# 1973 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election

The first elections to the newly created Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 10 May 1973, with the entirety of the 51 seat council — three seats for each of the 17 wards — up for vote. The Local Government Act 1972 stipulated that the elected members were to shadow and eventually take over from the predecessor corporation on 1 April 1974. The order in which the councillors were elected dictated their term serving, with third-place candidates serving two years and up for re-election in 1975, second-placed three years expiring in 1976 and 1st-placed five years until 1978.
As well as replacing the County Borough of Halifax, the new council included:
* Municipal Borough of Brighouse
* Municipal Borough of Todmorden
* Elland Urban District
* Hebden Royd Urban District
* Queensbury and Shelf Urban District (part)
* Ripponden Urban District
* Sowerby Bridge Urban District
* Hepton Rural District
The election resulted in Labour gaining control.
In May 1974 a by-election for the Brighouse ward occurred to replace the Conservative councillor G. Wood. The by-election was won by the Labour candidate M. Cunningham.

## Council results

Calderdale Borough Council election 1973 :
| Party | Party | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Party | Party | Stood | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % |
| | Labour | 49 | 28 | - | - | - | 54.9 | 40.0 | 65,232 | - |
| | Conservative | 51 | 18 | - | - | - | 35.3 | 38.9 | 63,428 | - |
| | Liberal | 31 | 5 | - | - | - | 9.8 | 18.5 | 30,147 | - |
| | Independent | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | 0.0 | 1.5 | 2,479 | - |
| | Socialist | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1,122 | - |
| | Ind. Conservative | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 0.0 | 0.3 | 482 | - |

## Council Composition

After the election the composition of the council was:
| 28 | 18 | 5 |
| Labour | Conservative | Liberal |
| Party | Party | New council |
| | Labour | 28 |
| | Conservative | 18 |
| | Liberal | 5 |
| Total | Total | 51 | 51 |

## Ward results
### Brighouse ward

Brighouse ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | M. Mitchell | 2,325 | 46.8 | − |
| | Labour | S. Womersley | 1,984 | | − |
| | Conservative | G. Wood | 1,519 | 30.6 | − |
| | Conservative | B. Newton | 1,511 | | − |
| | Labour | M. Cunningham | 1,473 | | − |
| | Conservative | C. Tinker | 1,450 | | − |
| | Socialist | S. Williams | 1,122 | 22.6 | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 61.9 | |

### Elland ward

Elland ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | K. Cawdry | 1,355 | 35.4 | − |
| | Liberal | W. Ramsden | 1,295 | 33.8 | − |
| | Labour | A. Nutton | 1,178 | 30.8 | − |
| | Conservative | S. Taylor | 998 | | − |
| | Liberal | H. Fox | 996 | | − |
| | Liberal | D. Rabone | 953 | | − |
| | Labour | B. Firth | 939 | | − |
| | Labour | J. Heathcote | 861 | | − |
| | Conservative | G. Astwood | 852 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 51.8 | |

### Greetland and Stainland ward

Greetland and Stainland ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | D. Shutt | 1,358 | 45.3 | − |
| | Liberal | H. Howe | 1,302 | | − |
| | Liberal | N. Kemp | 1,240 | | − |
| | Labour | A. Lane | 846 | 28.2 | − |
| | Conservative | M. Jones | 797 | 26.6 | − |
| | Conservative | H. Tetlaw | 730 | | − |
| | Labour | K. Stacey | 680 | | − |
| | Labour | E. Bland | 647 | | − |
| | Conservative | E. Challenger | 569 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 51.6 | |

### Hebden Bridge ward

Hebden Bridge ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | F. Barker | 2,379 | 39.2 | − |
| | Labour | G. Bryant | 1,443 | | − |
| | Labour | S. Leach | 1,189 | | − |
| | Conservative | M. Fisher | 1,184 | 19.5 | − |
| | Liberal | D. Flethcer | 1,178 | 19.4 | − |
| | Liberal | S. Yorke | 1,149 | | − |
| | Conservative | R. Helliwell | 1,106 | | − |
| | Liberal | T. Doyle | 881 | | − |
| | Independent | M. Sutherland | 850 | 14.0 | − |
| | Independent | H. Knowles | 812 | | − |
| | Conservative | J. Price | 736 | | − |
| | Ind. Conservative | A. Stromberg | 482 | 7.9 | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 63.9 | |

### Illingworth ward

Illingworth ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | I. Jones | 996 | 46.0 | − |
| | Labour | W. Higgins | 920 | | − |
| | Labour | K. Lord | 872 | | − |
| | Conservative | C. Rooks | 719 | 33.2 | − |
| | Conservative | M. Jagger | 510 | | − |
| | Conservative | G. Shaw | 506 | | − |
| | Liberal | F. Withey | 451 | 20.8 | − |
| | Liberal | C. Guy | 288 | | − |
| | Liberal | R. Binns | 250 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 31.5 | |

### Lightcliffe ward

Lightcliffe ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | W. Sharp | 2,333 | 60.6 | − |
| | Conservative | R. Sunderland | 2,309 | | − |
| | Conservative | D. Crinall | 2,244 | | − |
| | Labour | W. Tankard | 1,520 | 39.4 | − |
| | Labour | F. Stapleford | 1,487 | | − |
| | Labour | D. Wood | 1,404 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 40.6 | |

### Mixenden ward

Mixenden ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | G. Hall | 978 | 65.5 | − |
| | Labour | D. Thompson | 961 | | − |
| | Labour | J. Thompson | 906 | | − |
| | Conservative | F. Mitchell | 515 | 34.5 | − |
| | Conservative | T. Riddlesden | 448 | | − |
| | Conservative | M. Andrews | 415 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 23.6 | |

