The 1953 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 7 May 1953,[1] with one third of the council as well as a vacancy in Richmond Hill to be elected.[2]
Winning control of Leeds was one of Labour's highlights in a night that seen them make gains across the country. Whilst there was a swing away from Labour to the Conservatives of over four percent[3] from the previous year's high benchmark, Labour were able to repeat most of the gains they achieved the year before, with the two exceptions being Armley - a seat they already held - and Beeston, which the Tories managed to hold by sixty-six votes this time around. In total they gained seven seats, replacing the Tories slim majority of two with a majority of twelve. Turnout continued its trend downwards with a post-war low of 41.4%.
The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:
| Party | valign=top colspan="2" style="width: 30px" | Previous council | valign=top colspan="2" style="width: 30px" | New council | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr | Ald | Cllr | Ald | ||
| Labour | 41 | 14 | 48 | 14 | |
| Conservatives | 43 | 14 | 36 | 14 | |
| Total | 84 | 28 | 84 | 28 | |
| 112 | 112 | ||||
| Working majority | |||||