South Bedfordshire was a local government district in Bedfordshire, in the East of England, from 1974 to 2009. Its main towns were Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard.
Creation
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a general reorganisation of local authorities in England and Wales carried out under the Local Government Act 1972. South Bedfordshire was formed by the amalgamation of three former districts which were all abolished at the same time:
- Dunstable Municipal Borough;
- Leighton-Linslade Urban District; and
- Luton Rural District. Following the council's abolition in 2009 the building was used as a secondary office by Central Bedfordshire Council, being renamed as Watling House.
Civil parishes
The district comprised the following civil parishes:
- Barton-le-Clay
- Caddington
- Chalton
- Dunstable (Town)
- Eaton Bray
- Heath and Reach
- Houghton Regis (Town)
- Hockliffe
- Hyde
- Leighton-Linslade (Town)
- Kensworth
- Slip End
- Stanbridge
- Streatley
- Studham
- Sundon
- Toddington
- Totternhoe
- Whipsnade
Elections and political control
The first election to South Bedfordshire District Council took place on 7 June 1973, with the 45 councillors elected forming a shadow authority until 1 April 1974.
The first council elected was under no overall control, with the Conservative Party having the largest number of councillors. The party dominated the council for most of its existence, gaining a majority in 1976 which they held until 1995. In 1996 they were supplanted by the Labour Party as the largest grouping on the council, in a year that saw a strong vote against the unpopular Conservative government of John Major. In 1999 the Liberal Democrats briefly became the largest group on the council, which remained under no overall control. The Conservatives staged a recovery in 2000, taking 10 seats from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, and again gaining a plurality of councillors. They subsequently regained their majority, which they held until the council's abolition.
{| class="wikitable"
|- border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
!Year
!Conservative
!Labour
!Liberal/<br />Liberal Democrat
!Independent
!Other
!colspan=2 | Control
|-
| 1973
|37
|9
|5
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1979
|37
|9
|6
|1
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1980
|35
|11
|7
|0
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1982
|34
|11
|6
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1983
|38
|10
|4
|1
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1984
|41
|9
|1
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1986
|37
|10
|5
|1
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1987
|39
|8
|4
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1988
|39
|8
|4
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1990
|37
|9
|5
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1991
|34
|11
|6
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1992
|37
|9
|6
|0
|1 vacancy
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1994
|35
|9
|7
|2
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 1995
|13
|21
|13
|3
|0
| bgcolor=CCCCCC |
| No overall control
|-
| 1999 †
|28
|7
|15
|0
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 2003
|31
|6
|13
|0
|0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 2004
| 34
| 4
| 12
| 0
| 0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 2006
| 35
| 4
| 11
| 0
| 0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|-
| 2007
| 34
| 4
| 11
| 1
| 0
| bgcolor=5B76FF |
| Conservative hold
|}
† New ward boundaries
Coat of arms
On 27 November 1976 South Bedfordshire District Council was granted armorial bearings by the College of Arms. The arms combined elements from the devices of the three merged councils, and were blazoned as follows:
<blockquote>Or a pile gules over all a single-arched bridge throughout argent masoned sable the keystone charged with an ear of wheat between on the pile three sickles proper all within a bordure engrailed sable; and for a Crest on a wreath of the colours out of a mural crown argent masoned sable in front of a demi-Bull three cog-wheels in fesse Or; and for a Badge or Device: Upon a roundel embattled gules irradiated with rays of the sun a demi-bull rampant couped Or.</blockquote>
The gold and red colouring was derived from the arms of the Bedfordshire County Council. The triangular "pile" and black engrailed border around the shield came from the device of Dunstable Borough Council, itself based on the arms of Dunstable Priory. The bridge across the centre of the shield was from the arms of Leighton Linslade UDC, and the sickles from those of Luton RDC. The crest above the shield was a gold bull, one of the supporters of the county council arms. The motto of Leighton-Linslade, "By Truth and Dilgence" was adopted.