1946 Leeds City Council election

The 1946 Leeds municipal elections were held on Saturday 2 November 1946, ^[1] with one third of the council and vacancies in Burmantofts and Farnley & Wortley to be elected. A handful of wards - Armley & Wortley, Burmantofts, Holbeck North, Hunslet Carr & Middleton and Osmondthorpe - went uncontested. ^[2]

Rebounding from the heavy defeat the year before, the Conservatives managed a 13% swing ^[3] to win the popular vote - although that feat went poorly rewarded, as Labour won a comfortable majority of the seats contested and made a net gain to add to their national victory. ^{[1] [2]} Elsewhere the Liberal vote was less than half of that the previous year, and the Communists contested this year with three candidates. Turnout seen a slight drop from the prior election to 41.9%. ^[3]

Election result

Leeds local election result 1946

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	19	?	?	+1	67.8	44.9	53,865	-12.9
	Conservative	9	?	?	-1	32.1	51.4	61,668	+14.3
	Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.9	3,434	-2.1
	Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.7	903	New

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

Party		Previous council		New council
		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Labour	58	15	59	15
	Conservatives	20	11	19	11
Total		78	26	78	26
		104		104
Working majority		38	4	40	4
		42		44

Ward results

Armley & Wortley ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Marlow	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Beeston ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Gummersall	3,180	45.7	+8.0
	Labour	W. Clayton	3,174	45.6	−5.8
	Liberal	G. Story	609	8.7	−2.2
Majority			6	0.1	−13.6
Turnout			6,963

Blenheim ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Webster	2,822	55.5	+5.9
	Labour	M. Bretherick	2,267	44.5	−5.9
Majority			555	11.0	+9.9
Turnout			5,089

Bramley ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Atkinson	4,339	54.9	−0.7
	Conservative	A. Baker	3,562	45.1	+12.4
Majority			777	9.8	−13.1
Turnout			7,901

Burmantofts ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Murray	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Labour	W. Shutt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Central ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Lowcock	1,621	62.4	−6.7
	Conservative	P. Stead	977	37.6	+6.7
Majority			644	24.8	−13.3
Turnout			2,598

Cross Gates & Temple Newsam ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Adamson	5,583	57.4	+15.0
	Labour	L. Walsh	4,136	42.6	−15.0
Majority			1,447	14.8	−0.2
Turnout			9,719

East Hunslet ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Naylor	2,163	69.5	+1.5
	Liberal	Albert Hope	947	30.5	−1.5
Majority			1,216	39.0	+3.0
Turnout			3,110

Far Headingley ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Martin	6,529	72.3	+5.6
	Labour	E. Whitehead	1,808	20.0	−13.2
	Liberal	Winifred Underhill	690	7.6	+7.6
Majority			4,721	52.3	+18.8
Turnout			9,027

Farnley & Wortley ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Watson	4,246	58.0	−7.5
	Labour	J. Wallbanks	4,156
	Conservative	P. Bailey	3,081	42.0	+7.5
	Conservative	G. Appleby	3,022
Majority			1,165	16.0	−15.0
Turnout			7,327

Harehills ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Hills	3,944	53.4	−14.7
	Conservative	G. Monkman	3,444	46.6	+14.7
Majority			500	6.8	−29.5
Turnout			7,388

Holbeck North ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Jessop	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Holbeck South ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Burnley	2,110	72.8	+3.5
	Liberal	W. Holdsworth	789	27.2	+14.1
Majority			1,321	45.6	−6.0
Turnout			2,899

Hunslet Carr & Middleton ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Hand	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Hyde Park ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. McKay	4,123	68.8	+11.7
	Labour	A. Malcolm	1,866	31.2	−11.7
Majority			2,257	37.7	+23.4
Turnout			5,989

Kirkstall ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Happold	3,980	54.4	−4.0
	Conservative	H. Sellors	3,332	45.6	+13.8
Majority			648	8.9	−17.8
Turnout			7,312

Mill Hill & South ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Cowling	1,267	51.5	+8.4
	Labour	H. Hyams	1,194	48.5	−8.4
Majority			73	3.0	−10.9
Turnout			2,461

North ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Kaberry	7,003	77.7	+20.1
	Labour	N. Davey	2,015	22.3	−6.4
Majority			4,988	55.3	+26.5
Turnout			9,018

Osmondthorpe ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Potter	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Potternewton ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Mulley	3,124	55.0	+11.5
	Labour	B. Weinrib	1,961	34.5	−22.1
	Communist	B. Ramelson	598	10.5	+10.5
Majority			1,163	20.5	+7.3
Turnout			5,683

Richmond Hill ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Z. Fernandez	1,519	89.9	N/A
	Communist	M. Ramelson	171	10.1	N/A
Majority			1,348	79.8	N/A
Turnout			1,690		N/A

Roundhay ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Stevenson	6,953	76.5	+14.4
	Labour	A. D'Arcy	2,140	23.5	−14.4
Majority			4,813	52.9	+28.8
Turnout			9,093

Upper Armley ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Braham	2,931	48.2	−10.8
	Conservative	E. Glover	2,749	45.2	+4.2
	Liberal	G. Petch	399	6.6	+6.6
Majority			182	3.0	−15.0
Turnout			6,079

West Hunslet ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Ellison	2,668	66.0	−5.1
	Conservative	P. Woodward	1,243	30.7	+12.4
	Communist	J. Roche	134	3.3	+3.3
Majority			1,425	35.2	−17.5
Turnout			4,045

Westfield ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Rafferty	1,392	61.5	−12.6
	Conservative	G. Harrison	871	38.5	+12.6
Majority			521	23.0	−25.3
Turnout			2,263

Woodhouse ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Nick	2,391	56.7	−5.7
	Conservative	S. Taylor	1,825	43.3	+18.7
Majority			566	13.4	−24.4
Turnout			4,216

References

1. "Laborites Lead in British Election". The New York Times . 2 November 1946. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
2. "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post . 3 November 1946.
3. Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.