1952 Leeds City Council election

The 1952 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 8 May 1952, with one third of the council to be elected.

Along with the rest of the country,^[1] Leeds saw a sharp swing from the Conservatives to Labour with a swing of over 15%,^[2] resulting in Labour receiving their highest post-war vote and making nine gains (alongside a gain in the interim) to whittle the Tory majority down to just two. Labour's nine gains were in the wards of Armley, Beeston, Blenheim, Bramley, Cross Gates, Stanningley, Westfield, Woodhouse, and Wortley. They also narrowly missed out on gaining Harehills. With the exception of a close-run victory in Beeston, the remarkably large swing made the Labour gains fairly comfortable. Turnout fell by two percent from the previous year, to 43.9%.^[2]^[3]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1952
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	19	9	0	+9	67.8	56.5	87,821	+16.7
Conservative	9	0	9	-9	32.1	42.5	66,018	-13.3
Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.8	1,213	-3.2
Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	236	-0.3

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
	Conservatives	52	18	43	14
	Labour	32	10	41	14
Total		84	28	84	28
Total		112		112
Working majority		20	8	2	0
Working majority		28		2

Ward results

Allerton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Drake	5,101	83.8	+5.3
	Labour	J. Shakleton	984	16.2	+4.5
Majority			4,117	67.7	+0.8
Turnout			6,085
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

Armley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K. Cohen	4,136	61.4	+16.9
	Conservative	J. North	2,600	38.6	−7.6
Majority			1,536	22.8	+21.1
Turnout			6,736
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.2

Beeston^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Wright	3,884	51.1	+14.1
	Conservative	B. Bolton	3,722	48.9	−5.9
Majority			162	2.1	−15.7
Turnout			7,606
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.0

Blenheim^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Wallbanks	3,204	57.5	+12.5
	Conservative	J. Butterfield	2,373	42.5	−12.5
Majority			831	14.9	+4.8
Turnout			5,577
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.5

Bramley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Atkinson	3,904	60.0	+19.5
	Conservative	H. Womersley	2,600	40.0	−6.3
Majority			1,304	20.0	+14.3
Turnout			6,504
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.9

Burmantofts^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Jackson	3,327	74.8	+18.4
	Conservative	J. Sizer	1,119	25.2	−18.4
Majority			2,208	49.7	+36.8
Turnout			4,446
	Labour hold		Swing	+18.4

City^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Whitehead	2,694	68.9	+13.5
	Conservative	N. Kay	1,216	31.1	−13.5
Majority			1,478	37.8	+26.9
Turnout			3,910
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.5

Cross Gates^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Booth	3,342	70.1	+21.5
	Conservative	A. Ingram	1,427	29.9	−21.5
Majority			1,915	40.2	+37.3
Turnout			4,769
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.5

East Hunslet^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Fish	3,884	82.7	+21.8
	Conservative	G. Hewdy	814	17.3	−21.8
Majority			3,070	65.3	+43.5
Turnout			4,698
	Labour hold		Swing	+21.8

Far Headingley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Hey	3,725	79.0	−5.4
	Labour	W. Lord	989	21.0	+5.4
Majority			2,736	58.0	−10.9
Turnout			4,714
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.4

Halton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Watson	3,405	66.4	−9.3
	Labour	A. Harrison	1,522	29.7	+5.5
	Liberal	Victor Louis Raymond Delepine	198	3.9	+3.9
Majority			1,883	36.7	−14.8
Turnout			5,125
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.4

Harehills^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lawrence Turnbull	3,011	51.2	−14.8
	Labour	G. Lloyd	2,869	48.8	+14.8
Majority			142	2.4	−29.7
Turnout			5,880
	Conservative hold		Swing	-14.8

Holbeck^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Jones	4,072	69.4	+17.7
	Conservative	J. Farrell	1,379	23.5	−15.6
	Liberal	K. Heald	420	7.2	−2.1
Majority			2,693	45.9	+33.4
Turnout			5,871
	Labour hold		Swing	+16.6

