1978 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election

Elections to Trafford Council were held on Thursday, 4 May 1978. One third of the council was up for election, with each successful candidate to serve a four-year term of office, expiring in 1982. The Conservative Party retained overall control of the council.

After the election, the composition of the council was as follows:

Party		Seats	+/-
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Conservative	54	+6
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Labour	9	-2
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Liberal	0	-4
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Conservative hold

Ward results

Altrincham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Rubin	1,131	54.4	+0.9
	Labour	E. McPherson	590	28.4	+1.6
	Liberal	G. M. R. Willmott	357	17.2	−2.5
Majority			541	26.0	−0.7
Turnout			2,078	32.8	−7.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Bowdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. B. Gill*	2,572	77.6	−7.1
	Liberal	D. F. Mardon	408	12.3	−3.0
	Labour	G. R. Scott	333	10.1	+10.1
Majority			2,164	65.3	−4.0
Turnout			3,313	44.7	−3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Broadheath (2 vacancies)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. G. Currie*	1,264	28.7	+3.1
	Conservative	L. M. L. Burton	1,187	26.9	−0.5
	Labour	E. Smith	587	13.3	+5.2
	Labour	G. R. Gould	542	12.3	+3.2
	Liberal	E. H. Faulkner	488	11.1	−2.1
	Liberal	B. Gaylard	341	7.7	−8.9
Majority			600	13.6	−16.5
Turnout			4,409	35.5	+5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Brooklands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. A. E. Waterfall	2,685	63.8	−1.0
	Liberal	C. S. Fink*	1,098	26.1	−9.1
	Labour	A. J. Hadley	426	10.1	+10.1
Majority			1,587	37.7	+8.2
Turnout			4,209	47.1	+1.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Bucklow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Holland*	1,566	60.0	+11.3
	Conservative	J. Strong	1,043	40.0	−0.1
Majority			523	20.0	+11.3
Turnout			2,609	33.4	−4.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Clifford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K. G. Summerfield	1,319	50.1	+7.2
	Labour	J. S. Maher	1,318	50.0	+0.4
Majority			1	0.03	−6.7
Turnout			2,637	39.6	−1.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Davyhulme East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. G. Haigh*	1,221	61.8	+1.9
	Labour	R. P. F. Phillips	412	20.8	−9.6
	Liberal	T. M. Owen	344	17.4	+7.7
Majority			809	40.9	+11.4
Turnout			1,977	36.7	−4.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Davyhulme West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. H. Carnall*	2,291	62.6	+2.2
	Labour	L. M. Seex	1,370	37.4	+7.3
Majority			921	25.2	−5.1
Turnout			3,661	35.8	−5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Flixton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Wroe*	2,205	72.1	+9.2
	Labour	J. Shaw	853	27.9	+5.3
Majority			1,352	44.2	+3.9
Turnout			3,058	33.2	−9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Hinchcliffe*	2,812	75.7	−11.5
	Liberal	J. S. Whittingham	501	13.5	+13.5
	Labour	A. D. Johnson	400	10.8	−2.0
Majority			2,311	62.2	−12.2
Turnout			3,713	39.9	−7.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Longford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. W. Homer*	1,886	53.7	+0.2
	Labour	A. J. Lloyd	1,284	36.5	+1.8
	Liberal	H. D. Locksley	343	9.8	−1.9
Majority			602	17.1	−1.7
Turnout			3,513	34.4	−4.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mersey St. Marys

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Moss	2,208	59.4	−1.4
	Liberal	E. Critchlow	973	26.2	−3.2
	Labour	C. Younghusband	534	14.4	+4.6
Majority			1,235	33.2	+1.7
Turnout			3,715	41.0	−4.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. R. Haydock	1,118	49.9	0
	Conservative	L. Sherwood	1,076	48.0	+0.7
	Communist_Party_of_Great_Britain	W. Hudson	47	2.1	−0.7
Majority			42	1.9	−0.7
Turnout			2,241	39.1	−4.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Priory

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. H. Evans	1,634	47.5	+1.1
	Liberal	J. M. Phillipson*	1,265	36.8	+5.5
	Labour	B. Brotherton	541	15.7	−6.6
Majority			369	10.7	−4.4
Turnout			3,440	40.4	−4.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Sale Moor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Mee*	1,417	52.5	+8.9
	Conservative	G. K. Toft	1,283	47.5	+3.6
Majority			134	5.0	+4.6
Turnout			2,700	40.9	−1.2
	Labour hold		Swing

St. Martins

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. E. King*	2,543	62.9	−3.9
	Labour	G. Woodburn	858	21.2	−12.0
	Liberal	G. C. Kinsey	550	13.6	+13.6
	Communist_Party_of_Great_Britain	J. E. Stitt	89	2.2	+2.2
Majority			1,685	41.7	+8.0
Turnout			4,040	35.3	−2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stretford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Hindley*	1,591	68.5	+4.1
	Labour	R. A. Tully	732	31.5	+3.2
Majority			859	37.0	+0.9
Turnout			2,323	40.0	−2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Talbot

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Marland*	1,780	61.5	+8.7
	Conservative	W. Outhwaite	1,113	38.5	+4.7
Majority			667	23.1	+4.1
Turnout			2,893	33.3	−4.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Timperley (2 vacancies)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. V. Burrows	1,993	29.1	+3.7
	Conservative	H. Taylor	1,922	28.0	+1.5
	Liberal	J. W. Davenport*	1,126	16.4	+4.4
	Liberal	M. Clancy	1,019	14.9	+1.4
	Labour	J. R. Royle	402	5.9	−5.2
	Labour	R. J. Ellis	394	5.7	−5.6
Majority			796	11.6	−14.5
Turnout			6,856	37.8	−4.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Urmston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. R. Coupe*	1,725	58.8	+2.0
	Labour	D. Horner	842	28.7	+4.6
	Liberal	D. E. Unwin	367	12.5	−6.6
Majority			883	30.1	−2.6
Turnout			2,934	34.6	−3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Village

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. E. W. McCowatt	1,746	69.2	+21.6
	Labour	C. Moore	777	30.8	+6.0
Majority			969	38.4	+18.4
Turnout			2,523	31.2	−13.3
	Conservative hold		Swing