1949 Leeds City Council election

The 1949 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 12 May 1949,^[1] with one third of the seats to be elected.^[2]

Witnessing a slight swing away from them of 0.5%,^[3] the Conservatives won a narrow majority of the seats contested. With the seats last fought in Labour's landslide of 1945, all but four of the Conservative seats were gains. Totalling ten, the Conservatives safely gained Blenheim, Cross Gates & Temple Newsam and Upper Armley; less so in Beeston and Bramley, and very closely in Harehills, Kirkstall, Mill Hill & South and Farnley & Wortley (the latter being won by nine votes).^[2] The Conservatives also gained an extra alderman off the back of the gains, reducing Labour's hold to a slender majority of eight. Turnout returned to 46.4% after the spike recorded the previous election.^[3]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1949
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	14	10	0	+10	53.8	52.5	89,802	-1.0
Labour	12	0	10	-10	46.1	42.8	73,164	+0.0
Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	4.1	7,021	+1.1
Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.5	908	-0.2

The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:^[3]

Party		Previous council		New council
Party		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Labour	52	15	42	14
	Conservatives	26	11	36	12
Total		78	26	78	26
Total		104		104
Working majority		26	4	6	2
Working majority		30		8

Ward results

Armley & Wortley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Underwood	3,272	63.9	+0.3
	Conservative	G. Atkinson	1,848	36.1	−0.3
Majority			1,424	27.8	+0.7
Turnout			5,120
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.3

Beeston^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ms. Collins	4,239	48.8	−0.6
	Labour	W. Webster	3,458	40.8	+1.1
	Liberal	G. Whittaker	908	10.4	−0.4
Majority			691	7.9	−1.8
Turnout			8,695
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-0.8

Blenheim^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Clarke	3,580	60.7	+4.2
	Labour	Albert Smith	2,322	39.3	+5.0
Majority			1,258	21.3	−0.8
Turnout			5,902
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-0.4

Bramley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Baker	4,495	47.4	+4.7
	Labour	E. Kavanagh	4,077	43.0	−3.5
	Liberal	F. Benfield	913	9.6	−1.2
Majority			418	4.4	+0.6
Turnout			9,485
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.1

Burmantofts^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Jackson	2,722	70.3	+2.6
	Conservative	J. Steer	1,151	29.7	−2.6
Majority			1,571	40.6	+5.1
Turnout			3,873
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

Central^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Spence	1,747	53.0	−1.2
	Conservative	P. Stead	1,552	47.0	+1.2
Majority			195	5.9	−2.4
Turnout			3,299
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.2

Cross Gates & Temple Newsam^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Till	6,992	59.4	+1.9
	Labour	P. Holmes	4,783	40.6	−1.9
Majority			2,209	18.8	+3.9
Turnout			11,775
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+1.9

East Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Naylor	2,651	74.7	N/A
	Conservative	G. Fagan	898	25.3	N/A
Majority			1,753	49.4	N/A
Turnout			3,549		N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Far Headingley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Carter	7,770	77.0	−4.0
	Labour	A. Malcolm	1,367	13.5	−5.5
	Liberal	B. Graham	959	9.5	+9.5
Majority			6,403	63.4	+1.4
Turnout			10,096
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

Farnley & Wortley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Horner	4,518	50.0	+2.3
	Labour	Leonard Wilkinson	4,509	50.0	−2.3
Majority			9	0.1	−4.4
Turnout			9,027
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+2.3

Harehills^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Crotty	4,512	50.5	−0.7
	Labour	Ms. Jolly	4,416	49.5	+0.7
Majority			96	1.1	−1.3
Turnout			8,928
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-0.7

Holbeck North^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ms. Whitehead	1,101	76.9	+17.0
	Conservative	P. Glew	330	23.1	−3.0
Majority			771	53.9	+20.1
Turnout			1,431
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.0

Holbeck South^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Smith	2,719	56.6	+0.9
	Conservative	H. Drake	1,660	34.5	+1.0
	Liberal	George Petch	427	8.9	−2.0
Majority			1,059	22.0	−0.1
Turnout			4,806
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.0

Hunslet Carr & Middleton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Brown	5,309	63.3	−1.5
	Conservative	H. Grafton	2,367	28.2	−6.9
	Liberal	A. Burrell	712	8.5	+8.5
Majority			2,942	35.1	+5.4
Turnout			8,388
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.7

Hyde Park^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Hutchinson	4,795	70.0	−2.5
	Labour	D. Matthews	1,425	20.8	−6.7
	Liberal	G. Foster	628	9.2	+9.2
Majority			3,370	49.2	+4.1
Turnout			6,848
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

Kirkstall^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Turnbull	4,174	45.2	−4.6
	Labour	K. Muir	4,018	43.5	+2.8
	Liberal	Arthur Lawrence Braithwaite Childe	820	8.9	+2.5
	Communist	R. Huffingley	220	2.4	−0.7
Majority			156	1.7	−7.4
Turnout			9,235
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-3.7

Mill Hill & South^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Hey	1,409	50.9	−1.6
	Labour	Ms. Gertrude Bray	1,359	49.1	+1.6
Majority			50	1.8	−3.1
Turnout			2,768
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	-1.6

North^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Wooler-Loy	7,957	76.0	−4.5
	Labour	N. Davy	1,451	13.9	−5.6
	Liberal	Wilfred Ernest Hopper	1,062	10.1	+10.1
Majority			6,506	62.1	+1.0
Turnout			10,470
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

Osmondthorpe^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Matthews	3,959	63.5	+0.4
	Conservative	T. Nipe	2,274	36.5	−0.4
Majority			1,685	27.0	+0.8
Turnout			6,233
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.4

Potternewton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Driver	3,997	63.3	+5.8
	Labour	L. Walsh	1,876	29.7	−3.1
	Communist	B. Ramelson	445	7.0	−2.6
Majority			2,121	33.6	+8.9
Turnout			6,318
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.4

Richmond Hill^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. King	2,026	68.5	−0.9
	Conservative	W. Walford	933	31.5	+0.9
Majority			1,093	36.9	−1.8
Turnout			2,959
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.9

Roundhay^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Tetley	8,944	78.5	+1.5
	Labour	H. Kinder	2,444	21.5	−1.5
Majority			6,500	57.1	+3.1
Turnout			11,388
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.5

Upper Armley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Glover	3,887	57.2	+3.1
	Labour	E. Blackburn	2,913	42.8	−3.1
Majority			974	14.3	+6.1
Turnout			6,800
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.1

West Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Watson	2,848	53.5	+1.0
	Conservative	J. Farrell	1,644	30.9	+1.6
	Liberal	H. Kirkley	592	11.1	−3.0
	Communist	F. Warburton	243	4.6	+0.4
Majority			1,204	22.6	−0.6
Turnout			5,327
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.3

Westfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Stubbs	1,478	54.9	+0.5
	Conservative	Ms. Gledhill	1,213	45.1	−0.5
Majority			265	9.8	+0.9
Turnout			2,691
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.5

Woodhouse^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ms. Clayden	2,824	51.5	+4.2
	Conservative	G. Taylor	2,663	48.5	+3.7
Majority			161	2.9	+0.4
Turnout			5,487
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

References

^ "Conservatives Score Wide Gains Over Laborites in Municipal Vote". The New York Times. 13 May 1949. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
^ ^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 "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 13 May 1949.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

[NYT-1] "Conservatives Score Wide Gains Over Laborites in Municipal Vote". The New York Times. 13 May 1949. Retrieved 15 October 2012.

[results-2] ^ ^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 "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 13 May 1949.

[sharpe-3] Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

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