Leeds City Council election, 1972

The final Leeds municipal elections were held on 5 May 1972, with a third of the councillors up for re-election. The wide-reaching reforms set out in the Local Government Act 1972 had timetabled the council's abolishment to coincide with the replacing of it by the enlarged successor Leeds metropolitan district on 1 April 1974. Prior to the election, a by-election had resulted in Labour gaining the seat in Castleton from the Liberals.^[1]

Labour repeated all of last year's gains, with the exceptions of the Castleton and Osmondthorpe seats - both of which they already held; the latter being their solitary gain in the 1969 election. Much like Labour's performance in the 1969 election, the Conservatives halted their decline - at least in vote share (like Labour, their total vote actually sunk a further 5,000, setting a new party low). Having won full representation in West Hunslet, the Liberals defended the seat and retained their total of four. Turnout fell slightly to 34.4%, from 37.8% the year before.^[1]

The reaction from the Labour leader, Albert King, was one of contentment: "This is a satisfactory evening for us, and the gains were more or less in line with what I expected". The Conservatives meanwhile were reported to be relieved, with their leader Frank Marshall commenting that the results were better than expected a couple of months ago, and pointing to a significantly reduced Labour vote in Burley from the year before as a reason for optimism for the future.^[1]

The sixteen gains for Labour were enough to re-take control of the council from the Conservatives for its last years of existence.^[1]

Election result

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

Ward results

References

Council elections in West Yorkshire
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Leeds City Council	1945 1946 1947 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
West Yorkshire County Council	1973 1977 1981 Abolished
West Riding County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes