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 1st 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

• denotes member of the old borough council.

Cavendish

Cavendish (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	T W Ward*	1,290	54.2
	Liberal	Mrs 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
	Conservative	Ms L Staples
	Conservative	M Lowton
	Labour	Ms G Watson
	Independent		81	3.4
Majority				32.3
Turnout				55.4
	Liberal win (new seat)

Central

Central (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	A Maryan		56.5
	Liberal	C Piper
	Liberal	Ms S Ward
	Conservative	M E Tunwell		43.5
	Conservative	Reginald Poynter*
	Conservative	Neil Fergus Nicholson*
Majority				13.0
Turnout				45.9
	Liberal win (new seat)

Devonshire

Devonshire (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J Healey	969	46.8
	Conservative	E Dobell	949	45.8
	Liberal	A Boswall	936
	Liberal	W Creffield	920
	Conservative	Eric Hugh Bowdler*	905
	Conservative	Ms D Charlton	883
	Labour	Ms 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	Mrs 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	D Carn	1,650
	Labour	Roland James Hutchinson*	1,548	39.8
	Labour	George Alan Bosley*	1,492
	Labour	P Chantler	1,309
	Labour	Ms L Elphick	1,291
	Conservative	Ms C Young	440	11.3
	Conservative	Ms J Tunwell	436
	Conservative	Ms A Cumming	435
	Conservative	Ms C Anscombe	407
Majority				9.1
Turnout				46.5
	Liberal win (new seat)

Langney

Langney (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leonard James Caine*
	Labour	Frederick Charles Solly*
	Labour	R Baker
	Labour	D Salmon
	Conservative	J E Anscombe
	Conservative	Ms M Bare
	Conservative	I Greenfield
	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*
	Conservative	Kathleen Ethel Raven*
	Conservative	Percy Stanley Brockwell*
	Liberal	Ms E Pettigrew
	Liberal	M Hanlon
	Liberal	R Rees
	Labour	Ms I Harris
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)

Ratton

Ratton (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	R Dingwall
	Conservative	Winifred Emily Ouzman*
	Conservative	Michael Scott Phipp*
	Conservative	D Cullen
	Liberal	L Frere
	Liberal	W Charlton
	Conservative	J Toop
	Liberal	Ms E French
	Labour	A Ticehurst
	Labour	Ms K Booth
	Labour	D Evans
	Labour	Ms P Sorrell
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)

Roselands

Roselands (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Vivian Horridge*
	Liberal	William John Evenden*
	Liberal	Clifford Grahame Scott*
	Conservative	J Riley
	Conservative	J C Wakeford
	Conservative	M White
	Labour	P Richardson
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	C W Aldous	1,285
	Liberal	Ms M Perrin	851	37.6
	Liberal	D Parsons	828
	Liberal	Ms N Frere	740
Majority				24.9
Turnout				45.1
	Conservative win (new seat)