| Election Name: | 1989 United Kingdom local elections |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Type: | legislative |
| Previous Election: | 1988 United Kingdom local elections |
| Previous Year: | 1988 |
| Next Election: | 1990 United Kingdom local elections |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Seats For Election: | All 39 non-metropolitan counties, 1 sui generis authority, all 26 Northern Irish districts and all 8 Welsh counties |
| Election Date: | 4 May 1989 (England & Wales) 17 May 1989 (Northern Ireland) |
| 1Blank: | Councils |
| 2Blank: | Councils +/- |
| 3Blank: | Councillors |
| 4Blank: | Councillors +/- |
| Leader1: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Leader Since1: | 11 February 1975 |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Percentage1: | 36% |
| 4Data1: | 92 |
| Leader2: | Neil Kinnock |
| Leader Since2: | 2 October 1983 |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Percentage2: | 42% |
| 4Data2: | 35 |
| Leader3: | Paddy Ashdown |
| Leader Since3: | 16 July 1988 |
| Party3: | Social and Liberal Democrats |
| Percentage3: | 19% |
| 4Data3: | 175 |
| Map Size: | 300px |
The 1989 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 4 May 1989 in England and Wales, and Wednesday 17 May 1989 in Northern Ireland.[1] [2] The Labour Party had the highest projected national vote share, but the Conservative Party, in power at Westminster, gained the most seats. On the same day, there was a parliamentary by-election in the Vale of Glamorgan constituency in Wales; Labour won the seat from the Conservatives.
The national projected share of the vote was Labour 42%, Conservative 36%, Liberal Democrats 19%. The Conservatives gained 92 seats, Labour gained 35 seats and the Liberal Democrats lost 175 seats. It was Labour's largest share of the vote in any election in a decade, as the party's popularity continued to improve as a result of the ongoing modernisation process under Neil Kinnock, and that the Conservative government's popularity was starting to fall following the announcement of the poll tax.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon | hold | Details | |||
| Bedfordshire | hold | Details | |||
| Berkshire | hold | Details | |||
| Buckinghamshire | hold | Details | |||
| Cambridgeshire | gain | Details | |||
| Cheshire | hold | Details | |||
| Cleveland | hold | Details | |||
| Cornwall | hold | Details | |||
| Cumbria | hold | Details | |||
| Derbyshire | hold | Details | |||
| Devon | gain | Details | |||
| Dorset | hold | Details | |||
| Durham | hold | Details | |||
| East Sussex | gain | Details | |||
| Essex | gain | Details | |||
| Gloucestershire | hold | Details | |||
| Hampshire | gain | Details | |||
| Hereford and Worcester | gain | Details | |||
| Hertfordshire | gain | Details | |||
| Humberside | gain | Details | |||
| Isle of Wight | hold | Details | |||
| Kent | hold | Details | |||
| Lancashire | gain | Details | |||
| Leicestershire | hold | Details | |||
| Lincolnshire | hold | Details | |||
| Norfolk | hold | Details | |||
| North Yorkshire | hold | Details | |||
| Northamptonshire | hold | Details | |||
| Northumberland | gain | Details | |||
| Nottinghamshire | hold | Details | |||
| Oxfordshire | hold | Details | |||
| Shropshire | hold | Details | |||
| Somerset | gain | Details | |||
| Staffordshire | hold | Details | |||
| Suffolk | hold | Details | |||
| Surrey | hold | Details | |||
| Warwickshire | gain | Details | |||
| West Sussex | hold | Details | |||
| Wiltshire | hold | Details | |||
See main article: 1989 Northern Ireland local elections.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim | gain | Details | |||
| Ards | hold | Details | |||
| Armagh | hold | Details | |||
| Ballymena | hold | Details | |||
| Ballymoney | hold | Details | |||
| Banbridge | hold | Details | |||
| Belfast | hold | Details | |||
| Carrickfergus | hold | Details | |||
| Castlereagh | hold | Details | |||
| Coleraine | hold | Details | |||
| Cookstown | hold | Details | |||
| Craigavon | hold | Details | |||
| Derry | hold | Details | |||
| Down | gain | Details | |||
| Dungannon | hold | Details | |||
| Fermanagh | hold | Details | |||
| hold | Details | ||||
| Limavady | hold | Details | |||
| Lisburn | gain | Details | |||
| Magherafelt | hold | Details | |||
| Moyle | hold | Details | |||
| Newry and Mourne | gain | Details | |||
| Newtownabbey | hold | Details | |||
| North Down | hold | Details | |||
| Omagh | hold | Details | |||
| Strabane | hold | Details | |||
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clwyd | gain | Details | |||
| Dyfed | hold | Details | |||
| Gwent | hold | Details | |||
| Gwynedd | hold | Details | |||
| Mid Glamorgan | hold | Details | |||
| Powys | hold | Details | |||
| South Glamorgan | hold | Details | |||
| West Glamorgan | hold | Details | |||