1979 Leeds City Council election

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Elections to Leeds City Council were held on the same day as the general election, with one third of the council up for election and an additional vacancy in Garforth North and Barwick . There had also been a by-election in Horsforth for the seat up in this election, with the Conservatives successfully defending it.

Contents

The general election brought out a much higher turnout, with votes cast just over double the average set by the prior elections. The Liberal's fuller slate of candidates for this election gained them a personal best, seemingly mainly at the Conservative's expense. Little advance was made from this, however, with their sole gain confined to winning the earlier mentioned Conservative-held Horsforth seat. Instead, Labour were the night's clear victors, with a total of five gains; four from the Conservatives (Burley, Kirkstall, and Morley North and Wortley) and Hunslet East and West from the Liberals.

This returned the council to no overall control, with one seat dividing the Conservatives and Labour. [1]

Election result

Leeds local election result 1979
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 1750+551.541.2160,075+0.7%
  Conservative 1405-542.438.5149,646-5.3%
  Liberal 21106.117.869,227+5.6%
  Ecology 00000.01.56,064+0.3%
  National Front 00000.00.41,720-0.7%
  Communist 00000.00.31,186-0.2%
  Independent 00000.00.2753-0.5%

This result has the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:

PartyPrevious councilNew council
Conservatives5045
Labour3944
Liberals77
Total9696
Working majority 4  0 

