1966 Leeds City Council election

The 1966 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 12 May 1966,^[1] with one third of the council up for election.

A 2.7% swing towards Labour^[2] allowed the party to defend half of their losses of the previous year, and win a majority of the seats up for election, despite still trailing the Conservatives by a significant number in votes. The three Tory gains were in the marginal wards of Beeston, Bramley and Wortley, adding to the gains they were enjoying around the country.^[1]^[3]

There was a sharp drop in turnout for the election - falling into the twenties for only the second time in post-war history - to 29.6%.^[2] Unlike the nadir of 1960 election, where the fall mostly came from the Labour vote, this year's drop chiefly hit Conservative support. None-the-less, the Labour vote received was close to their worst.^[3]

The Liberals managed to regain second place in Far Headingley and Wellington, although standing their lowest number of candidates since 1958 and receiving their lowest share since that year. The Communists' received their greatest share on a reduced vote, from their peak in the prior election and the British National Party participated after a five-year absence, fielding a sole candidate in Armley.^[3]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1966
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	16	0	3	-3	57.1	40.7	40,170	+2.9
Conservative	12	3	0	+3	42.8	53.7	52,921	-2.4
Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	3.8	3,767	-0.8
Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.6	1,553	+0.1
British National	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	195	+0.2

The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:^[4]

Party		Previous council		New council
Party		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Labour	49	19	46	19
	Conservatives	35	9	38	9
Total		84	28	84	28
Total		112		112
Working majority		14	10	8	10
Working majority		24		18

Ward results

Allerton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Long	4,388	83.0	+4.2
	Labour	J. Marshall	899	17.0	−4.2
Majority			3,489	66.0	+8.4
Turnout			5,287
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.2

Armley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Lee	1,635	53.3	+0.7
	Conservative	K. Beal	1,235	40.3	−7.1
	British National	P. Stone	195	6.4	+6.4
Majority			400	13.0	+7.9
Turnout			3,065
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.9

Beeston^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Farrell	2,873	50.8	−7.7
	Labour	A. Beevers	2,788	49.2	+9.1
Majority			85	1.5	−16.8
Turnout			5,661
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-8.4

Blenheim^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Morris	844	60.3	+0.8
	Conservative	R. Austwick	555	39.7	−0.8
Majority			289	20.7	+1.6
Turnout			1,399
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.8

Bramley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Armitage	2,523	52.7	−3.7
	Labour	M. Chadwick	2,264	47.3	+3.7
Majority			259	5.4	−7.4
Turnout			4,787
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-3.7

Burmantofts^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Watson	1,413	57.2	+1.1
	Conservative	J. White	1,058	42.8	−1.1
Majority			355	14.4	+2.2
Turnout			2,471
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.1

City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Marshall	696	65.4	+3.8
	Conservative	M. Baker	368	34.6	−3.8
Majority			328	30.8	+7.6
Turnout			1,064
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.8

Cross Gates^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Jackson	1,847	49.1	−8.7
	Conservative	R. Vaughan	1,693	45.0	+9.3
	Communist	F. Sidebottom	224	6.0	−0.6
Majority			154	4.1	−17.9
Turnout			3,764
	Labour hold		Swing	-9.0

East Hunslet^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Haughton	1,070	64.0	+0.9
	Conservative	P. Wooler	601	36.0	−0.9
Majority			469	28.0	+1.8
Turnout			1,671
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.9

Far Headingley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Somers	4,630	65.0	−2.2
	Liberal	J. Harris	1,485	20.8	+6.8
	Labour	N. Jenner	1,012	14.2	−4.6
Majority			3,145	44.1	−4.3
Turnout			7,127
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.5

Halton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Brooksbank	3,978	77.4	−1.0
	Labour	D. Hamilton	1,161	22.6	+1.0
Majority			2,817	54.8	−1.9
Turnout			5,139
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.0

Harehills^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Astle	2,380	60.9	+2.0
	Labour	H. Howlett	1,525	39.1	+3.6
Majority			855	21.9	−1.5
Turnout			3,905
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

Holbeck^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Smith	1,326	61.8	+6.8
	Conservative	M. Waddington	759	35.4	−2.8
	Communist	J. McCarthy	59	2.8	−4.0
Majority			567	26.4	+9.6
Turnout			2,144
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.8

