| Election Name: | 2008 Leeds City Council election |
| Country: | England |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 2007 |
| Previous Year: | 2007 |
| Next Election: | 2010 |
| Next Year: | 2010 |
| Seats For Election: | (and 1 vacancy) |
| Majority Seats: | 50 |
| Election Date: | 1 May 2008 |
| Turnout: | 35.76% (1.76%) |
| Leader1: | Keith Wakefield |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 15 seats, 32.5% |
| Seats1: | 13 |
| Seats After1: | 43 |
| Seat Change1: | 0 |
| Popular Vote1: | 56,124 |
| Percentage1: | 28.67% |
| Leader2: | Richard Brett |
| Party2: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 8 seats, 19.7% |
| Seats2: | 9 |
| Seats After2: | 24 |
| Seat Change2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 37,216 |
| Percentage2: | 18.89% |
| Leader3: | Andrew Carter |
| Party3: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election3: | 7 seats, 27.0% |
| Seats3: | 8 |
| Seats After3: | 22 |
| Seat Change3: | 0 |
| Popular Vote3: | 59,722 |
| Percentage3: | 31.41% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Council control | |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Election: | Coalition |
| Before Party: | Liberal Democrats and Conservatives |
| After Election: | Coalition |
| After Party: | Liberal Democrats and Conservatives |
The 2008 Leeds City Council election took place on Thursday 1 May 2008 to elect members of Leeds City Council in England.
As per the election cycle, one third of the council's 99 seats were contested, plus an additional vacancy in Calverley and Farsley ward as Amanda Carter stood down. Those seats up for election were those of the first-placed candidate elected for every ward at the 2004 all-out election, who had been granted a four-year term to expire in 2008.
It saw the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition administration continue their control of the council. Despite both Labour and the Liberal Democrats winning more seats, the Conservatives won the majority of votes cast for the first time since 1992.
The Liberal Democrats regained a total of 24 seats on the council by defeating former Liberal Democrat-turn-independent and then Conservative councillor for Weetwood ward, Brian Jennings. This had followed Hyde Park and Woodhouse councillor, Kabeer Hussain, defecting from the Liberal Democrats to Labour in October 2007, who he then left less than six months later to sit as an Independent before the 2008 election.[1] [2] [3] [4]
This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:
| valign=centre colspan="2" style="width: 230px" | Party | valign=top style="width: 30px" | 2007 election | valign=top style="width: 30px" | Prior to election | valign=top style="width: 30px" | New council |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 43 | 43 | 43 | ||||
| Liberal Democrat | 24 | 23 | 24 | ||||
| Conservative | 22 | 23 | 22 | ||||
| Morley Borough Independent | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Green | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| BNP | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 99 | 99 | |||||
| Working majority | |||||||
| Councillor | Ward | First elected | Party | Reason | Successor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amanda Carter[5] | Calverley & Farsley | 1999 | Conservative | stood down | Joe Marjoram (Conservative) | ||
| Elizabeth Minkin[6] | Kirkstall | 1988 | Labour | stood down | Lucinda Yeadon (Labour) | ||
| David Morton[7] | Headingley | 2000 | Liberal Democrats | stood down | Jamie Matthews (Liberal Democrats) | ||
Incumbent Labour councillor, Sharon Hamilton (Chapel Allerton), was selected as her party's candidate for Roundhay ward and lost to the Conservative incumbent. Hamilton was later elected for Moortown in 2010.