1973 Bedford District Council election

The 1973 North Bedfordshire Borough Council election took place on 10 May 1973 to elect members of North Bedfordshire Borough Council in England. This was the same day as other local elections.

Overall Results

1973 North Bedfordshire Borough Council election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	22	0	0	0	39.3	34.9	11,468	0
	Conservative	20	0	0	0	35.7	33.5	11,017	0
	Independent	11	0	0	0	19.6	19.6	6,430	0
	Liberal	2	0	0	0	3.6	10.0	3,289	0
	Ind. Conservative	1	0	0	0	1.8	0.8	262	0
	Residents	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	252	0
	Independent Labour	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	93	0
	Communist	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	74	0

A total of 32,885 valid votes were cast.
The turnout was 37.8%

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

22	2	11	1	20
Labour	Liberal	Independent	Ind Con	Conservative

Ward Results

Cauldwell

No. 1 (Cauldwell) - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Astle	1,301	74.7
	Labour	J. Ansell-Sutton	1,254	72.0
	Labour	R. Elford	1,208	69.4
	Labour	V. Storrow	1,167	67.0
	Conservative	A. Coles	440	25.3
	Conservative	V. Fattorusso	279	16.0
Majority			861	49.5
Turnout			1,741	31.2
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

De Parys

No. 2 (De Parys) - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Randall	1,673	47.3
	Conservative	R. Gwynne-Jones	1,671	47.2
	Conservative	D. Lennox-Lamb	1,650	46.6
	Conservative	R. Whittingham	1,649	46.6
	Conservative	E. Smith	1,546	43.7
	Conservative	G. Senior	1,482	41.9
	Liberal	A. Crouch	1,139	32.2
	Liberal	J. Burley	1,103	31.2
	Liberal	J. Barnes	1,100	31.1
	Liberal	J. Fennell	974	27.5
	Liberal	C. Steptoe	881	24.9
	Liberal	R. Cunnick	854	24.1
	Labour	K. Davies	726	20.5
	Labour	R. Richardson	715	20.2
	Labour	G. Blowers	715	20.2
	Labour	M. Kirk	684	19.3
	Labour	B. Ashton	681	19.2
	Labour	B. Jackson	663	18.7
Majority			534	15.1
Turnout			3,538	37.9
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Goldington

No. 3 (Goldington) - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J. Slatter	1,475	37.0
	Labour	R. Wildman	1,435	36.0
	Labour	G. Robbins	1,427	35.8
	Labour	S. Ayre	1,350	33.8
	Liberal	A. Lennon	1,346	33.7
	Labour	V. Tilley	1,311	32.9
	Labour	K. Passant	1,303	32.7
	Labour	F. Garrick	1,302	32.6
	Liberal	J. Lennon	1,270	31.8
	Liberal	P. Smith	1,250	31.3
	Liberal	J. Yunnie	1,215	30.5
	Conservative	H. Bushell	1,080	27.1
	Conservative	C. Frost	1,025	25.7
	Conservative	E. Bushell	1,007	25.2
	Conservative	J. Hitchcock	986	24.7
	Conservative	M. Palmer	944	23.7
	Conservative	A. Johns	943	23.6
Majority			40	1.0
Turnout			3,990	40.9
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Harpur

No. 4 (Harpur) - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	B. Dillingham	1,672	44.3
	Independent	M. Still	1,524	40.4
	Independent	G. Orr	1,264	33.5
	Labour	M. Cotter	840	22.3
	Labour	T. Brown	823	21.8
	Labour	K. Derrick	808	21.4
	Labour	B. Jones	789	20.9
	Labour	F. Tysoe	712	18.9
	Conservative	D. Little	542	14.4
	Conservative	J. Ogunremi	540	14.3
	Conservative	E. Knights	539	14.3
	Liberal	R. Foster	515	13.6
	Liberal	B. Nutley	502	13.3
	Liberal	B. Foster	483	12.8
	Liberal	J. Jones	406	10.8
	Liberal	D. Pratt	378	10.0
	Residents	P. Horn	206	5.5
Majority			832	22.0
Turnout			3,775	50.7
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Kingsbrook

No. 5 (Kingsbrook) - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K. Scott	1,340	79.8
	Labour	G. Colling	1,266	75.4
	Labour	T. Mansell	1,242	74.0
	Labour	D. Upton	1,192	71.0
	Conservative	S. Sanders	265	15.8
	Conservative	R. Attree	244	14.5
	Communist	P. Waite	74	4.4
Majority			1,075	64.0
Turnout			1,679	29.7
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Newnham

No. 6 (Newnham) - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Valentine	1,352	62.1
	Conservative	J. Cook	1,323	60.8
	Conservative	D. Bygrave	1,244	57.2
	Conservative	T. Donnelly	1,240	57.0
	Labour	S. Symes	824	37.9
	Labour	F. Burdett	783	36.0
	Labour	R. Crane	765	35.2
	Labour	C. Turner	724	33.3
Majority			528	24.3
Turnout			2,176	32.2
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Queens Park

No. 7 (Queens Park) - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Sharman	1,453	51.1
	Labour	J. George	1,388	48.9
	Conservative	J. Ireland	1,154	40.6
	Labour	P. Holman	1,131	39.8
	Conservative	N. Wright	1,059	37.3
	Labour	S. Pass	1,040	36.6
Majority			65	2.3
Turnout			2,841	60.8
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Bromham

No. 8 (Bromham) - 2 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	V. Cartwright	842	84.5
	Conservative	G. Bates	804	80.7
	Labour	S. Hunt	154	15.5
	Labour	A. Wood	144	14.5
Majority			688	69.1
Turnout			996	31.3
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Oakley

No. 10 (Oakley)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	G. Beazley	438	60.7
	Liberal	L. Skevington	160	22.2
	Labour	S. Jones	123	17.1
Majority			278	38.6
Turnout			721	40.2
	Independent win (new seat)

Carlton & Harrold

No. 11 (Carlton & Harrold)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	V. Brandon	562	61.3
	Independent	H. Tusting	227	24.8
	Labour	M. Woods	109	11.9
	Independent	P. Smith	19	2.1
Majority			335	36.5
Turnout			917	50.6
	Independent win (new seat)

Felmersham & Sharnbrook

No. 12 (Felmersham & Sharnbrook)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	H. Martin	383	58.5
	Independent	R. Payne	272	41.5
Majority			111	16.9
Turnout			655	36.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Knotting & Souldrop

No. 13 (Knotting & Souldrop)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Conservative	D. Cooper	262	45.2
	Independent	R. Wilson	217	37.4
	Labour	S. Zaramba	101	17.4
Majority			45	7.8
Turnout			580	44.5
	Ind. Conservative win (new seat)

Swineshead

No. 14 (Swineshead)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Cocksedge	0	0.0
Majority			0	0.0
Turnout			0	0.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

Riseley

No. 15 (Riseley)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. Swepston	296	50.1
	Conservative	E. Gibbs	295	49.9
Majority			1	0.2
Turnout			591	36.1
	Independent win (new seat)

Roxton

No. 17 (Roxton)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	P. Merton-Jones	0	0.0
Majority			0	0.0
Turnout			0	0.0
	Independent win (new seat)

Kempston Rural

No. 21 (Kempston Rural)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	G. Frossell	520	60.0
	Labour	R. Woods	347	40.0
Majority			173	20.0
Turnout			867	49.1
	Independent win (new seat)

Wootton

No. 22 (Wootton)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	P. Chennells	597	61.7
	Labour	R. Barrow	370	38.3
Majority			227	23.5
Turnout			967	44.4
	Independent win (new seat)

Turvey

No. 23 (Turvey)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Newman	443	64.1
	Independent	E. Kent	248	35.9
Majority			195	28.2
Turnout			691	49.9
	Conservative win (new seat)

Kempston

No. 24 (Kempston) - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Baldwin	1,532	54.1
	Labour	A. Burton	1,529	54.0
	Labour	K. Burley	1,511	53.4
	Labour	R. West	1,454	51.4
	Labour	R. Lescott	1,441	50.9
	Conservative	P. Hooley	1,299	45.9
	Conservative	C. Wilson	1,275	45.0
	Conservative	P. Grange	1,272	44.9
	Conservative	W. Martin	1,247	44.0
	Conservative	T. Ryan	1,208	42.7
	Conservative	A. Rayment	1,168	41.3
	Labour	A. Blair	677	23.9
Majority			233	8.2
Turnout			2,831	30.5
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Clapham

Clapham - 2 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Mason	504	37.6
	Labour	J. Parr	444	33.2
	Independent	E. Stratford	435	32.5
	Conservative	L. Bradford	400	29.9
Majority			69	5.2
Turnout			1,339	45.7
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Eastcotts

Eastcotts

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Hall	246	37.2
	Labour	R. Page	232	35.0
	Ind. Labour Party	K. Sillett	93	14.0
	Residents	R. Harpur	46	6.9
	Independent	A. Kilminster	45	6.8
Majority			14	2.1
Turnout			662	44.2
	Conservative win (new seat)

Great Barford

Great Barford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	V. Webb	252	50.9
	Conservative	V. Farrar	243	49.1
Majority			9	1.8
Turnout			495	29.4
	Independent win (new seat)

Renhold

Renhold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N. Polhill	0	0.0
Majority			0	0.0
Turnout			0	0.0
	Conservative win (new seat)

Wilshamstead

Wilshamstead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	V. Wisson	444	53.3
	Labour	F. Tompkins	142	17.0
	Independent	C. Taylor	134	16.1
	Independent	C. Simmonds	113	13.6
Majority			302	36.3
Turnout			833	46.9
	Conservative win (new seat)