1968 Leeds City Council election

The 1968 Leeds municipal election was held on 9 May 1968.^[1] Following extensive boundary changes, the whole council was up for election. The re-warding increased the number of wards by two, up to 32 wards, raising in-turn the councillor total by six, to 90, and the aldermen total up two to 30.^[2]^[3]

In total ten wards were abolished, twelve created and eighteen remained.

Abolished:

Allerton
Blenheim
Cross Gates
Far Headingley
Hunslet Carr
Hyde Park
Meanwood
Potternewton
Wellington
Westfield

Created:

Burley
Castleton
Chapel Allerton
Cookridge
Gipton
Headingley
Scott Hall
Seacroft
Talbot
Weetwood
West Hunslet
Whinmoor

The election followed national patterns^[1] of the Conservatives inflicting resounding defeats upon the Labour party, winning representation in all but five wards with a crushing 75 seats at the hand of their highest vote since 1951 and a record vote share.^[2] Labour representation was confined to City, East Hunslet, Holbeck and Middleton (although coming within a straw for the third seat in Whinmoor) as they picked up their lowest post-war vote and vote share. The Labour collapse also seen the smaller party make gains, as the Liberals won representation on the council for the first time in the post-war period^[4] via comfortably winning the three newly created Castleton seats and the Communists, who fielded a full-slate for the first and only time, more than tripled their previous records in both vote share and vote figure.^[2]

As a result, the Conservatives gained control of the council for the first time since 1952, with a whopping majority of 80.^[4]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1968
	Seats	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	75	83.3	61.3	77,221	N/A
Labour	12	13.3	27.9	35,200	N/A
Liberal	3	3.3	4.5	5,672	N/A
Communist	0	0.0	6.1	7,664	N/A
Independent Labour	0	0.0	0.1	176	N/A
National Front	0	0.0	0.1	115	N/A

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
	Conservatives	43	9	75	25
	Labour	41	19	12	5
	Liberals	0	0	3	0
Total		84	28	90	30
Total		112		120
Working majority		2	-10	60	20
Working majority		-8		80

Ward results

Armley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Stockwell	2,767	54.3	N/A
	Conservative	H. Stephenson	2,765
	Conservative	G. Atkinson	2,711
	Labour	J. Bissell	1,879	36.9	N/A
	Labour	K. Cohen	1,859
	Labour	S. Lee	1,656
	Communist	P. Wilton	451	8.8	N/A
Majority			832	17.4	N/A
Turnout			5,097		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Beeston^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Farrell	3,208	66.3	N/A
	Conservative	L. Snape	3,196
	Conservative	A. Hartley	3,180
	Labour	F. Beevers	1,455	30.1	N/A
	Labour	Harold Watson	1,276
	Labour	G. Wood	1,257
	Communist	E. Moore	172	3.6	N/A
Majority			1,725	36.3	N/A
Turnout			4,835		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Bramley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Hart	2,892	57.2	N/A
	Conservative	D. Armitage	2,730
	Conservative	M. Robinson	2,697
	Labour	Eric Atkinson	1,782	35.2	N/A
	Labour	M. Chadwick	1,537
	Labour	E. Donohoe	1,306
	Communist	C. Moore	383	7.6	N/A
Majority			915	22.0	N/A
Turnout			5,057		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Burley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Brown	2,318	61.9	N/A
	Conservative	M. Davies	2,284
	Conservative	D. Ramsden	2,256
	Labour	V. Whelan	1,197	32.0	N/A
	Labour	H. Waterman	1,170
	Labour	K. Beaumont	1,136
	Communist	T. Flynn	230	6.1	N/A
Majority			1,059	29.9	N/A
Turnout			3,745		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Burmantofts^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Flockton	2,206	49.8	N/A
	Conservative	M. Baker	2,064
	Conservative	Christine Thomas	2,026
	Labour	Doreen Jenner	1,906	43.0	N/A
	Labour	J. Moynihan	1,683
	Labour	J. Klineberg	1,664
	Communist	F. Stockdale	322	7.3	N/A
Majority			120	6.8	N/A
Turnout			4,434		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Castleton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	M. Renard	1,634	45.6	N/A
	Liberal	Michael Meadowcroft	1,383
	Liberal	C. Tucker	1,305
	Labour	N. Barrett	932	26.0	N/A
	Labour	J. Underwood	929
	Labour	A. Donohoe	928
	Conservative	C. Mathers	787	22.0	N/A
	Conservative	B. Pearce	693
	Conservative	M. Thresh	640
	Communist	J. Garscadden	231	6.4	N/A
Majority			373	19.6	N/A
Turnout			3,584		N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Chapel Allerton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Bellow	4,163	85.2	N/A
	Conservative	J. Long	4,063
	Conservative	Sydney Symmonds	3,927
	Labour	L. Hammond	544	11.1	N/A
	Labour	J. Moran	307
	Labour	C. Say	277
	Communist	L. Morris	182	3.7	N/A
Majority			3,383	73.9	N/A
Turnout			4,889		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

