The Great Cull

The “Great Cull” is how Jennifer refers to the Bristol City Council elections of 1983.

The electors of Bristol went to the polls on 5 May 1983 with all seats up for grabs, two seats in each ward. Since the previous elections, a re-disposition of ward boundaries and ward representation had reduced the total number of seats on the City Council from 84 to 68 and it coincided with the nadir in the Labour Party’s electoral popularity. The combined effect reduced Labour’s representation from 53 councillors to just 30. The Conservatives, though short of achieving an overall majority, did become the largest party on the Council and, as such, formed a minority administration for the next two years.

Both Jennifer and Doug Naismith were among the survivors and perhaps, as a result, emerged as rather more prominent figures in the local political landscape than they might otherwise have become.