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The 1961 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 11 May 1961,^[1] with one third of the council and a vacancy in Cross Gates up for election.^[2]

In contrast to the national picture,^[1] the results in Leeds were a mirror-image of the previous year's election, with Labour enjoying a 5.5% swing^[3] in their direction, enabling them to win the majority of seats - defending all but one. The sole seat that changed hands, was the Conservative's gain in Wortley - returning the ward to full Conservative representation after a decade of mixture.^[2]

The Liberals, now including the unsuccessful Independent of the year before, retained their second place comfortably in Far Headingley and - by contrast - just three votes in Allerton. The Communists fielded a record of six candidates, gaining them their highest share on record, and highest vote since 1947. The BNP also entered their first ever candidate in Leeds, receiving 4% in Armley.^[2]

In addition, the allocation of aldermen changed, in accordance to the long running agreement between Labour and the Conservatives that they should be divided up proportional to their councillors - roughly one alderman per three councillors - granting the Tories an extra two at Labour's expense. All of which resulted in Labour's majority amounting to fourteen. Turnout returned to the mid thirties (35.6%) where it had stabilised for the latter half of the former decade, until suffering a sharp drop at the last election.^[3]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1961
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	18	0	1	-1	62.1	45.3	56,650	+4.3
Conservative	11	1	0	+1	37.9	48.5	60,692	-5.8
Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	5.1	6,438	+0.9
Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.9	1,073	+0.4
British National	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	182	+0.1

The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:^[3]

Party		Previous council		New council
Party		Cllr	Ald	Cllr	Ald
	Labour	48	18	47	16
	Conservatives	36	10	37	12
Total		84	28	84	28
Total		112		112
Working majority		12	8	10	4
Working majority		20		14

Ward results

Allerton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Bidgood	4,214	72.1	−4.7
	Liberal	Julius Blum	817	14.0	−0.8
	Labour	A. Baum	814	13.9	+5.4
Majority			3,397	58.1	−4.0
Turnout			5,845
	Conservative hold		Swing

Armley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	K. Cohen	2,451	53.3	+0.6
	Conservative	R. Beal	1,965	42.7	−4.6
	British National	D. Hainsworth	182	4.0	+4.0
Majority			486	10.6	+5.2
Turnout			4,598
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

Beeston^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Snape	3,538	53.3	+3.3
	Labour	W. Prichard	3,098	46.7	+3.9
Majority			440	6.6	−0.6
Turnout			6,636
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.3

Blenheim^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Wallbanks	1,590	60.2	−5.0
	Conservative	J. Butterfield	1,051	39.8	+5.0
Majority			539	20.4	−10.0
Turnout			2,641
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.0

Bramley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eric Atkinson	3,225	52.6	+11.8
	Conservative	H. Picking	2,903	47.4	−2.1
Majority			322	5.3	−3.4
Turnout			6,128
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.9

Burmantofts^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Lloyd	2,375	73.1	+9.0
	Conservative	M. Bauchop	876	26.9	−9.0
Majority			1,499	46.1	+18.0
Turnout			3,251
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.0

City^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Tallant	1,224	61.5	+4.3
	Conservative	D. Mowbray	765	38.5	−4.3
Majority			459	23.1	+8.5
Turnout			1,989
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

Cross Gates^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Booth	3,649	58.4	+2.9
	Labour	E. Coward	3,122
	Conservative	G. Lockwood	2,250	36.0	−8.5
	Conservative	A. Lunn	2,204
	Communist	B. Wilson	344	5.5	+5.5
Majority			872	22.4	+11.4
Turnout			6,243
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.7

East Hunslet^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Fish	2,163	73.6	+8.4
	Conservative	J. Birch	774	26.4	−8.4
Majority			1,389	47.3	+16.8
Turnout			2,937
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.4

Far Headingley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Hey	4,140	58.2	−4.4
	Liberal	John Humphrey Morrish	1,942	27.3	+6.9
	Labour	J. Moynihan	1,026	14.4	−2.6
Majority			2,198	30.9	−11.3
Turnout			7,108
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.6

Halton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Watson	3,698	65.7	−15.0
	Labour	L. Wray	1,018	18.1	−1.2
	Liberal	C. Leatham	913	16.2	+16.2
Majority			2,680	47.6	−13.8
Turnout			5,629
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.9

Harehills^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lawrence Turnbull	3,034	61.3	−2.2
	Labour	W. Todd	1,915	38.7	+2.2
Majority			1,119	22.6	−4.5
Turnout			4,949
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.2

Holbeck^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Jones	1,817	57.3	−6.8
	Conservative	J. Robinson	874	27.6	−8.3
	Liberal	H. Linley	478	15.1	+15.1
Majority			943	29.8	+1.6
Turnout			3,169
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.7

Hunslet Carr^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Hodkinson	2,130	67.1	−1.7
	Conservative	M. Hayne	692	21.8	−9.4
	Liberal	E. Pemberton	354	11.1	+11.1
Majority			1,438	45.3	+7.8
Turnout			3,176
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.8

Hyde Park^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Hall	2,388	63.6	−7.0
	Labour	L. Steele	1,368	36.4	+7.0
Majority			1,020	27.2	−13.9
Turnout			3,756
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.0

Kirkstall^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Smith	3,222	54.4	+2.6
	Conservative	F. Lucas	2,699	45.6	−2.6
Majority			523	8.8	+5.1
Turnout			5,921
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

Meanwood^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	V. Cardno	3,463	76.1	−1.8
	Labour	A. Kirk	1,087	23.9	+1.8
Majority			2,376	52.2	−3.7
Turnout			4,550
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.8

Middleton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Malcolm	2,208	73.3	+1.2
	Conservative	D. Lodge	630	20.9	−1.0
	Communist	R. Wilkinson	175	5.8	−0.2
Majority			1,578	52.4	+2.2
Turnout			3,013
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.1

Moortown^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Watson	4,329	75.6	−5.3
	Labour	J. Taylor	1,398	24.4	+5.3
Majority			2,931	51.2	−10.5
Turnout			5,727
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.3

Osmondthorpe^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Addlestone	2,443	73.4	+2.2
	Conservative	A. Bell	887	26.6	−2.2
Majority			1,556	46.7	+4.4
Turnout			3,330
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.2

Potternewton^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sydney Symmonds	1,640	58.5	−11.7
	Labour	Kevin Gould	702	25.0	+0.1
	Liberal	T. Longhorn	368	13.1	+13.1
	Communist	H. Fawcett	95	3.4	−1.5
Majority			938	33.4	−11.8
Turnout			2,805
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.9

Richmond Hill^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. King	1,781	76.3	+2.1
	Conservative	H. Flockton	456	19.5	−6.3
	Communist	E. Burwin	98	4.2	+4.2
Majority			1,325	56.7	+8.4
Turnout			2,335
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.2

Roundhay^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Bretherick	3,744	75.6	−3.5
	Labour	J. Stephenson	1,208	24.4	+3.5
Majority			2,536	51.2	−7.0
Turnout			4,952
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.5

Stanningley^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Waterman	3,065	48.8	+9.3
	Conservative	A. Rakusen	2,252	35.8	−6.8
	Liberal	Dennis Pedder	967	15.4	−2.5
Majority			813	12.9	+9.8
Turnout			6,284
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.0