1954 Leeds City Council election explained

The 1954 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 14 May 1954,[1] with one third of the council up for election.[2]

Despite a further swing away from Labour to the Conservatives of 3.7%,[3] leaving both parties neck and neck in votes, Labour continued on to their third and final gains unabated in the wards of Armley, Blenheim, Bramley, Cross Gates, Stanningley, Westfield, and Woodhouse, comfortably winning the majority of seats. The swing however helped the Conservatives to hold on to Wortley, unlike previous years. As such Labour doubled its majority on the council as part of a victorious night on the whole for them. Turnout for the election sunk below the 40% mark for the first time in the post-war period, to 39.2%.

Election result

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

Partyvalign=top colspan="2" style="width: 30px"Previous councilvalign=top colspan="2" style="width: 30px"New council
CllrAldCllrAld
Labour48145414
Conservatives36143014
Total84288428
112112
Working majority

Notes and References

  1. News: British Laborites Widen Poll Gains . . 14 May 1954 . 2 September 2012.
  2. News: Municipal results: Leeds . . 15 May 1954 .
  3. Book: Sharpe, L.J. . 1967 . Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.