1973 Eastbourne Borough Council election

The first elections to the new local authorities established by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales and the new Northern Ireland district councils created by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 took place in 1973. The whole of Eastbourne Borough Council was up for election.

Borough result

It was a good result for the Liberal party. They won 19 of the 33 seats, giving them an overall majority of 5. The Liberals took control on 1 April 1974 of the new non-metropolitan district as a consequence. The Conservatives became the official opposition after winning 10 seats. Labour won 4 sets.

Ward results

Member of the old borough council denoted by *

Cavendish

Cavendish (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	T W Ward*	1,290	54.2
	Liberal	E D Ward*	1,165
	Liberal	Leslie Jack Leach	1,108
	Labour	Percy George Wood*	522	21.9
	Conservative	J Macdonald	487	20.5
	Labour	J Cross	482
	Conservative	L Staples	431
	Conservative	M Lowton	425
	Labour	G Watson	415
	Independent	R Armstrong	81	3.4
Majority				32.3
Turnout				55.4
	Liberal win (new seat)

Central

Central (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	A A Maryan	1,047	56.5
	Liberal	Charles George Piper	986
	Liberal	S G Ward	973
	Conservative	M E Tunwell	806	43.5
	Conservative	Reginald Poynter*	800
	Conservative	Neil Fergus Nicholson*	800
Majority				13.0
Turnout				45.9
	Liberal win (new seat)

Devonshire

Devonshire (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J Healey	969	46.8
	Conservative	Charles Edward Dobell*	949	45.8
	Liberal	Anthony L Boswall	936
	Liberal	W Creffield	920
	Conservative	Eric Hugh Bowdler*	905
	Conservative	D Charlton	883
	Labour	J Howse	152	7.3
Majority				1.0
Turnout				46.0
	Liberal win (new seat)

Downside

Downside (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maurice Skilton*	1,547	59.2
	Liberal	E M Edwards*	1,410
	Liberal	H Goodchild	1,374
	Conservative	Joseph Angelman*	1,068	40.8
	Conservative	M Charlton	897
	Conservative	C Elsey	888
Majority				18.3
Turnout				59.0
	Liberal win (new seat)

Hampden Park

Hampden Park (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Peter Francis Jackson*	1,903	48.9
	Liberal	Charles Henry Lacey*	1,768
	Liberal	L Mason	1,694
	Liberal	Douglas D Carn	1,650
	Labour	Roland James Hutchinson*	1,548	39.8
	Labour	George Alan Bosley*	1,492
	Labour	P Chantler	1,309
	Labour	L Elphick	1,291
	Conservative	C Young	440	11.3
	Conservative	J Tunwell	436
	Conservative	A Cumming	435
	Conservative	C Anscombe	407
Majority				9.1
Turnout				46.5
	Liberal win (new seat)

Langney

Langney (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leonard James Caine*	1,745
	Labour	Frederick Charles Solly*	1,580
	Labour	Roland Arthur Baker	1,538
	Labour	D M Salmon	1,514
	Conservative	J E Anscombe	1,154
	Conservative	M Bare	1,109
	Conservative	I Greenfield	1,088
	Conservative	C Porter	1,079
	Liberal	J Thomas	842
Majority
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)

Meads

Meads (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Aubrey Vickers*	1,345
	Conservative	Kathleen Ethel Raven*	1,345
	Conservative	Percy Stanley Brockwell*	1,297
	Liberal	E Pettigrew	919
	Liberal	M Hanlon	880
	Liberal	R Rees	878
	Labour	I Harris	118
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)

Ratton

Ratton (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	R H Dingwall	1,802
	Conservative	Winifred Emily Ouzman*	1,746
	Conservative	Michael Scott Phipp*	1,698
	Conservative	D P Cullen	1,698
	Liberal	L Frere	1,650
	Liberal	W Charlton	1,636
	Conservative	J Toop	1,597
	Liberal	E French	1,575
	Labour	A Ticehurst	510
	Labour	K Booth	474
	Labour	D Evans	467
	Labour	P Sorrell	455
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)

Roselands

Roselands (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Vivian Horridge*	1,319
	Liberal	William John Evenden*	1,244
	Liberal	Clifford Grahame Scott*	1,228
	Conservative	J Riley	680
	Conservative	J C Wakeford	607
	Conservative	M White	589
	Labour	P Richardson	370
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal win (new seat)

Upperton

Upperton (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Una Eagle Goldie Gardner*	1,414	62.4
	Conservative	Tony James Aukett*	1,359
	Conservative	Charles W Aldous	1,285
	Liberal	M Perrin	851	37.6
	Liberal	D Parsons	828
	Liberal	N Frere	740
Majority				24.9
Turnout				45.1
	Conservative win (new seat)