City^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Merritt	1,494	48.8	N/A
	Labour	Ernest Morris	1,432
	Labour	J. Wallbanks	1,400
	Conservative	A. Hislop	1,364	44.5	N/A
	Conservative	J. Cumberland	1,352
	Conservative	J. Baines	1,303
	Communist	T. Johnson	204	6.7	N/A
Majority			36	4.2	N/A
Turnout			3,062		N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Cookridge^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Loudon	3,721	73.6	N/A
	Conservative	J. Lund	3,696
	Conservative	D. Jenkins	3,689
	Liberal	J. Davies	628	12.4	N/A
	Liberal	D. Shearing	552
	Liberal	B. Williams	535
	Labour	J. McMurray	503	10.0	N/A
	Labour	J. Roche	469
	Labour	H. Bretherick	429
	Communist	M. Monkman	202	4.0	N/A
Majority			3,061	61.2	N/A
Turnout			5,054		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

East Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Haughton	1,592	62.0	N/A
	Labour	W. Pepper	1,526
	Labour	W. Parker	1,516
	Conservative	I. Holmes	770	30.0	N/A
	Conservative	E. Feather	743
	Conservative	M. Howdill	629
	Communist	D. Priscott	204	8.0	N/A
Majority			746	32.0	N/A
Turnout			2,566		N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Gipton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Wood	2,375	55.4	N/A
	Conservative	W. Buckland	2,368
	Conservative	M. Suttenstall	2,317
	Labour	F. Watson	1,633	38.1	N/A
	Labour	D. Thomas	1,545
	Labour	J. Anson	1,442
	Communist	S. Jones	278	6.5	N/A
Majority			684	17.3	N/A
Turnout			4,286		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Halton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Tomlinson	4,537	81.6	N/A
	Conservative	R. Vaughan	4,534
	Conservative	Martin Dodgson	4,464
	Labour	W. Spence	654	11.8	N/A
	Labour	Arthur Brown	506
	Labour	B. Shearay	473
	Communist	M. Johnson	372	6.7	N/A
Majority			3,810	69.8	N/A
Turnout			5,563		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Harehills^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Crotty	2,388	79.8	N/A
	Conservative	J. White	2,377
	Conservative	J. Astle	2,357
	Labour	D. Wilson	395	13.2	N/A
	Labour	O. Winship	340
	Labour	W. Veritty	235
	Communist	M. Tomplak	209	7.0	N/A
Majority			1,962	66.6	N/A
Turnout			2,992		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Headingley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Godwin	3,749	71.7	N/A
	Conservative	T. Bennett	3,690
	Conservative	T. Kirkby	3,657
	Liberal	J. Gibson	658	12.6	N/A
	Labour	D. Jennings	563	10.8	N/A
	Labour	J. McPheat	496
	Labour	Albert Smith	474
	Liberal	W. Trickett	458
	Liberal	A. Wren	424
	Communist	S. Walker	260	5.0	N/A
Majority			2,999	59.1	N/A
Turnout			5,230		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Holbeck^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Beevers	1,548	54.9	N/A
	Labour	W. Jones	1,476
	Labour	T. Smith	1,431
	Conservative	J. Bateman	984	34.9	N/A
	Conservative	B. Rawson	951
	Conservative	A. Cummings	943
	Communist	E. Burwin	286	10.1	N/A
Majority			447	20.0	N/A
Turnout			2,818		N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Kirkstall^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Beevers	3,532	61.5	N/A
	Conservative	R. Robertson	3,394
	Conservative	J. Horrocks	3,380
	Labour	D. Matthews	1,898	33.0	N/A
	Labour	C. Collings	1,815
	Labour	Joyce Gould	1,814
	Communist	J. McDermott	317	5.5	N/A
Majority			1,482	28.4	N/A
Turnout			5,747		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Middleton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Taylor	1,604	55.4	N/A
	Labour	S. Binns	1,521
	Labour	A. Malcolm	1,446
	Conservative	B. Cresswell	969	33.5	N/A
	Conservative	J. Challenor	964
	Conservative	J. Johnson	885
	Communist	D. Priscott	320	11.1	N/A
Majority			477	21.9	N/A
