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Elections to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 3 May 1980. The whole council was up for election, with boundary changes since the last election in 1979. The Labour Party gained control of the Council from the Conservatives, who had previously been in control almost continuously since 1966. The overall number of councillors was reduced to 60 compared with 69 in 1979. The Labour Party made a net gain of 6 seats and the Conservatives a net loss of 15. Following this election, Cllr Robert Howarth of Central Ward was elected Leader of the Council and was to remain Leader until 2004, one of the longest serving Council leaders in the UK.

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'All-out' elections to the Wigan Council were held on 1 May 1980, following extensive boundary changes and entirely new wards, yet retaining the number of 24 wards with three seats each for a total of 72 seats. The results were comparable to the 1973 election, with Labour rewarded a crushing majority in seats for approaching 60% of the vote with their main competitors, the Conservatives, falling to under 30%. The Liberals seen their highest representation yet by way of winning all three seats in Langtree.

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The 1982 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 6 May 1982 to elect members of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council

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Elections to the Wigan Council were held on Thursday, 6 May 1982, with one third of the council up for election. The newly formed Alliance made three gains, replacing the Conservatives as the main opposition to Labour. The Alliance massively increased upon the Liberals' past participation, contesting every ward, in marked contrast to a year in which candidate variety fell to a low, with only the former Labour councillor, standing again as Independent Labour in Hindley ward, not representing the three aforementioned choices. Overall turnout was down 2.6% to 33.6%.

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The 1983 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 1983 to elect members of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council

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Elections to the Wigan Council were held on Thursday, 5 May 1983, with one third of the council up for election. The election seen only the main three parties contesting for the first time and one gain in Tyldesley East with Alliance winning their seventh seat from Labour. The Conservatives, contesting a low of seventeen wards, managed their lowest voter share since the council's creation. Overall turnout rose to a relative high of 39.1%.

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The 1984 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 1984 to elect members of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council

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The 1984 Eccles rail crash occurred on 4 December 1984 at Eccles, Greater Manchester, when an express passenger train collided at speed with the rear of a freight train of oil tankers. The driver of the express and two passengers were killed, and 68 people were injured. The cause of the accident was determined to be that the driver of the express train had passed a signal at danger.

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Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 3 May 1984, with one third of the seats up for vote. Three wards – Abram, Hindley and Lightshaw – were unopposed, leaving only twenty one of the twenty four wards going to vote – a number not seen since 1975. Also of note was the re-emergence of a fourth party, in the way of persistent Communist candidate H. Kedward contesting Leigh Central after a three-year absence. The election itself seen a Labour gain in Orrell from the Conservatives, which cancelled out the simultaneous Alliance gain from Labour in Aspell-Standish, leaving their majority unchanged. Overall turnout slumped to 29.2%, the lowest level since the aforementioned 1975 election.

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The 1986 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 8 May 1986 to elect members of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council

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Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 8 May 1986, with one third of the seats scheduled for re-election. Since the previous election three by-elections had taken place, with Labour gaining the seat being fought in Orrell from the Conservatives as well as holding their seats in Bedford-Astley and Beech Hill. The election seen fewer contestants than any previous election since the council's creation in 1973, with a record of four seats unchallenged. Even amongst those contested there were no minor parties represented, the fewest Alliance candidates since the 1980 election and a record low of Conservative contenders at sixteen. The results were similarly record-breaking as Labour won twenty two seats, with the Conservative and Alliance majorities in their respective heartland wards - and only holds - of Swinley and Langtree reduced to slender majorities. Labour won a high of 65% share of the vote, conversely the Conservatives share fell to a low of 13.1%, with their actual vote dropping into four figures for the first time. Overall turnout rose from the preceding year's underwhelming figure of 29.2%, to a more commonplace 35.8%.

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The 1987 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 7 May 1987 to elect members of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council.

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Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 7 May 1987, with one third of the council up for election. Previous to the election there had been two by-elections held, resulting in a Labour gain of the seat being fought in Swinley from the Conservatives and Labour retaining one of their Hindley Green seats. Participation for this election increased substantially from the previous year's lows. Only one ward went unopposed as Labour reliably provided a full-slate of candidates, the Alliance all but Atherton and the Conservatives up from 16 to 18, by way of fielding candidates in the Labour strongholds of Abram and Worsley Mesnes this time around. An Independent Labour candidate also fought and won Hindley, with an Independent victory last seen in 1976, and Independent representation in 1980, when that same victor failed to survive the re-warding.

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The 1988 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 1988 to elect members of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council.

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Elections to the Wigan council were held on Thursday, 5 May 1988, with one third of the seats up for election as well as an extra vacancy in Beech Hill. Following the previous election, two by-elections had taken place, with the Labour Party successfully defending their seats in Ince and Newtown. This year's election seen an improvement in participation, with all wards fought and five parties contesting in some form, by way of the Greens fielding their first ever slate of four candidates and the return of long-time Communist contender H. Kedward in Leigh Central. Despite this, the number of candidates contesting actually fell by five from the previous year's 64, as the turbulent new merger of the old SDP-Liberal Alliance, Social and Liberal Democrats, fielded just half the number of candidates they'd managed in 1987 and, at 11, the lowest since 1980.

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Raymond Anthony Codling was an Inspector with Greater Manchester Police who was murdered at Birch Services on the M62 motorway near Heywood, Greater Manchester, in 1989.