### Northowram and Shelf ward

Northowram and Shelf ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | J. Bradley | 1,473 | 42.9 | − |
| | Conservative | R. Conway | 1,360 | | − |
| | Conservative | C. Farrar | 1,221 | | − |
| | Liberal | S. Brownridge | 1,146 | 33.3 | − |
| | Liberal | W. Stansfield | 976 | | − |
| | Liberal | R. Shaw | 832 | | − |
| | Labour | H. Thompson | 818 | 23.8 | − |
| | Labour | D. Walters | 663 | | − |
| | Labour | W. Stubbings | 663 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 48.5 | |

### Ovenden ward

Ovenden ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | M. Jeffreys | 1,685 | 60.1 | − |
| | Labour | J. Tolan | 1,528 | | − |
| | Labour | J. Thelwell | 1,495 | | − |
| | Conservative | T. Enderby | 1,117 | 39.9 | − |
| | Conservative | H. Gresham | 1,020 | | − |
| | Conservative | E. Cavanagh | 994 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 29.3 | |

### Rastrick ward

Rastrick ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | E. Hions | 1,763 | 51.3 | − |
| | Conservative | L. Hanson | 1,672 | 48.7 | − |
| | Labour | F. Moss | 1,670 | | − |
| | Conservative | W. Furness | 1,624 | | − |
| | Labour | F. Clayton | 1,558 | | − |
| | Conservative | L. Hunt | 1,557 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 39.6 | |

### Ryburn ward

Ryburn ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | G. Midgley | 1,582 | 41.9 | − |
| | Conservative | D. Wood | 1,308 | | − |
| | Labour | A. Benbow | 1,303 | 34.5 | − |
| | Conservative | J. Benson | 1,232 | | − |
| | Labour | E. Godfrey | 990 | | − |
| | Labour | J. Sutcliffe | 938 | | − |
| | Liberal | B. Glendinning | 889 | 23.6 | − |
| | Liberal | R. Thompson | 789 | | − |
| | Liberal | J. Kafel | 480 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 45.0 | |

### Skircoat ward

Skircoat ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | P. Waddington | 2,009 | 42.5 | − |
| | Conservative | J. Tidswell | 1,953 | | − |
| | Conservative | J. Schofield | 1,928 | | − |
| | Liberal | P. Haley | 1,375 | 29.1 | − |
| | Labour | L. Mitchell | 1,345 | 28.4 | − |
| | Liberal | G. Binns | 1,281 | | − |
| | Liberal | A. Templeton | 1,156 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 49.5 | |

### Sowerby North ward

Sowerby North ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | A. Pettengell | 1,595 | 49.5 | − |
| | Labour | L. Sleigh | 1,397 | | − |
| | Labour | J. Fairhurst | 1,389 | | − |
| | Conservative | P. Dyson | 1,021 | 31.7 | − |
| | Conservative | M. Andrew | 967 | | − |
| | Conservative | C. Beverley | 901 | | − |
| | Liberal | R. Holmes | 607 | 18.8 | − |
| | Liberal | S. Pragnall | 578 | | − |
| | Liberal | C. Hemmingway | 498 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 47.1 | |

### St. John's ward

St. John's ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | B. Mann | 1,819 | 49.4 | − |
| | Labour | R. Deadman | 1,647 | | − |
| | Labour | R. Metcalfe | 1,373 | | − |
| | Conservative | A. Culpan | 990 | 26.9 | − |
| | Liberal | D. Carlin | 873 | 23.7 | − |
| | Conservative | J. Clarke | 833 | | − |
| | Conservative | R. Wade | 818 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 39.3 | |

### Todmorden ward

Todmorden ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | H. Wilson | 2,071 | 32.8 | − |
| | Conservative | H. Tootell | 2,014 | 31.9 | − |
| | Conservative | E. Dennett | 1,925 | | − |
| | Labour | A. Marshall | 1,749 | | − |
| | Labour | C. Parkinson | 1,574 | | − |
| | Conservative | F. Mills | 1,525 | | − |
| | Liberal | M. Holmstedt | 1,415 | 22.4 | − |
| | Liberal | M. Taylor | 1,413 | | − |
| | Liberal | K. Bunn | 1,144 | | − |
| | Independent | R. Wild | 817 | 12.9 | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 56.6 | |

### Town ward

Town ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | A. Berry | 2,104 | 60.1 | − |
| | Labour | W. Tate | 1,926 | | − |
| | Labour | L. Warn | 1,917 | | − |
| | Conservative | G. Webb | 1,398 | 39.9 | − |
| | Conservative | R. Farrar | 1,330 | | − |
| | Conservative | R. Slocombe | 1,280 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 35.9 | |

### Warley ward

Warley ward :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | G. Smith | 1,519 | 41.1 | − |
| | Liberal | A. Clegg | 1,348 | 36.5 | − |
| | Conservative | B. Wildsmith | 1,313 | | − |
| | Liberal | J. Driver | 1,160 | | − |
| | Conservative | J. Ford | 1,066 | | − |
| | Liberal | E. Helliwell | 846 | | − |
| | Labour | P. Jagger | 825 | 22.3 | − |
| | Labour | J. Thorley | 783 | | − |
| | Labour | M. Panko | 656 | | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 43.7 | |

## By-elections between 1973 and 1975
### Brighouse ward, 1974

Brighouse By-Election 22 May 1974 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | M. Cunningham | 1,428 | 41.6 | −5.2 |
| | Conservative | J. Lockwood | 1,322 | 38.5 | +7.9 |
| | Liberal | S. Williams | 684 | 19.9 | +19.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 106 | 3.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,434 | | |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | | |