1957 Leeds City Council election

The 1957 Leeds municipal elections were held 9 May 1957,^[1] with one third of the council up for election, alongside extra vacancies in the City, Halton and Woodhouse wards.^[2]

Much like the national picture, with Labour winning record representation on borough councils,^[1] Labour outstripped their prior efforts, defending all of their 1954 gains as well as gaining in Beeston and Harehills – two wards they failed to win in their peak of 1952, despite accruing only a modest swing of 1.2% swing^[3] (although they had come within a vote to taking the former the previous year). Unlike 1952 or the year before, Labour failed to gain Wortley this time, as the Liberal damage to the Conservative vote was unwound.^[2] The two gains increased Labour's majority to 28, mirroring the Conservatives' after their triumphant 1951 election. Turnout rose to 36.2% following last year's plummet to the low thirties.^[2]^[3]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1957
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	21	2	0	+2	67.7	50.2	64,454	+2.0
Conservative	10	0	2	-2	32.2	46.4	59,508	-1.0
Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	3.1	4,019	-0.6
Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	374	-0.3

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	51	17	53	17
	Conservatives	33	11	31	11
Total		84	28	84	28
Total		112		112
Working majority		18	6	22	6
Working majority		24		28

Ward results

Allerton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Lyons	5,091	86.6	+0.8
	Labour	J. Klineberg	787	13.4	−0.8
Majority			4,304	73.2	+1.6
Turnout			5,878
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Armley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Lee	2,621	56.7	+0.9
	Conservative	J. Broomfield	2,002	43.3	−0.9
Majority			619	13.4	+1.8
Turnout			4,623
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.9

Beeston^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Tallant	3,688	47.2	−2.8
	Conservative	J. Farrell	3,363	43.0	−7.0
	Liberal	H. Passmore	764	9.8	+9.8
Majority			325	4.2	+4.2
Turnout			7,815
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.1

Blenheim^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Lake	2,268	67.6	+7.2
	Conservative	W. McClellan	1,085	32.4	−7.2
Majority			1,183	35.3	+14.4
Turnout			3,353
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.2

Bramley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Rhodes	3,285	54.4	+5.9
	Conservative	B. Pearce	1,938	32.1	−4.1
	Liberal	J. Walker	811	13.4	−1.8
Majority			1,347	22.3	+10.0
Turnout			6,034
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.0

Burmantofts^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Watson	2,414	70.7	+4.4
	Conservative	S. Hick	1,002	29.3	−4.4
Majority			1,412	41.3	+8.7
Turnout			3,416
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.4

City^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Stoner	1,846	64.9	+0.3
	Labour	Bernard Atha	1,745
	Conservative	J. Butterfield	999	35.1	−0.3
	Conservative	K. Wigin	992
Majority			746	29.8	+0.6
Turnout			2,845
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.3

Cross Gates^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Jackson	3,188	61.9	−1.4
	Conservative	H. Williams	1,964	38.1	+1.4
Majority			1,224	23.8	−2.8
Turnout			5,152
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.4

East Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Naylor	2,498	75.3	+1.8
	Conservative	B. Watson	820	24.7	−1.8
Majority			1,678	50.6	+3.5
Turnout			3,318
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.8

Far Headingley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Rostron	4,145	74.8	−4.5
	Labour	G. Brogden	1,399	25.2	+4.5
Majority			2,746	49.5	−9.0
Turnout			5,544
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.5

Halton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Brooksbank	3,958	77.2	+0.5
	Conservative	J. Dougray	3,768
	Labour	J. Marshall	1,172	22.8	−0.5
	Labour	A. Grange	1,135
Majority			2,596	54.3	+1.0
Turnout			5,130
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

Harehills^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Sedler	2,825	50.5	+2.9
	Conservative	N. Kay	2,770	49.5	−2.9
Majority			55	1.0	−3.9
Turnout			5,595
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.9