Hunslet Carr^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Booth	1,427	67.0	+9.1
	Conservative	H. Lister	630	29.6	−8.1
	Communist	E. Burwin	73	3.4	−1.0
Majority			797	37.4	+17.1
Turnout			2,130
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

Hyde Park^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Davison	2,030	57.8	+1.9
	Labour	M. Lawrence	1,342	38.2	+12.1
	Communist	S. Walker	143	4.1	+1.5
Majority			688	19.6	−10.2
Turnout			3,515
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.1

Kirkstall^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Matthews	2,864	54.4	+8.2
	Conservative	H. Newton	2,251	42.8	−7.6
	Communist	B. Huffingley	148	2.8	−0.6
Majority			613	11.6	7.4
Turnout			5,263
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.9

Meanwood^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Pedley	2,596	66.7	−0.9
	Labour	J. McPheat	824	21.2	−0.8
	Liberal	Evelyn Mary Briggs	470	12.1	+1.6
Majority			1,772	45.6	−0.1
Turnout			3,890
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.0

Middleton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Taylor	1,872	79.1	+4.4
	Conservative	R. Heslet	389	16.4	−3.0
	Communist	E. Moore	106	4.5	−1.4
Majority			1,483	62.7	+7.4
Turnout			2,367
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.7

Moortown^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Bolton	4,540	75.6	+4.4
	Labour	D. Chadwick	1,082	18.0	−1.1
	Communist	P. Boyes	384	6.4	+3.9
Majority			3,458	57.6	+5.5
Turnout			6,006
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.7

Osmondthorpe^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Douglas Gabb	1,234	67.6	+2.3
	Conservative	E. Lewis	592	32.4	−2.3
Majority			642	35.2	+4.7
Turnout			1,826
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

Potternewton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Bradley	1,676	59.8	+3.6
	Labour	Joyce Gould	819	29.2	−2.2
	Liberal	Sydney Herbert Bexan	259	9.2	−1.3
	Communist	R. Rawson	49	1.7	−0.1
Majority			857	30.6	+5.8
Turnout			2,803
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.9

Richmond Hill^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Rooney	1,547	71.2	+1.7
	Conservative	E. Dean	446	20.5	−4.1
	Communist	T. Johnson	179	8.2	+2.5
Majority			1,101	50.7	+5.8
Turnout			2,172
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.9

Roundhay^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Wolstenholme	3,793	78.5	+1.1
	Labour	D. Thomas	1,037	21.5	−1.1
Majority			2,756	57.1	+2.3
Turnout			4,830
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Stanningley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Gould	1,979	45.2	+7.8
	Conservative	A. Redmond	1,739	39.8	−5.4
	Liberal	F. Robertson	656	15.0	−2.4
Majority			240	5.5	−2.2
Turnout			4,374
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.6

Wellington^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Donohoe	950	62.8	+4.4
	Liberal	G. Hoyland	237	15.7	−0.3
	Conservative	D. Tiffany	235	15.5	−5.3
	Communist	M. Rogers	91	6.0	+1.2
Majority			713	47.1	+9.6
Turnout			1,513
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

Westfield^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Bell	1,031	51.3	+7.9
	Conservative	A. Sexton	978	48.7	−7.9
Majority			53	2.6	−10.6
Turnout			2,009
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.9

Woodhouse^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Ellis	1,507	48.7	+3.8
	Conservative	D. Crawford	1,493	48.2	−3.5
	Communist	A. Dale	97	3.1	−0.3
Majority			14	0.5	−6.3
Turnout			3,097
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.6

Wortley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Stubley	2,492	46.8	−4.6
	Labour	J. Moynihan	2,175	40.8	+2.3
	Liberal	Walter Holdsworth	660	12.4	+2.3
Majority			317	6.0	−6.8
Turnout			5,327
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-3.4

References

^ ^a ^b "British Tories Gain in Cities". Toledo Blade. 13 May 1966. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 13 May 1966.
^ Whitaker, Joseph (1966). Whitaker's Almanack 1966.

[toledo-1] "British Tories Gain in Cities". Toledo Blade. 13 May 1966. Retrieved 4 October 2012.

[sharpe-2] Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

[results-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 13 May 1966.

[whitaker-4] Whitaker, Joseph (1966). Whitaker's Almanack 1966.

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