1976 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were held on in May 1976. The Conservatives retained control of the Council.

23 seats were contested, with 16 being won by the Conservative Party and 7 by the Labour Party.

Ernie Crook was the sitting Conservative Councillor in the Church East and North Ward, but was re-elected as an Independent Conservative due to an internal selection dispute. However he took the Conservative Party whip soon after. Therefore, this seat is regarded as a Conservative hold rather than a loss.

After the election, the composition of the Council was

• Conservative 46
• Labour 20
• Liberal Party 2
• Independent 1

Bolton Local Election Result 1976

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	16	4	0	+4	{{{seats %}}}	57.9	42,559	+1.3
	Labour	7	2	4	-2	{{{seats %}}}	37.0	27,230	+4.4
	Liberal	0	0	1	-1	{{{seats %}}}	3.9	2,902	-4.5
	Other parties	0	0	1	-1	{{{seats %}}}	1.1	855	-1.2

Astley Bridge ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F Waterworth	2,871	77.5	+0.3
	Labour	G Riley	832	22.5	−0.3
Majority			2,039	55.0	+0.6
Turnout			3,703	38.0	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 0.3

Bradshaw North and South ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T Greenhalgh	2,666	85.7	+35.7
	Labour	A Grimes	446	14.3	+8.4
Majority			2,220	71.3	+46.0
Turnout			3,112	34.0	−12.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bradford ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T McEwan	1,205	68.5	+5.4
	Conservative	A Mills	498	28.3	−8.6
	Socialist (GB)	N Duffield	56	3.2	+3.2
Majority			707	40.2	+14.0
Turnout			1,759	37.7	+3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 7.0

Bromley Cross, Eagley and Egerton ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Poulsom	2,666	81.9	+24.5
	Labour	C Benjamin	591	18.1	−1.4
Majority			2,075	63.7	+29.4
Turnout			3,257	38.5	−5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	Lab to Con 12.9

Church East and North ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Conservative	E Crook	1,227	41.1	+41.1
	Conservative	B Hall	961	32.2	−30.4
	Labour	P Johnson	799	26.7	−2.6
Majority			266	8.9
Turnout			2,987	48.3	+8.3
	Ind. Conservative hold		Swing

Darcy Lever cum Breightmet ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M Walsh	2,900	55.5	−4.7
	Labour	K McIvor	2,327	44.5	+4.7
Majority			573	11.0	−9.4
Turnout			5,227	39.0	+8.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Con to Labour 4.7

Deane cum Lostock ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F Rushton	2,260	77.7	+0.3
	Labour	J Walker	648	22.3	−0.3
Majority			1,612	55.4	+0.7
Turnout			2,908	41.0	+4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 0.3

Derby ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R Lever	1,170	63.8	+2.3
	Conservative	D Smith	663	36.2	−2.3
Majority			507	27.6	+4.6
Turnout			1,833	31.0	+3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.3

Farnworth North ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R Neary	1,428	47.7	+6.2
	Conservative	A Nuttall	1,232	41.2	−4.7
	Liberal	M Harmsworth	331	11.1	+1.3
Majority			196	6.5
Turnout			2,991	31.9	+3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 5.4

Farnworth South ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W Hardman	1,290	55.3	+5.6
	Liberal	J Barrow	550	23.6	−1.7
	Conservative	L Sharples	493	21.1	−3.9
Majority			740	31.7	+7.4
Turnout			2,333	25.3	+4.3
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 4.7

Great Lever ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S Haslam	2,283	60.3	−6.1
	Labour	G Harkin	1,504	39.7	+6.1
Majority			779	20.4	−12.2
Turnout			3,787	36.0	+8.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	Con to Labour 6.1

Halliwell ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W Hall	1,742	55.6	+0.3
	Labour	R Johnson	1,389	44.4	+5.9
Majority			353	11.2	−5.6
Turnout			3,131	32.0	−1.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Heaton ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J Hanscomb	1,996	90.4	−1.8
	Labour	T Moor	213	9.6	+1.8
Majority			1,783	80.8	−3.6
Turnout			2,210	47.0	−1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 1.8

Horwich North, Central and East ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B Crumblehulme	2,159	52.9	+10.3
	Labour	J McBurnie	1,924	47.1	+10.6
Majority			235	5.8	−0.3
Turnout			4,083	40.0	+7.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Horwich South and Blackrod ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C Everin	1,915	61.6	+12.4
	Labour	L Watkinson	1,194	38.4	+7.3
Majority			721	23.2	+4.2
Turnout			3,109	48.0	+8.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hulton and Rumworth ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A Gledhill	2,112	55.1	+0.6
	Labour	P Jones	1,381	36.0	−0.7
	National Front	J Walsh	341	8.9	+1.0
Majority			731	19.0	+1.2
Turnout			3,834	38.5	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 1.6

Kearsley ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T Lewis	1,479	40.4	+4.9
	Liberal	E Bell	1,376	37.5	−0.0
	Conservative	T Rothwell	810	22.1	−4.9
Majority			103	2.9
Turnout			3,665	42.6	+5.6
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	Con to Labour 4.9

Little Lever ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R Hodson	1,192	40.5	−6.2
	Labour	E Blackwell	1,105	37.6	+11.2
	Liberal	R Richardson	645	21.9	−5.0
Majority			87	2.9	−16.8
Turnout			2,942	38.0	−0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 8.7

Smithills ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M Howarth	3,057	74.5	−1.6
	Labour	G Hart	897	21.9	+3.5
	Independent	B Langley	151	3.7	−1.8
Majority			2,160	52.6	−5.1
Turnout			4,105	37.9	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 2.5

Tonge ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K Knowles	2,631	57.0	−7.4
	Labour	Brian Iddon	1,983	43.0	+7.4
Majority			648	14.0	−14.8
Turnout			4,614	42.0	+9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	Con to Labour 7.4

West ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D Clarke	1,419	54.8	+5.9
	Conservative	B Holland	1,171	45.2	−5.9
Majority			248	9.6
Turnout			2,590	32.0	+8.0
	Labour hold		Swing	Con to Labour 5.9

Westhoughton East and Hulton ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F Walsh	1,870	74.9	+0.4
	Labour	C Knowles	625	25.1	−0.4
Majority			1,245	49.8	+0.9
Turnout			2,495	42.8	+3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	Labour to Con 0.4

Westhoughton North, Central and South ward (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J Clee	1,331	47.2	−5.1
	Conservative	J Roden	1,184	42.0	−5.7
	Independent	K Brown	307	10.9	+10.9
Majority			147	5.2	+0.6
Turnout			2,822	39.8	+2.8
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing	Con to Ind 8.3

• Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 12 July 2016.