[1][2] The elections were the first electoral test for the new Prime Minister James Callaghan, and were a major reverse for the ruling Labour Party.

The party also gained numerous non-metropolitan districts, including large towns and cities such as Derby, Exeter, Ipswich, Leicester, Luton, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Peterborough and York.

Major English councils held by Labour included Manchester, Norwich, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent.

[11] Labour lost control of North East Derbyshire, where all the party's seats in Clay Cross passed to Ratepayer candidates.

Major Labour losses were Cardiff and Newport to the Conservatives, Swansea to Ratepayers and Merthyr Tydfil to Plaid Cymru.