1973 Mid Bedfordshire District Council election

1973 Mid Bedfordshire District Council election

7 June 1973
Whole Council 25 seats needed for a majority
Registered	62,423
Turnout	49%
First party Second party Third party   Party Independent Conservative Labour Seats won 21 17 9 Popular vote 12,232 6,729 7,882 Percentage 43.0% 23.6% 27.7%   Fourth party   Party Liberal Seats won 2 Popular vote 1,626 Percentage 5.7
Ampthill Arlesey Clophill Cranfield Harlington Haynes Maulden Flitton Flitwick Aspley Marston Lidlington Blunham Northill Biggleswade Campton Henlow Potton Wensley Sandy Old Warden Shillington Stotfold Woburn Wrest class=notpageimage| Locations of wards in Mid Bedfordshire

The first election to Mid Bedfordshire District Council was held on 7 June 1973, with the 49 councillors elected forming a shadow authority until 1 April 1974. Mid Bedfordshire District was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a general reorganisation of local authorities in England and Wales carried out under the Local Government Act 1972. The district was formed by the amalgamation of five districts:

• Ampthill Urban District
• Biggleswade Urban District
• Sandy Urban District
• Ampthill Rural District
• Biggleswade Rural District

In 1973 Mid Bedfordshire had 62,423 registered electors, of which 57,527 were in the 23 contested wards. The turnout in the contested wards was 49%. Two wards (Henlow & Langford and Wrest) were uncontested.

Result

Mid Bedfordshire District Council Election Result 1973

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	21				42.9	43.0	12,232
	Conservative	17				34.7	23.6	6,729
	Labour	9				18.4	27.7	7,882
	Liberal	2				4.1	5.7	1,626

Ward Results

All results are listed below:

Figures on turnout were taken from Plymouth University's Elections Centre, which gives the number of registered voters, and the percentage turnout for each ward. The number of ballots cast for each ward was calculated from these.

The percentage of the vote for each candidate was calculated compared with the number of ballots cast in the ward. Note that in a ward with more than one seat, voters were allowed to place as many crosses on the ballot paper as seats.

Ampthill

Ampthill (3 seats, 4,110 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J Nottingham	1,036	33.5
	Labour	Ms G Wagstaff	722	23.3
	Liberal	P Cruse	675	21.8
	Conservative	L Sturman	664	21.4
	Conservative	Ms A Palmer	645	20.8
	Labour	R Holmes	488	15.8
	Labour	G Lane	451	14.6
	Liberal	Ms M Laycock	298	9.6
	Liberal	F Rudd	281	9.1
Turnout			3,097	75.4

Arlesey

Arlesey (2 seats, 2,575 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ms A Albon	480	50.8
	Labour	June Harrowell	464	49.2
	Conservative	R Turner	407	43.1
	Labour	C Bromley	399	42.3
Turnout			944	36.7

Aspley (No 13)

Aspley (No 13) (2 seats, 1,967 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	M Kemp	580	67.1
	Independent	W Klinner	468	54.1
	Liberal	Ms S Kilpin	285	32.9
Turnout			865	44.0

Biggleswade (No 2)

Biggleswade (No 2) (6 seats, 7,127 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L Chambers	1,875	38.7
	Independent	Ms C Cook	1,752	36.1
	Labour	Victor Brunt	1,713	35.3
	Labour	R Pepper	1,418	29.3
	Conservative	Patricia Rouse	1,221	25.2
	Independent	Ms M Armstrong	1,195	24.7
	Labour	A Haynes	1,179	24.3
	Independent	J Bones	1,092	22.5
	Independent	Ms C Ballantyne-Evans	761	15.7
Turnout			4,847	68.0

Blunham (No 17)

Blunham (No 17) (1 seat, 1,273 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ms E Woods	272	43.8
	Liberal	R Sawford	222	35.7
	Labour	C Wale	127	20.5
Turnout			621	48.8

Campton & Meppershall & Shefford (No 20)

Campton & Meppershall & Shefford (No 20) (4 seats, 4,964 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ms A Gouldsborough	1,222	38.0
	Conservative	Geoffrey Rogers	1,213	37.8
	Conservative	F Burrows	1,183	36.8
	Labour	A Smythe	998	31.1
	Independent	F Pettifer	994	30.9
	Independent	Ms M Faircloth	759	23.6
	Labour	W Barnett	700	21.8
	Labour	T Beggs	612	19.1
Turnout			3,212	64.7

Clophill

Clophill (1 seat, 1,080 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W Russell	294	59.4
	Labour	R Bailey	201	40.6
Turnout			495	45.8