Turnout			2,893		N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Moortown^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Challenor	3,488	74.5	N/A
	Conservative	Kenneth Davison	3,444
	Conservative	A. Redmond	3,414
	Liberal	E. Nevies	543	11.6	N/A
	Liberal	C. Rowlands	492
	Labour	B. Foxard	468	10.0	N/A
	Liberal	Deryck Ernest Senior	464
	Labour	C. Green	384
	Labour	J. Hodkinson	337
	Communist	T. Kelly	180	3.8	N/A
Majority			2,871	62.9	N/A
Turnout			4,679		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Osmondthorpe^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Brown	1,694	46.2	N/A
	Conservative	Doreen Wood	1,610
	Conservative	P. Lee	1,592
	Labour	Douglas Gabb	1,586	43.3	N/A
	Labour	P. Addlestone	1,543
	Labour	W. Prichard	1,487
	Communist	W. Rumbelow	385	10.5	N/A
Majority			6	2.9	N/A
Turnout			3,665		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Richmond Hill^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Gill	2,024	55.2	N/A
	Conservative	D. Eastham	1,973
	Conservative	H. Levery	1,962
	Labour	J. Mathers	1,350	36.8	N/A
	Labour	Stan Cohen	1,336
	Labour	M. Fish	1,288
	Communist	P. Fawcett	295	8.0	N/A
Majority			612	18.4	N/A
Turnout			3,669		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Roundhay^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Lax	4,067	87.8	N/A
	Conservative	D. Wolstenholme	4,058
	Conservative	A. Johnson	3,927
	Labour	R. Gillinson	333	7.2	N/A
	Labour	M. Brett	331
	Labour	E. Kavanagh	287
	Communist	C. MacRae	234	5.0	N/A
Majority			3,594	80.6	N/A
Turnout			4,634		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Scott Hall^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Altman	1,435	50.7	N/A
	Conservative	J. Kruthhoffer	1,409
	Conservative	V. Darnton	1,384
	Labour	G. Gloom	927	32.8	N/A
	Labour	R. Ellis	909
	Labour	R. Sedler	845
	Liberal	Dennis Pedder	281	9.9	N/A
	Liberal	Albert Ingham	255
	Liberal	R. Whitelock	221
	Communist	A. Dale	185	6.5	N/A
Majority			457	18.0	N/A
Turnout			2,828		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Seacroft^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Ball	1,823	46.6	N/A
	Conservative	M. Freegard	1,774
	Conservative	E. McQuire	1,763
	Labour	F. Booth	1,731	44.2	N/A
	Labour	L. Jackson	1,691
	Labour	E. Coward	1,608
	Communist	H. Besser	359	9.2	N/A
Majority			32	2.4	N/A
Turnout			3,913		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Stanningley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K. Knapton	2,224	46.5	N/A
	Conservative	A. Vickers	2,207
	Conservative	I. Benton	2,039
	Labour	Kevin Gould	1,851	38.7	N/A
	Labour	F. Davis	1,795
	Labour	Arthur Vollans	1,697
	Liberal	F. Robertson	487	10.2	N/A
	Liberal	A. Fleet	478
	Liberal	J. Lavery	458
	Communist	F. Sidebottom	220	4.6	N/A
Majority			188	7.8	N/A
Turnout			4,782		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Talbot^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Bidgood	4,249	87.1	N/A
	Conservative	D. Bradley	4,187
	Conservative	P. Brayshay	4,181
	Labour	P. King	469	9.6	N/A
	Labour	Joshua Walsh	451
	Labour	M. Rooney	418
	Communist	R. Dolan	163	3.3	N/A
Majority			3,712	77.4	N/A
Turnout			4,881		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Weetwood^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Hall	4,551	76.3	N/A
	Conservative	F. Hall	4,459
	Conservative	G. Somers	4,432
	Liberal	W. Beaumont	896	15.0	N/A
	Liberal	David Austwick	858
	Liberal	J. Grant	823
	Labour	S. Hand	231	3.9	N/A
	Labour	R. Pullan	203
	Labour	V. Veritty	201
	Communist	M. Kettle	174	2.9	N/A
	National Front	P. Stone	115	1.9	N/A
Majority			3,536	61.3	N/A
Turnout			5,967		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

West Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Bennett	1,766	55.8	N/A
	Conservative	K. Crosby	1,741
	Conservative	W. Waddington	1,736
	Labour	A. Tallant	1,122	35.5	N/A
	Labour	Bernard Atha	1,105
	Labour	Harry Booth	1,094
	Independent Labour	A. Betts	176	5.6	N/A
	Independent Labour	M. Wilson	129
	Independent Labour	D. Kennally	127
	Communist	J. McCarthy	99	3.1	N/A
Majority			614	20.4	N/A
Turnout			3,163		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Whinmoor^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Clokie	1,479	48.9	N/A
	Conservative	V. McNair	1,427
	Conservative	Peggy White	1,348
	Labour	M. Lawrence	1,348	44.5	N/A
	Labour	J. Clore	1,345
	Labour	Jim Marshall	1,212
	Communist	J. Scawthorn	199	6.6	N/A
Majority			0	4.3	N/A
Turnout			3,026		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Woodhouse^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Sexton	2,484	62.4	N/A
	Conservative	May Sexton	2,458
	Conservative	P. Fingret	2,365
	Labour	P. Taylor	1,121	28.2	N/A
	Labour	V. Zermansky	966
	Labour	A. Baum	961
	Communist	M. Moore	377	9.5	N/A
Majority			1,244	34.2	N/A
Turnout			3,982		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Wortley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Treeman	3,207	64.1	N/A
	Conservative	R. Beal	3,115
	Conservative	F. Stubley	3,114
	Labour	W. Thurlow	1,084	21.6	N/A
	Labour	T. Cooke	1,012
	Labour	W. Window	962
	Liberal	J. Saxton	545	10.9	N/A
	Liberal	Walter Holdsworth	464
	Liberal	J. Crawshaw	452
	Communist	G. McGowan	171	3.4	N/A
Majority			20,30	42.4	N/A
Turnout			5,007		N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

^ ^a ^b "British Markets in Nervous State". The New York Times. 13 May 1968. Retrieved 19 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 ^af ^ag "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 10 May 1968.
^ ^a ^b Whitaker, Joseph (1968). Whitaker's Almanack 1968.
^ ^a ^b Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

[NYT-1] "British Markets in Nervous State". The New York Times. 13 May 1968. Retrieved 19 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 ^af ^ag "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 10 May 1968.

[whitaker-3] Whitaker, Joseph (1968). Whitaker's Almanack 1968.

[sharpe-4] Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

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[2]

[3]

[4]