1964 Merton London Borough Council election

The 1964 Merton Council election took place on 7 May 1964 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the council went into no overall control.

Background

These elections were the first to the newly formed borough. Previously elections had taken place in the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and Merton and Morden Urban District. These boroughs and districts were joined to form the new London Borough of Merton by the London Government Act 1963.

A total of 146 candidates stood in the election for the 54 seats being contested across 14 wards. These included a full slate from the Labour party, while the Conservative and Liberal parties stood 47 and 28 respectively. Other candidates included 8 Residents, 6 Communists and 3 Independents. There were 13 four-seat wards and 1 two-seat ward.

This election had aldermen as well as directly elected councillors. The Conservatives got 5 aldermen, Labour 3, and Independents 1.

The Council was elected in 1964 as a "shadow authority" but did not start operations until 1 April 1965.

Election result

The results saw no party gain overall control of the new council with Labour winning 26 and the Conservatives winning 25 of the 54 seats. Overall turnout in the election was 45.3%. This turnout included 913 postal votes.

Ward results

Cannon Hill (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,785	47.5
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Mitcham Central (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,204	48.4
	Residents win (new seat)
	Residents win (new seat)
	Residents win (new seat)
	Residents win (new seat)

Mitcham East (2)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			2,931	54.8
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Mitcham North (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			5,274	48.6
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Mitcham South (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			3,790	38.1
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Mitcham West (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			3,349	34.7
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Morden (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,107	44.8
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Priory (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,151	41.1
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Ravensbury (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,173	39.2
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

West Barnes (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			5,511	58.0
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Wimbledon East (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,582	45.4
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Wimbledon North (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,808	46.2
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Wimbledon South (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			4,373	43.9
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Wimbledon West (4)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Turnout			5,183	48.1
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)