Hunslet Carr^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Hodkinson	4,195	80.2	+22.6
	Conservative	T. Snape	885	16.9	−13.6
	Communist	J. Roche	153	2.9	+2.9
Majority			3,310	63.3	+36.2
Turnout			5,233
	Labour hold		Swing	+18.1

Hyde Park^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Walker	3,398	60.0	−4.3
	Labour	B. Cohen	2,263	40.0	+16.9
Majority			1,135	20.0	−21.2
Turnout			5,661
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.6

Kirkstall^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Smith	4,734	63.2	+16.9
	Conservative	F. Cowell	2,398	32.0	−11.1
	Liberal	A. Powell	362	4.8	−5.7
Majority			2,336	31.2	+28.0
Turnout			7,494
	Labour hold		Swing	+14.0

Meanwood^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	V. Cardno	3,804	68.2	−9.6
	Labour	K. Davy	1,777	31.8	+9.6
Majority			2,027	36.3	−19.2
Turnout			5,581
	Conservative hold		Swing	-9.6

Middleton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Watson	4,190	89.7	+20.3
	Conservative	P. Clew	479	10.3	−20.3
Majority			3,711	79.5	+40.6
Turnout			4,669
	Labour hold		Swing	+20.3

Moortown^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Watson	3,703	72.7	−5.8
	Labour	S. Lee	1,390	27.3	+5.8
Majority			2,313	45.4	−11.6
Turnout			5,093
	Conservative hold		Swing	-11.6

Osmondthorpe^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Potter	4,151	83.0	+16.8
	Conservative	W. Brownridge	851	17.0	−16.8
Majority			3,300	66.0	+33.6
Turnout			5,002
	Labour hold		Swing	+16.8

Potternewton^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Driver	2,199	55.8	−8.2
	Labour	A. Sharp	1,743	44.2	+15.5
Majority			456	11.6	−23.7
Turnout			3,942
	Conservative hold		Swing	-11.8

Richmond Hill^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. King	3,478	85.0	+17.2
	Conservative	W. Clayton	613	15.0	−17.2
Majority			2,865	70.0	+34.4
Turnout			4,091
	Labour hold		Swing	+17.2

Roundhay^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Bretherick	4,185	59.3	−14.5
	Labour	E. Morris	2,869	40.7	+14.5
Majority			1,316	18.7	−28.9
Turnout			7,054
	Conservative hold		Swing	-14.5

Stanningley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Waterman	3,893	59.3	+15.5
	Conservative	T. Kirkby	2,670	40.7	−15.5
Majority			1,223	18.6	+6.3
Turnout			6,563
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.5

Wellington^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Youngman	3,938	75.8	+16.6
	Conservative	J. Palmer	938	18.1	−15.5
	Liberal	Harry Burbridge	233	4.5	+4.5
	Communist	B. Kline	83	1.6	−5.6
Majority			3,000	57.8	+32.1
Turnout			5,192
	Labour hold		Swing	+16.0

Westfield^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Malcolm	2,834	55.0	+16.3
	Conservative	R. Neill	2,319	45.0	−16.3
Majority			515	10.0	−12.7
Turnout			5,153
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+16.3

Woodhouse^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Vick	3,850	64.9	+20.8
	Conservative	B. Gardner	2,082	35.1	−20.8
Majority			1,768	29.8	+17.9
Turnout			5,932
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+20.8

Wortley^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Aimee Tong	3,705	55.2	+15.8
	Conservative	Mary Dowling	3,002	44.8	−7.2
Majority			703	10.5	−2.0
Turnout			6,707
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+11.5

References

^ "Swing Towards British Labour". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 May 1952. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.
^ ^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 "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 9 May 1952.

[1] "Swing Towards British Labour". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 May 1952. Retrieved 15 August 2012.

[Sharpe-2] Sharpe, L.J. (1967). Voting in cities: the 1964 borough elections.

[results-3] ^ ^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 "Municipal results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 9 May 1952.

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