1960 Leeds City Council election

The 1960 Leeds municipal elections were held on 12 May 1960, with one third of the council set to be re-elected. ^[1]

A large swing of 5.5% ^[2] to the Conservatives allowed them their first election victory since 1951 - having won the most votes in several elections since then, but never amounting to a majority of seats. ^[1] The Conservatives made their six gains from Labour in the wards of Beeston, Bramley, Harehills, Stanningley, Westfield, Woodhouse and Wortley, halving Labour's majority of councillors from 24 to 12. ^{[1] [2]}

Elsewhere, the Liberals managed a post-war first of beating Labour to second place in Allerton and Far Headingley, and the first Independent candidate standing since the war, Dennis Peddar, made negligible impact in Westfield. ^[1] Turnout fell sharply for this election - by nearly a quarter from the previous year - to a new low of 27.5%. ^[2]

Election result

Leeds local election result 1960

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	15	6	0	+6	53.6	54.3	52,399	+5.3
	Labour	13	0	6	-6	46.4	41.0	39,553	-5.5
	Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	4.2	4,029	+0.2
	Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.5	500	0.0
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	73	+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	54	18	48	18
	Conservatives	30	10	36	10
Total		84	28	84	28
		112		112
Working majority		24	8	12	8
		32		20

Ward results

Allerton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Lyons	3,514	76.8	−10.6
	Liberal	Julius Blum	674	14.7	+14.7
	Labour	A. Baum	388	8.5	−4.2
Majority			2,840	62.1	−12.6
Turnout			4,576
	Conservative hold		Swing	-12.6

Armley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Lee	1,582	52.7	−4.5
	Conservative	R. Beal	1,421	47.3	+4.5
Majority			161	5.4	−8.9
Turnout			3,003
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.5

Beeston ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Farrell	3,004	50.0	+3.4
	Labour	A. Tallant	2,573	42.8	+0.2
	Liberal	H. Linley	433	7.2	−3.5
Majority			431	7.2	+3.2
Turnout			6,010
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+1.6

Blenheim ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B. Sedgley	1,736	65.2	+1.9
	Conservative	J. Butterfield	926	34.8	−1.9
Majority			810	30.4	+3.7
Turnout			2,662
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.9

Bramley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Dean	2,279	49.5	+8.6
	Labour	H. Battersby	1,879	40.8	−9.5
	Liberal	Walter Holdsworth	446	9.7	+0.9
Majority			400	8.7	−0.7
Turnout			4,604
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+9.0

Burmantofts ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Watson	1,384	64.1	−4.2
	Conservative	D. Mowbray	776	35.9	+4.2
Majority			608	28.2	−8.6
Turnout			2,160
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.2

City ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Stoner	901	57.3	−7.4
	Conservative	B. Emmett	672	42.7	+7.4
Majority			229	14.6	−14.7
Turnout			1,573
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.4

Cross Gates ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Jackson	2,121	55.5	−8.1
	Conservative	G. Lockwood	1,700	44.5	+8.1
Majority			421	11.0	−16.2
Turnout			3,821
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.1

East Hunslet ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Houghton	1,313	65.3	−9.3
	Conservative	M. Green	699	34.7	+9.3
Majority			614	30.5	−18.6
Turnout			2,012
	Labour hold		Swing	-9.3

Far Headingley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Rostron	3,374	62.6	−2.5
	Liberal	John Humphrey Morrish	1,098	20.4	+3.6
	Labour	H. Swain	917	17.0	−1.1
Majority			2,276	42.2	−4.8
Turnout			5,389
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.0

Halton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Brooksbank	3,752	80.7	+4.9
	Labour	L. Wray	897	19.3	−4.9
Majority			2,855	61.4	+9.9
Turnout			4,649
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.9

Harehills ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Astle	2,734	63.5	+7.9
	Labour	W. Todd	1,569	36.5	−7.9
Majority			1,165	27.1	+15.8
Turnout			4,303
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.9

Holbeck ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Smith	1,342	64.1	+5.0
	Conservative	B. Morland	752	35.9	+11.7
Majority			590	28.2	−6.6
Turnout			2,094
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.3

Hunslet Carr ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Booth	1,550	68.8	−0.3
	Conservative	A. Roberts	704	31.2	+11.4
Majority			846	37.5	−11.8
Turnout			2,254
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.8

Hyde Park ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth Davison	2,095	70.6	+6.7
	Labour	L. Steele	874	29.4	−6.7
Majority			1,221	41.1	+13.3
Turnout			2,969
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.7

Kirkstall ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Happold	2,251	51.8	−6.3
	Conservative	S. Codd	2,092	48.2	+6.3
Majority			159	3.7	−12.6
Turnout			4,343
	Labour hold		Swing	-6.3

Meanwood ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Pedley	2,989	77.9	+4.7
	Labour	A. Kirk	846	22.1	−4.7
Majority			2,143	55.9	+9.3
Turnout			3,835
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.7

Middleton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Brown	1,405	72.1	−4.7
	Conservative	H. Alexander	427	21.9	+7.9
	Communist	R. Wilkinson	118	6.1	+3.1
Majority			978	50.2	−12.6
Turnout			1,950
	Labour hold		Swing	-6.3

Moortown ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Bolton	3,714	80.9	+4.0
	Labour	D. Thomas	879	19.1	−4.0
Majority			2,835	61.7	+8.0
Turnout			4,593
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.0

Osmondthorpe ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Douglas Gabb	1,774	71.2	−3.1
	Conservative	A. Lunn	719	28.8	+3.1
Majority			1,055	42.3	−6.3
Turnout			2,493
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.1

Potternewton ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Bradley	1,691	70.1	+4.3
	Labour	Kevin Gould	602	25.0	−4.7
	Communist	H. Fawcett	118	4.9	+0.4
Majority			1,089	45.2	+9.0
Turnout			2,411
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.5

Richmond Hill ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Rooney	1,093	74.2	−2.0
	Conservative	H. Flockton	381	25.8	+2.0
Majority			712	48.3	−4.0
Turnout			1,474
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.0

Roundhay ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Monkman	3,362	79.1	+8.8
	Labour	D. Yelland	888	20.9	−8.8
Majority			2,474	58.2	+17.5
Turnout			4,250
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.8

Stanningley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Vickers	1,749	42.6	+7.1
	Labour	E. Coward	1,621	39.5	−6.4
	Liberal	J. Grimshaw	734	17.9	−0.7
Majority			128	3.1	−7.3
Turnout			4,104
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.7

Wellington ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Aimee Tong	1,862	72.4	−1.7
	Conservative	B. Pearce	542	21.1	+2.0
	Communist	G. Hodgson	169	6.6	−0.4
Majority			1,320	51.3	−3.7
Turnout			2,573
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.8

Westfield ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	May Sexton	1,576	44.1	−4.1
	Labour	H. Wiseman	1,397	39.1	−12.7
	Liberal	E. Vasey	530	14.8	+14.8
	Independent	Dennis Pedder	73	2.0	+2.0
Majority			179	5.0	+1.4
Turnout			3,576
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+4.3

Woodhouse ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Chadwick	1,686	48.6	+9.6
	Labour	R. Ellis	1,572	45.3	−2.5
	Liberal	A. Oliver	114	3.3	−6.0
	Communist	E. Meth	95	2.7	−1.0
Majority			114	3.3	−5.5
Turnout			3,467
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.0

Wortley ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bertrand Mather	3,069	56.8	+5.5
	Labour	J. Stephenson	2,337	43.2	−5.5
Majority			732	13.5	+11.0
Turnout			5,406
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.5

References

1. "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post . 13 May 1960.
2. Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.