1950 Leeds City Council election

The 1950 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday, 11 May 1950,^[1] with one third of the seats to be elected.^[2]

The election was sparsely contested owing to an electoral truce between Labour and the Conservatives in anticipation of the impending boundary changes to take effect the following year. However the Liberals and Communists fielded candidates in a number of wards - although the Liberals' two candidates was much reduced from recent showings, whilst conversely the Communists contesting of over a quarter of wards was well above their usual three. Eight wards in total were opposed, with the five Labour and three Conservative incumbents easily defending them, ensuring an uneventful result in contrast to the national picture.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1950
	Seats	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	17	65.4	51.2	9,733	+8.4
Conservative	9	34.6	39.0	7,415	-13.5
Communist	0	0.0	5.1	980	+4.6
Liberal	0	0.0	4.7	892	+0.6

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	42	14	42	14
	Conservatives	36	12	36	12
Total		78	26	78	26
Total		104		104
Working majority		6	2	6	2
Working majority		8		8

Ward results

Armley & Wortley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ms. Marlow	2,109	95.4	+31.5
	Communist	L. Burwin	102	4.6	+4.6
Majority			2,007	90.8	+63.0
Turnout			2,211
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.4

Beeston^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Gummersall	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Blenheim^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Webster	2,263	93.7	+33.0
	Communist	M. Roche	152	6.3	+6.3
Majority			2,111	87.4	+66.1
Turnout			2,415
	Conservative hold		Swing	+13.3

Bramley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Atkinson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Burmantofts^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Murray	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Central^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Lowcock	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Cross Gates & Temple Newsam^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Brooksbanks	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

East Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lizzie Naylor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Far Headingley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Dovenor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Farnley & Wortley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K. Muir	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Harehills^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ms. Hill	1,753	94.3	+44.8
	Communist	P. Warburton	106	5.7	+5.7
Majority			1,647	88.6	+87.5
Turnout			1,859
	Labour hold		Swing	+19.5

Holbeck North^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Hirst	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Holbeck South^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Bray	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Hunslet Carr & Middleton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Hand	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Hyde Park^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. McKay	2,859	86.8	+16.8
	Liberal	G. Foster	434	13.2	+4.0
Majority			2,425	73.6	+24.4
Turnout			3,293
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.4

Kirkstall^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Happold	2,572	94.1	+50.6
	Communist	R. Huffingley	160	5.9	+3.5
Majority			2,412	88.3	+86.6
Turnout			2,732
	Labour hold		Swing	+23.5

Mill Hill & South^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Nipe	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

North^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Watson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Osmondthorpe^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Potter	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Potternewton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Mulley	2,293	88.5	+25.3
	Communist	B. Ramelson	297	11.5	+4.4
Majority			1,996	77.1	+43.5
Turnout			2,590
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.4

Richmond Hill^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Z. Fernandez	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Roundhay^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Drake	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Upper Armley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Hodgson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

West Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Ellison	1,833	77.2	+23.7
	Liberal	Victor Louis Raymond Delepine	458	19.3	+8.2
	Communist	J. Roche	84	3.5	−1.0
Majority			1,375	57.9	+35.3
Turnout			2,375
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.7

Westfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Rafferty	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Woodhouse^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Vick	1,466	94.9	+43.4
	Communist	B. Kline	79	5.1	+5.1
Majority			1,387	89.8	+86.9
Turnout			1,545
	Labour hold		Swing	+19.1

References

^ ^a ^b "British Voting Swings Right". St. Petersburg Times. 12 May 1950. Retrieved 8 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. 12 May 1950.
^ ^a ^b Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

[stpetersburg-1] "British Voting Swings Right". St. Petersburg Times. 12 May 1950. Retrieved 8 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. 12 May 1950.

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

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