1958 Leeds City Council election

The 1958 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 10 April 1958, with one third of the seats and a double vacancy in Bramley to be elected. ^[1]

Labour achieved a further swing of 0.3%, ^[2] to take two more seats from the Conservatives. The two gains were in Westfield - where the incumbents 7.5% swing was not enough to hold on - and Wortley, with Labour narrowly gaining on a 78-vote majority as the main beneficiaries of the Liberal absence this time around. ^[1] As well as those two gains, Labour gained one in the new aldermen division, increasing their majority on the council to 34. ^[2] A notable feat of the election was the Liberals managing to push the Conservatives into third in the two wards of Holbeck and Middleton - a post-war first. ^[1] Turnout rose by a percentage point on the previous year, to 37.2%. ^[2]

Election result

Leeds local election result 1958

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	19	2	0	+2	65.5	49.8	64,563	-0.4
	Conservative	10	0	2	-2	34.5	46.1	59,770	-0.3
	Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	3.7	4,739	+0.6
	Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.4	485	+0.1

The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections: ^[2]

Party		Previous council		New council
		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Labour	53	17	55	18
	Conservatives	31	11	29	10
Total		84	28	84	28
		112		112
Working majority		22	6	26	8
		28		34

Ward results

Allerton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Drake	4,376	86.0	−0.7
	Labour	J. Marshall	715	14.0	+0.7
Majority			3,661	72.0	−1.4
Turnout			5,091
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.7

Armley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K. Cohen	2,820	58.5	+1.8
	Conservative	J. Broomfield	2,002	41.5	−1.8
Majority			818	17.0	+3.6
Turnout			4,822
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.8

Beeston ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Snape	3,174	42.8	−0.2
	Labour	N. Billington	3,084	41.6	−5.6
	Liberal	H. Passmore	1,154	15.6	+5.8
Majority			90	1.2	−3.0
Turnout			7,412
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.7

Blenheim ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Wallbanks	2,146	69.0	+1.4
	Conservative	J. Ashworth	962	31.0	−1.4
Majority			1,184	38.1	+2.8
Turnout			3,108
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.4

Bramley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Atkinson	3,051	50.4	−4.0
	Labour	W. Tate	2,713
	Conservative	C. Dean	2,095	34.6	+2.5
	Conservative	H. Pickering	1,860
	Liberal	John Humphrey Morrish	905	15.0	+1.5
	Liberal	George Petch	836
Majority			618	15.8	−6.5
Turnout			6,051
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.2

Burmantofts ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Lloyd	2,367	72.2	+1.5
	Conservative	H. Robinson	912	27.8	−1.5
Majority			1,455	44.4	+3.1
Turnout			3,279
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

City ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Whitehead	1,568	67.3	+2.4
	Conservative	B. Emmett	761	32.7	−2.4
Majority			807	34.7	+4.9
Turnout			2,329
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.4

Cross Gates ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Booth	3,700	68.8	+6.9
	Conservative	F. Hodges	1,677	31.2	−6.9
Majority			2,023	37.6	+13.8
Turnout			5,377
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.9

East Hunslet ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Fish	2,659	76.8	+1.5
	Conservative	B. Watson	804	23.2	−1.5
Majority			1,855	53.6	+3.0
Turnout			3,463
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

Far Headingley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Hey	4,451	78.0	+3.3
	Labour	G. Brogden	1,254	22.0	−3.3
Majority			3,197	56.0	+6.5
Turnout			5,705
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

Halton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Watson	3,857	75.3	−1.9
	Labour	N. Harding	1,267	24.7	+1.9
Majority			2,590	50.5	−3.8
Turnout			5,124
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.9

Harehills ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lawrence Turnbull	3,400	53.5	+4.0
	Labour	J. Klineberg	2,951	46.5	−4.0
Majority			449	7.1	+6.1
Turnout			6,351
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.0

Holbeck ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Jones	2,334	62.4	+1.3
	Liberal	B. Fearnley	768	20.5	+3.3
	Conservative	K. Orton	639	17.1	−4.7
Majority			1,566	41.9	+2.6
Turnout			3,741
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.0

Hunslet Carr ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Hodgkinson	2,639	75.5	−4.9
	Conservative	B. Morland	385	11.0	−5.1
	Liberal	J.T. Hill	331	9.5	+9.5
	Communist	E. Moore	141	4.0	+0.6
Majority			2,254	64.5	+0.2
Turnout			3,496
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.1

Hyde Park ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Hall	2,915	58.0	−2.3
	Labour	E. Coward	2,115	42.0	+2.3
Majority			800	15.9	−4.6
Turnout			5,030
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.3

Kirkstall ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Smith	3,195	58.9	−2.0
	Conservative	E. Lodge	2,225	41.1	+2.0
Majority			970	17.9	−4.0
Turnout			5,420
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.0

Meanwood ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	V. Cardno	3,696	72.6	−1.3
	Labour	E. Webber	1,396	27.4	+1.3
Majority			2,300	45.2	−2.6
Turnout			5,092
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.3

Middleton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Watson	2,511	73.0	−10.1
	Liberal	G. Houghton	438	12.7	+12.7
	Conservative	A. Hartley	350	10.2	−6.6
	Communist	R. Wilkinson	139	4.0	+4.0
Majority			2,073	60.3	−6.1
Turnout			3,438
	Labour hold		Swing	-11.4

Moortown ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Watson	4,435	76.8	+2.6
	Labour	L. Steele	1,337	23.2	−2.6
Majority			3,098	53.7	+5.3
Turnout			5,772
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

Osmondthorpe ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Addlestone	2,617	76.9	−0.1
	Conservative	L. Ideson	784	23.1	+0.1
Majority			1,833	53.9	−0.2
Turnout			3,401
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.1

Potternewton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sydney Symmond	2,131	61.8	+1.4
	Labour	V. Zermanski	1,316	38.2	−1.4
Majority			815	23.6	+2.8
Turnout			3,447
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

Richmond Hill ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. King	1,698	80.0	+3.0
	Conservative	H. Flockton	424	20.0	−3.0
Majority			1,274	60.0	+5.9
Turnout			2,122
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.0

Roundhay ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Bretherick	3,957	67.5	−0.2
	Labour	D. Yelland	1,902	32.5	+0.2
Majority			2,055	35.1	−0.5
Turnout			5,859
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.2

Stanningley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Waterman	2,897	51.9	+1.6
	Conservative	A. Vickers	1,541	27.6	−3.6
	Liberal	J. Grimshaw	1,143	20.5	+2.0
Majority			1,356	24.3	+5.3
Turnout			5,581
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

Wellington ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	N. Barrett	2,578	79.2	−11.1
	Conservative	F. Stubley	470	14.4	+14.4
	Communist	G. Hodgson	205	6.3	−3.4
Majority			2,108	64.8	−15.9
Turnout			3,253
	Labour hold		Swing	-12.7

Westfield ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	V. Whelan	2,554	52.1	−3.9
	Conservative	L. Lyons	2,349	47.9	+11.1
Majority			205	4.2	−15.0
Turnout			4,903
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-7.5

Woodhouse ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P. Taylor	2,471	59.9	−0.4
	Conservative	A. Chadwick	1,655	40.1	+0.4
Majority			816	19.8	−0.8
Turnout			4,126
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.4

Wortley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Morris	3,421	50.6	+5.7
	Conservative	D. Wolstenholme	3,343	49.4	+1.5
Majority			78	1.2	−1.9
Turnout			6,764
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.1

References

1. "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post . 11 April 1958.
2. Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.