This was the fifth election to the district council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.

The election used the 10 wards created by the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1981.

Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.

[1] Labour maintained a large majority on the district council after winning 12 of the 18 seats however, it was two less than the previous election in 1984 and their vote share fell by 7.9% to below half.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) became the joint second-largest party after gaining two seats to hold three while the Conservatives maintained their three seats on the council despite their vote share falling by 17.3%.