1986 Reading Borough Council election

1986 Reading Borough Council election
8 May 1986 (1986-05-08)
15 seats of 45 on council
23 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Lab
Con
Lib
Leader Mike Orton Deryck Morton Jim Day
Party Labour Conservative Liberal
Alliance Alliance
Seats before 17 23 5
Seats after 22 18 5
Seat change 5 5
Popular vote 15,213 13,736 11,920
Percentage 36.4% 32.8% 28.5%
Swing 2.9% 9.6% 5.3%

The 1986 Reading Borough Council election was held on 8 May 1986, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.

The election saw the Conservatives lose their majority on the council. Labour gained most seats, but remained one seat short of an overall majority, leaving the council with no overall control. After the election, Labour had 22 seats, the Conservatives had 18 seats, and the SDP-Liberal Alliance had 5 seats, all of whom were Liberals.

Labour subsequently took control of the council, with the support of two disaffected Conservatives. The Labour leader, Mike Orton, took the council's top political job as chair of the policy committee. The Conservative leader, Deryck Morton, stood down as party leader immediately after the election, being replaced by Geoff Canning. The Liberal leader remained Jim Day. Turnout was reported to be 39%.

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