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
	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
Party		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Labour	54	18	48	18
	Conservatives	30	10	36	10
Total		84	28	84	28
Total		112		112
Working majority		24	8	12	8
Working majority		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

^ ^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 "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 13 May 1960.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.