Holbeck^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Smith	2,344	61.0	+0.0
	Conservative	K. Orton	835	21.7	+0.6
	Liberal	John Brian Meeks	661	17.2	−0.5
Majority			1,509	39.3	−0.6
Turnout			3,840
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.3

Hunslet Carr^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Booth	2,708	80.4	−11.7
	Conservative	J. Judge	544	16.2	+16.2
	Communist	E. Moore	116	3.4	−4.5
Majority			2,164	64.3	−19.8
Turnout			3,368
	Labour hold		Swing	-13.9

Hyde Park^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Davison	2,828	60.3	−7.9
	Labour	E. Coward	1,865	39.7	+7.9
Majority			963	20.5	−15.7
Turnout			4,693
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.9

Kirkstall^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Happold	3,171	60.9	−0.1
	Conservative	E. Lodge	2,032	39.1	+0.1
Majority			1,139	21.9	−0.2
Turnout			5,203
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.1

Meanwood^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Pedley	3,654	73.9	−1.8
	Labour	F. Woolhouse	1,291	26.1	+1.8
Majority			2,363	47.8	−3.5
Turnout			4,945
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.8

Middleton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Brown	2,429	83.2	−2.2
	Conservative	F. Stubley	491	16.8	+2.2
Majority			1,938	66.4	−4.4
Turnout			2,920
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.2

Moortown^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Bolton	4,306	74.2	−3.4
	Labour	L. Steele	1,496	25.8	+3.4
Majority			2,810	48.4	−6.9
Turnout			5,802
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.4

Osmondthorpe^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Douglas Gabb	2,710	77.1	+1.8
	Conservative	L. Ideson	807	22.9	−1.8
Majority			1,903	54.1	+3.5
Turnout			3,517
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.8

Potternewton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Bradley	2,044	60.4	−0.5
	Labour	V. Zermansky	1,341	39.6	+5.6
Majority			703	20.8	−6.1
Turnout			3,385
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.0

Richmond Hill^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Rooney	1,825	77.0	+0.3
	Conservative	J. Ashworth	544	23.0	−0.3
Majority			1,281	54.1	+0.6
Turnout			2,369
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.3

Roundhay^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Monkman	3,927	67.8	−3.0
	Labour	D. Yelland	1,867	32.2	+3.0
Majority			2,060	35.6	−5.9
Turnout			5,794
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.0

Stanningley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Spence	2,646	50.3	+0.9
	Conservative	A. Vickers	1,644	31.2	+0.5
	Liberal	J. Grimshaw	972	18.5	−1.4
Majority			1,002	19.0	+0.3
Turnout			5,262
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

Wellington^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Aimee Tong	2,413	90.3	+13.6
	Communist	G. Hodgson	258	9.7	+4.8
Majority			2,155	80.7	+22.4
Turnout			2,671
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.4

Westfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Wiseman	2,639	56.0	+2.4
	Conservative	M. Sexton	1,735	36.8	+0.0
	Liberal	George Petch	337	7.2	−2.4
Majority			904	19.2	+2.5
Turnout			4,711
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.2

Woodhouse^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Ellis	2,754	60.3	+10.7
	Labour	P. Taylor	2,583
	Conservative	A. Chadwick	1,813	39.7	−5.4
	Conservative	L. Francis	1,787
Majority			941	20.6	+16.1
Turnout			4,567
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.0

Wortley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bertrand Mather	3,167	47.9	+4.7
	Labour	E. Morris	2,964	44.9	+1.1
	Liberal	Walter Holdsworth	474	7.2	−5.8
Majority			203	3.1	+2.5
Turnout			6,605
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

References

^ ^a ^b "Laborites Win Locally". The New York Times. 10 May 1957. Retrieved 17 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 ^ac ^ad ^ae "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 10 May 1957.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

[NYT-1] "Laborites Win Locally". The New York Times. 10 May 1957. Retrieved 17 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 ^ac ^ad ^ae "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 10 May 1957.

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

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