Cranfield

Cranfield (2 seats, 2,938 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J Salisbury	745	66.5
	Independent	A Wheelan	553	49.4
	Labour	H Iron	375	33.5
	Labour	F Keep	329	29.4
Turnout			1,120	38.1

Flitton & Pulloxhill & Westoning (No 10)

Flitton & Pulloxhill & Westoning (No 10) (2 seats, 2,020 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jean Kent	297	51.8
	Conservative	Ms J Eells	280	48.9
	Independent	A Kitchiner	276	48.2
	Independent	Ms M Frankish	228	39.8
	Independent	F Sheridan	123	21.5
Turnout			573	28.4

Flitwick & Steppingly (No 11)

Flitwick & Steppingly (No 11) (3 seats, 3,839 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Randall	599	39.9
	Conservative	J Pack	486	32.4
	Labour	Ms F Rolls	466	31.1
	Independent	W Billington	435	29.0
	Labour	Ms S Harris	408	27.2
	Labour	M Dillon	385	25.7
	Independent	H Farmer	250	16.7
	Independent	I Walker	164	10.9
Turnout			1,500	39.1

Harlington

Harlington (1 seat, 1,334 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Giles	255	34.0
	Labour	D Parker	243	32.4
	Independent	E Preston	159	21.2
	Independent	T Mead	94	12.5
Turnout			751	56.3

Haynes & Houghton Conquest

Haynes & Houghton Conquest (1 seat, 1,542 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	D Lawson	437	60.2
	Independent	H Craddock	289	39.8
Turnout			726	47.1

Henlow & Langford (No 21)

Henlow & Langford (No 21) (3 seats, 3,538 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	G Charles	Unopposed	NA
	Conservative	G Gates	Unopposed	NA
	Liberal	J Sewell	Unopposed	NA

Lidlington (No 15)

Lidlington (No 15) (1 seat, 1,521 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A Donnely	215	35.3
	Liberal	Ms J Downes	157	25.8
	Independent	Ms T Parrish	137	22.5
	Independent	F Scott	100	16.4
Turnout			609	40.0

Marston (No 14)

Marston (No 14) (1 seat, 1,544 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J Bushby	528	61.1
	Labour	D Towell	337	39.0
Turnout			864	56.0

Maulden

Maulden (1 seat, 1,452 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ms I Robinson	388	50.3
	Independent	A Woodward	274	35.5
	Labour	F Harris	109	14.1
Turnout			771	53.1

Northill (No 18)

Northill (No 18) (1 seat, 1,822 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ms S Dingley	378	43.1
	Liberal	Alistair Costley	328	37.4
	Labour	R Charlick	172	19.6
Turnout			878	48.2

Old Warden & Southill

Old Warden & Southill (1 seat, 1,211 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Saunderson	244	52.5
	Independent	R Allingham	221	47.5
Turnout			465	38.4

Potton (No 24)

Potton (No 24) (2 seats, 2,515 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	F Jakes	344	54.2
	Conservative	J Ream	291	45.8
	Independent	E Mayston	193	30.4
	Independent	A Dennis	144	22.7
Turnout			635	25.2

Sandy (No 3)

Sandy (No 3) (3 seats, 4,122 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	K Quince	852	43.1
	Conservative	A Sherwood-King	731	37.0
	Conservative	J Harrison	711	36.0
	Independent	E Smith	670	33.9
	Conservative	L Dray	638	32.3
	Labour	Ms J Monahan	393	19.9
Turnout			1,975	47.9

Shillington & Stondon

Shillington & Stondon (2 seats, 2,461 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	R Roe	433	69.7
	Independent	G Cooper	391	63.0
	Independent	J Burgess	230	37.0
	Labour	D Cripps	188	30.3
Turnout			621	25.2

Stotfold

Stotfold (3 seats, 3,994 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H Wood	746	54.0
	Independent	F Hyde	635	46.0
	Independent	B Clark	571	41.3
	Independent	A Brown	503	36.4
	Labour	C Dunkley	427	30.9
	Labour	W McColl	363	26.3
Turnout			1,381	34.6

Wensley (No 25)

Wensley (No 25) (1 seat, 884 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W Goodyer	233	52.6
	Independent	D Walker	210	47.4
Turnout			443	50.1

Woburn

Woburn (1 seat, 1,232 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ms G Glasse	376	65.5
	Conservative	D Woodward	198	34.5
Turnout			574	46.6

Wrest

Wrest (1 seat, 1,358 registered voters)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	G Wood	Unopposed	NA