In a rematch of the council vote in 1974, incumbent convener Donald Macaulay defeated a challenge from former Stornoway Provost Sandy Matheson and was re-elected to a second term in office.[2]
A by-election was held in Carloway in March 1979 following the resignation of Rev Jack MacArthur, convener of the council's Education Committee, who had moved to Skye to work as a minister for the Church of Scotland in Broadford.[3]