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1984 North Hertfordshire District Council election
17 of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council; 26 seats needed for a majority
Leader before election; Bob Flatman; Conservative	Leader after election ; Bob Flatman; Conservative

The 1984 North Hertfordshire District Council election was held on 3 May 1984, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. There were 17 out of 50 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council up for election, being the usual third of the council.^[1]

The Conservatives remained in overall control of the council, increasing their majority by one seat. Labour lost three seats, despite its share of the vote actually increasing compared to the 1983 election. The Labour group leader, Ian Mantle, was one of those who lost his seat.^[2]

Overall results

The overall results were as follows:^[3]

1984 North Hertfordshire District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	9	1	52.9	22	31	62.0	13,805	39.0	-3.1
	Labour	5	3	29.4	7	12	24.0	11,434	32.3	+3.2
	Alliance	1	1	5.9	1	2	4.0	8,517	24.1	0.0
	Ratepayers	1	1	5.9	2	3	6.0	1,094	3.1	-1.6
	Independent	1		5.9	1	2	4.0	525	1.5	+1.5

Liberal and SDP votes are counted together in the summary above as part of the Alliance. In the ward results below, where the individual party affiliation of Alliance candidates was reported it is shown instead.

Ward results

The results for each ward were as follows. An asterisk(*) indicates a sitting councillor standing for re-election.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Ashbrook ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Tatham*	633	55.4	−6.8
	Labour	Keith Brydon	311	27.2	−10.6
	Alliance	John Seabrook	199	17.4	+17.4
Turnout				55.6
Registered electors			2,057
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

Baldock ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Moir	1,163	40.8	+5.2
	Conservative	Alan Ford	1,050	36.9	−10.4
	Alliance	Bill Gore	636	22.3	+5.2
Turnout				48.8
Registered electors			5,839
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.8

Cadwell ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ron Lodge	525	61.0	+1.7
	Labour	Mark Baker	205	23.8	+5.3
	SDP	Ann Milner	130	15.1	+15.1
Turnout				48.5
Registered electors			1,773
	Independent hold		Swing	-1.8

Hitchin Bearton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	*Judi Billing^[a]**	1,056	47.0	+9.5
	Conservative	Jean Saunders	893	39.7	−1.9
	SDP	Harry Shipley	299	13.3	−3.5
Turnout				50.5
Registered electors			4,450
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.7

^ Previously elected in 1980 as Judi Smith.

Hitchin Highbury ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phillip MacCormack*	1,247	51.9	−13.8
	SDP	Mary Burton	772	32.1	+11.8
	Labour	Teresa Trangmar	386	16.0	+1.9
Turnout				47.1
Registered electors			5,105
	Conservative hold		Swing	-12.8

Hitchin Oughton ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Stears*	1,096	60.4	+6.1
	Conservative	Derrick Ashley	459	25.3	−7.2
	Alliance	Lorna Maclean	260	14.3	+1.2
Turnout				41.5
Registered electors			4,377
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.7

Hitchin Priory ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Howett*	858	67.7	+2.7
	SDP	Aileen Burford-Mason	275	21.7	−6.5
	Labour	Nigel Agar	135	10.6	+3.8
Turnout				45.8
Registered electors			2,769
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.6

Hitchin Walsworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ratepayers	Chris Parker	1,094	36.2	−10.2
	Labour	Veronica Sharp	938	31.0	+6.2
	Conservative	Julian Glynne Jones (Glynne Jones)	595	19.7	+1.0
	Alliance	Jenny Sefton	397	13.1	+3.1
Turnout				50.9
Registered electors			5,941
	Ratepayers gain from Labour		Swing	-8.2

Knebworth ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Hilton	797	52.1	−5.9
	Alliance	Andy Hudson	445	29.1	+8.8
	Labour	Brian Kelly	288	18.8	−1.1
Turnout				48.0
Registered electors			3,188
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.4

Letchworth East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Headley Parkins*	1,073	43.3	+3.2
	Alliance	Martin Fisher	871	35.1	+2.9
	Conservative	Nicholas King	536	21.6	−6.1
Turnout				42.5
Registered electors			5,841
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

Letchworth Grange ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Kearns*	1,122	41.1	+3.9
	SDP	Brian Nicholson	934	34.2	−0.7
	Conservative	Richard Sturman	673	24.7	−3.3
Turnout				52.7
Registered electors			5,179
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

Letchworth South East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gordon Whalley	1,173	34.2	−2.1
	SDP	David Attwood	1,150	33.5	−4.1
	Labour	David Evans*	1,107	32.3	+6.2
Turnout				57.6
Registered electors			5,954
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+1.0

Letchworth South West ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Woods*	1,294	54.3	−0.7
	Labour	John Preston	596	25.0	+0.8
	Liberal	Rosemary Ryden	494	20.7	−0.1
Turnout				53.1
Registered electors			4,491
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

Letchworth Wilbury ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ray Bloxham	1,062	44.4	+2.4
	Labour	Ian Mantle*	1,007	42.1	−3.1
	Alliance	Hans Mulder	325	13.6	+0.7
Turnout				59.6
Registered electors			4,016
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+2.8

Royston East ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis John Smith* (John Smith)	1,133	72.4	+17.3
	Labour	Mandy Webb	432	27.6	+16.7
Turnout				39.2
Registered electors			3,996
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.3

Royston West ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Margolis	1,157	46.3	+3.0
	Conservative	Terence Bernard Botfield* (Terry Botfield)	943	37.8	−5.8
	Labour	Eunice King	397	15.9	+2.8
Turnout				46.9
Registered electors			5,319
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.4

Weston ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Evans*	459	60.9	−3.6
	Alliance	Gary Barker	173	22.9	+22.9
	Labour	Roger McFall	122	16.2	−19.3
Turnout				54.0
Registered electors			1,396
	Conservative hold		Swing	-13.3

Changes 1984–1986

Two by-elections were held on 28 March 1985. The by-election in Cadwell ward was triggered by the death of independent councillor Ron Lodge, and the by-election in Letchworth South West ward was triggered by the resignation of Conservative councillor John Talbot. The SDP–Liberal Alliance won the Letchworth South West seat from the Conservatives. In Cadwell ward the Conservatives won the seat which had previously been independent.^[6]

Cadwell ward by-election, 28 March 1985
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Conservative	Linda Turner	293	37.7	−23.4
SDP	John Seabrook	275	35.3	+11.5
Labour	Jan Gosling	210	27.0	+11.9
Conservative gain from Independent		Swing	-17.5

Letchworth South West ward by-election, 28 March 1985
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Liberal	William Armitage	1,202	45.5	+24.7
Conservative	Ron Edwards	937	35.4	−18.8
Labour	Bill Miller	505	19.1	−5.9
Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.8

References

^ The District of North Hertfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/1442)
^ "Triple blow for Labour". Letchworth and Baldock Citizen Gazette. 10 May 1984. p. 1.
^ ^a ^b Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "North Hertfordshire District Council Election Results 1973–2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "North Herts results". Letchworth and Baldock Citizen Gazette. 10 May 1984. p. 7.
^ "Liberal breaks Royston monopoly". Cambridge Evening News. 4 May 1984. p. 28. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
^ Saunders, Bernie (4 April 1985). "Now bring on the county elections say Alliance". Letchworth and Baldock Citizen. p. 3.