Ward results

Aireborough [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative H. Freeman7,97343.6−13.1
Liberal J. Brown5,83231.9+14.9
Labour M. Dunn4,19822.9−3.5
Ecology K. Rushworth3011.6+1.6
Majority 2,14111.7−18.5
Turnout 18,304
Conservative hold Swing -14.0
Armley and Castleton [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal B. Nelson5,25042.3−2.7
Labour J. Kerwin-Davey4,67837.7+5.9
Conservative W. Broadbent2,26718.3−1.8
National Front D. Bentall1411.1−0.2
Communist J. Light800.6−0.2
Majority 5724.6−8.6
Turnout 12,416
Liberal hold Swing -4.3
Beeston and Holbeck [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour H. Booth7,14455.0−6.7
Conservative W. Birch4,08031.4−4.6
Liberal M. Day1,63312.6+12.6
National Front J. Duckenfield1401.1−1.2
Majority 3,06423.6−2.1
Turnout 12,997
Labour hold Swing -1.0
Bramley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour E. Millett4,64843.7−10.3
Liberal D. Selby3,88936.5+18.8
Conservative V. Drummond-Young2,10819.8−6.3
Majority 7597.1−20.7
Turnout 10,645
Labour hold Swing -14.5
Burley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour W. Kilgallon3,10051.5−2.6
Conservative M. Sexton1,92332.0−7.1
Liberal N. Flood65911.0+11.0
Ecology K. Baxter2424.0+0.0
Communist B. Jackson931.5−0.2
Majority 1,17719.6+4.5
Turnout 6,017
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +2.2
Burmantofts and Richmond Hill [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour R. Millet6,12246.2+10.9
Liberal P. Hartshorne5,05138.1−12.3
Conservative D. Boynton1,85014.0+2.4
National Front S. Rigby1180.9−0.6
Communist M. Monkman1020.8−0.3
Majority 1,0718.1−7.1
Turnout 13,243
Labour hold Swing +11.6
Chapel Allerton and Scott Hall [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative C. Thomas6,76144.7−6.9
Labour M. Taggart5,91139.1+1.0
Liberal R. Clay1,93812.8+6.5
Ecology C. Burrows3952.6+1.9
Communist L. Willoughby1210.8−0.6
Majority 8505.6−7.9
Turnout 15,126
Conservative hold Swing -3.9
City and Woodhouse [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour E. Morris4,97958.8−5.5
Conservative R. Simpson2,20726.0−0.5
Liberal A. Ali6778.0+3.7
Ecology S. Parkin3994.7+4.7
Communist J. Rodgers2112.5−0.7
Majority 2,77232.7−5.0
Turnout 8,473
Labour hold Swing -2.5
Cookridge and Weetwood [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative K. Loudon11,11855.9−8.5
Labour M. Verity4,79624.1+2.4
Liberal D. Gazey3,26216.4+4.6
Ecology P. Lewenz7063.6+1.5
Majority 6,32231.8−10.9
Turnout 19,882
Conservative hold Swing -5.4
Garforth North and Barwick [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative W. Hedley7,35253.2−7.2
Conservative A. Taylor6,764
Labour E. Smith5,28538.3+5.2
Labour B. Cook5,239
Ecology G. Hill1,1788.5+2.0
Majority 2,06715.0−12.4
Turnout 13,815
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing -6.2
Gipton and Whinmoor [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour A. Vollans9,57359.1−3.2
Conservative W. Buckland4,90630.3−4.2
Liberal N. Mackie1,4679.1+9.1
National Front B. Spink2571.6−0.4
Majority 4,66728.8+1.0
Turnout 16,203
Labour hold Swing +0.5
Halton [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative D. Wood6,77157.1−13.0
Labour L. Worth3,62230.5+3.0
Liberal K. Norman1,47212.4+12.4
Majority 3,14926.5−16.0
Turnout 11,865
Conservative hold Swing -8.0
Harehills and Roundhay [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative J. White7,04747.2−7.4
Labour M. Lyons5,56337.3+0.1
Liberal D. Jones1,61210.8+5.6
Ecology A. Hill4733.2+1.6
National Front L. Spink2231.5+0.1
Majority 1,4849.9−7.5
Turnout 14,918
Conservative hold Swing -3.7
Headingley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Jean Searle3,91436.6−8.5
Labour Mary Dalwood3,78635.4+2.3
Liberal David Rolfe2,25421.1+7.1
Ecology Claire Nash4674.4+0.6
Communist Barry Cooper2792.6−1.6
Majority 1281.2−10.8
Turnout 10,700
Conservative hold Swing -5.4
Horsforth [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal R. Howe5,62545.8+1.7
Conservative M. Frame4,51136.8−4.6
Labour A. Radford1,81914.8+3.7
Ecology D. Darnborough3162.6−0.8
Majority 1,1149.1+6.4
Turnout 12,271
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +3.1
Hunslet East and West [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Trevor Park 6,16656.1+6.3
Liberal P. Jones2,90226.4+13.4
Conservative C. Hudson1,56314.2+3.2
National Front N. Griffiths2432.2−0.4
Communist J. Hodgson1111.0+1.0
Majority 3,26429.7+3.3
Turnout 10,985
Labour gain from Liberal Swing -3.5
Kippax and Swillington [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour G. Moakes6,45360.2+1.2
Conservative R. Dawson3,28430.7−10.3
Liberal N. Parnaby9759.1+9.1
Majority 3,16929.6+11.5
Turnout 10,712
Labour hold Swing +5.7
Kirkstall [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Illingworth4,82252.6−4.2
Conservative John Hamilton3,31836.2−3.0
Liberal Laurence Keates1,03211.3+11.3
Majority 1,50416.4−1.2
Turnout 9,172
Labour gain from Conservative Swing -0.6
Middleton [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour G. Wood6,79770.0−7.4
Conservative A. Larvin1,84819.0−0.3
Liberal R. James1,06911.0+11.0
Majority 4,94950.9−7.1
Turnout 9,714
Labour hold Swing -3.5
Moortown [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative R. Challenor5,31654.7−8.2
Labour T. Taylor3,06431.5−2.2
Liberal Dorothea Leser1,13311.7+11.7
Ecology A. Varley2092.1−1.3
Majority 2,25223.2−6.0
Turnout 9,722
Conservative hold Swing -3.0
Morley North [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour P. Jones6,37647.6−1.7
Conservative R. Verity6,26146.8−4.0
Independent B. Morris7535.6+5.6
Majority 1150.9−0.5
Turnout 13,390
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +1.1
Morley South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour B. North7,29361.6−0.7
Conservative A. Grayson4,53838.4+0.7
Majority 2,75523.3−1.4
Turnout 11,831
Labour hold Swing -0.7
Osmondthorpe [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour W. Prichard5,02562.1−4.6
Conservative D. Schofield1,98324.5−5.7
Liberal P. Gilbert96611.9+11.9
National Front M. Spink1171.4−1.7
Majority 3,04237.6+1.1
Turnout 8,091
Labour hold Swing +0.5
Otley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Stephen Day (MP) 5,13943.8−6.3
Liberal H. Morgan4,48638.3+1.2
Labour W. Imeson1,86815.9+3.7
Ecology D. Corry1851.6+1.6
Communist A. Oddy500.4−0.3
Majority 6535.6−7.5
Turnout 11,728
Conservative hold Swing -3.7
Pudsey North [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative I. Favell4,89840.5−18.7
Liberal A. Booker3,95832.7+19.8
Labour P. Burrill3,24326.8−1.1
Majority 9407.8−23.5
Turnout 12,099
Conservative hold Swing -19.2
Pudsey South [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative P. Kersting4,54140.4−2.6
Liberal N. Gadsby4,38639.0+3.1
Labour T. Watson2,31120.6−0.5
Majority 1551.4−5.7
Turnout 11,238
Conservative hold Swing -2.8
Rothwell [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour B. Walker10,42962.9+0.5
Conservative T. Crystal6,14037.1+1.9
Majority 4,28925.9−1.4
Turnout 16,569
Labour hold Swing -0.7
Seacroft [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Mudie (politician) 7,43270.4+0.1
Conservative D. Townsley2,81226.6−0.1
National Front C. Cannon1691.6−1.3
Communist B. Wilson1391.3+1.3
Majority 4,62043.8+0.2
Turnout 10,552
Labour hold Swing +0.1
Stanningley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour C. Myers4,54051.2−9.0
Conservative K. Knapton2,39627.0−4.0
Liberal B. Jacques1,76219.9+12.8
National Front M. Gibson1732.0+0.3
Majority 2,14424.2−5.0
Turnout 8,871
Labour hold Swing -2.5
Talbot [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative R. Feldman6,14658.3−11.0
Labour T. Midwood2,49023.6+3.7
Liberal M. Phillips1,44313.7+7.7
Ecology A. Plummer4594.4+0.6
Majority 3,65634.7−14.7
Turnout 10,538
Conservative hold Swing -7.3
Wetherby [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative H. Gardiner10,82667.5−4.0
Labour M. Moynihan2,25814.1+1.4
Liberal J. Scott2,21013.8+5.3
Ecology M. Sellers7344.6−2.7
Majority 8,56853.5−5.3
Turnout 16,028
Conservative hold Swing -2.7
Wortley [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour W. Thurlow4,28440.6−3.9
Conservative R. Robson3,84936.5−7.2
Liberal W. Moss2,28421.6+11.9
National Front A. Smith1391.3−0.8
Majority 4354.1+3.3
Turnout 10,556
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +1.6

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 "District results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post . 4 May 1979.
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