in ward boundaries
Strathclyde
District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Others Control Argyll and Bute1 (+1)2 (−2)3020 (+1)0 hold Bearsden and Milngavie2 (+1)6 (−1)0020 hold Clydebank8 (+5)10 (−5)00Scottish Labour 1 gain from NOC Cumbernauld and Kilsyth6 (+1)04 (−1)000 gain from SNP Cumnock and Doon Valley8 (+2)0 (−1)0020 hold Cunninghame‡21 5 2 01 Moderate Conservatives 1 gain from NOC Dumbarton8 (+4)3 (−1)2 (−2)02 (−1)0 gain from NOC East Kilbride12 (+8)21 (−6)00 (−2)0 gain from NOC Eastwood010000Ratepayers 2 hold City of Glasgow58 (+26)11 (−12)0 (−16)3 (+2)00 gain from NOC Hamilton17 (+7)1 0 (−6)20 (−1)0 hold Inverclyde13 (+5)1 0 (−1)9 (−4)0 0 gain from Liberals Kilmarnock and Loudoun11 (+4)5 (−2)0 (−2)000 gain from NOC Kyle and Carrick13 (+6)12 (−5)0 (−1)000 gain from NOC Lanark5 (+1)02 (−1)00Independent Progressives 7NOC Motherwell21 (+2)3 (−2)3 0 (−1)01 (=1)Communist 1 hold Monklands18 (+5)3 (−3)0 (−1)00 (−1)0 hold Renfrew34 (+20)4 (-7)1 (-10)01 (-2)Independent Labour 0 (-1) gain from NOC Strathkelvin10 (+6)40 (−6)000 gain from NOC
Tayside District Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Independent Others Control Angus312 (+1)007 (−1)0 hold City of Dundee25 (+4)26 (−2)001 (−1)Ratepayer-Conservatives 11 (−1)Independent Ratepayers-Conservatives 1 (+1)Progressive Conservatives 0 (−1) gain from NOC Perth and Kinross5 (+2)19 (−2)11 (+1)3 (−1)0 hold
References