| The
Tory party’s support in the city is reduced to six seats from a
high of ninety in 1968.
The
Liberal Party emerges as the alternative political force to Labour.
In the local elections of 1974 the Liberals become the largest party
and take control of the council.
Their
policies of reducing rates results in a loss of council jobs and
increasing council rents to the highest in the UK outside of
London.
The
reduction in rates leads directly to a massive cut in government
grants to the city. In addition, by 1979 some eighty per cent of the
manufacturing base of the city had disappeared.
|
