# 1945 Leeds City Council election

The 1945 Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 1 November 1945. Although a third of the council would ordinarily be up for election, the suspension of elections during World War II meant the council had last held elections in 1938, and with the amount of vacancies and co-options throughout near to two-thirds of the council needed electing.
Labour repeated their earlier national performance and won sweeping victories across the country, with Leeds no exception, picking up 40 of the 48 seats contested (with Richmond Hill going unopposed) and stealing control of the council from the Conservatives. The Conservatives only managed eight defences, which were confined to their bastions of Far Headingley, Hyde Park, North and Roundhay, although running Labour exceptionally close in Blenheim. The minor parties also failed to escape the Labour tide, as the Liberals lost both their representatives (a councillor and an alderman) and the Communists their sole councillor in Woodhouse - formally Labour, but expelled for alleged Communist sympathies.
As well as the 21 gains Labour made that night, the gentlemen's agreement - signed between Labour and the Conservatives in 1930 to allocate aldermen in proportion to their councillors - further rewarded Labour with an extra five aldermen at mostly Tory expense (the other being the aforementioned Liberal) in recognition of those gains. As a result, Labour emerged with an overall majority of 42 on a turnout of 43.3%.

## Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1945 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes |
| Labour | 40 | 21 | 0 | +21 | 83.3 | 57.5 | 84,969 |
| Conservative | 8 | 0 | 19 | -19 | 16.7 | 36.9 | 54,551 |
| Liberal | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0.0 | 5.6 | 8,214 |
The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:
| Party | Party | Previous council | Previous council | New council | New council |
| Party | Party | Cllr | Ald | Cllr | Ald |
| | Labour | 37 | 10 | 58 | 15 |
| | Conservatives | 39 | 15 | 20 | 11 |
| | Liberals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | Communists | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 78 | 26 | 78 | 26 |
| Total | Total | 104 | 104 | 104 | 104 |
| Working majority | Working majority | -4 | -6 | 38 | 4 |
| Working majority | Working majority | -10 | -10 | 42 | 42 |

## Ward results

Armley & Wortley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Joseph Wilkinson | 3,477 | 80.9 |
| | Labour | Joseph Bissell | 3,473 | |
| | Labour | Annie Marlow | 3,464 | |
| | Conservative | Joseph Hiley | 823 | 19.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,641 | 61.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,300 | |
Beeston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Wilfred Webster | 4,083 | 51.3 |
| | Conservative | Joseph Moorhouse | 2,995 | 37.7 |
| | Liberal | Ms Rowena Richardson | 874 | 11.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,088 | 13.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,952 | |
Blenheim :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Albert Smith | 2,206 | 50.5 |
| | Conservative | Sydney Webster | 2,163 | 49.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 43 | 1.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,369 | |
Bramley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Ernest Kavanagh | 4,960 | 55.6 |
| | Conservative | James Reginald Herbert Greaves | 2,913 | 32.6 |
| | Liberal | Fred Plews | 1,052 | 11.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,047 | 23.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,925 | |
Burmantofts :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Jackson | 2,440 | 80.0 |
| | Labour | Thomas McKellar | 2,408 | |
| | Conservative | John Claude Bidgood | 610 | 20.0 |
| | Conservative | George Hedley Monkman | 585 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,798 | 60.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,050 | |
Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Spence | 2,194 | 69.1 |
| | Conservative | Philip Kay Stead | 983 | 30.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,211 | 38.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,177 | |
Cross Gates & Temple Newsam :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Lunn | 5,701 | 57.5 |
| | Labour | Richard Thomas | 5,485 | |
| | Conservative | Herbert Adamson | 4,207 | 42.5 |
| | Conservative | Morris Tomlinson | 3,907 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,278 | 15.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,908 | |
East Hunslet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Frederic Naylor | 2,807 | 68.0 |
| | Labour | Robert Peart | 2,608 | |
| | Liberal | Alfred Kennedy | 1,318 | 32.0 |
| | Liberal | Albert Hope | 1,169 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,290 | 36.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,125 | |
Far Headingley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Ernest Osborne | 5,607 | 66.8 |
| | Conservative | John William Richardson Hargrave | 5,540 | |
| | Labour | David Beevers | 2,791 | 33.2 |
| | Labour | Ms. Irene Morley Clayden | 2,730 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,749 | 33.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,398 | |
Farnley & Wortley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Leonard Wood Wilkinson | 4,802 | 65.5 |
| | Labour | Charles Victor Woods | 4,636 | |
| | Conservative | John Francis Power | 2,533 | 34.5 |
| | Conservative | Frank Carter | 2,397 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,103 | 31.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,335 | |
Harehills :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Ms. Alice Jolley | 4,700 | 60.7 |
| | Labour | Kenneth Arthur Muir | 4,374 | |
| | Conservative | James Walker Booth | 2,199 | 28.4 |
| | Conservative | George Astle | 2,142 | |
| | Liberal | Thomas Edmund Hodgson | 839 | 10.8 |
| | Liberal | Arthur Gerald Shackleton | 675 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,175 | 32.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,738 | |
Holbeck North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Cornelius Fitzgerald | 1,152 | 76.5 |
| | Labour | James William Veitch | 1,138 | |
| | Liberal | Walter Holdsworth | 354 | 23.5 |
| | Liberal | Gilbert Whittaker Storey | 331 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 784 | 53.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,506 | |
Holbeck South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Joseph Thomas Dickinson | 3,010 | 69.3 |
| | Labour | William Maldwyn Jones | 2,934 | |
| | Conservative | Harold Stanley Jowett | 767 | 17.7 |
| | Liberal | Wilfred Ernest Hopper | 568 | 13.1 |
| | Liberal | Bertie Morris Turner | 489 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,167 | 51.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,345 | |
Hunslet Carr & Middleton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Charles Jenkinson | 6,652 | 80.1 |
| | Labour | James Edward Hodkinson | 6,424 | |
| | Conservative | Andrew William Colin Cumming | 1,657 | 19.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,767 | 60.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,309 | |
Hyde Park :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Percy Horner Hutchinson | 3,497 | 57.2 |
| | Conservative | Frederic Walker | 3,397 | |
| | Labour | Ms. Annie Margaret Maud Happold | 2,620 | 42.8 |
| | Labour | Herbert Kemp | 2,424 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 777 | 14.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,117 | 47.6 |
Kirkstall :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Marshall Clegg | 4,978 | 58.5 |
| | Labour | George Clifford Bell | 4,885 | |
| | Conservative | Archibold Caton Scarr | 2,701 | 31.7 |
| | Conservative | Charles Lockwood Turnbull | 2,569 | |
| | Liberal | Arthur Lawrence Braithwaite Childe | 834 | 9.8 |
| | Liberal | Frederic Melville Fisher | 718 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,184 | 26.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,513 | |
Mill Hill & South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Ms. Gertrude Bray | 1,387 | 57.0 |
| | Labour | Harry Holdsworth | 1,380 | |
| | Conservative | Herbert Preston Peacock | 1,048 | 43.0 |
| | Conservative | Alfred Edward Weaver | 1,032 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 332 | 13.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,435 | |
North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Edward John Loy Wooler | 5,213 | 57.5 |
| | Conservative | Ms. Dorothy Murphy | 4,967 | |
| | Labour | Ms. Lillian Hammond | 2,605 | 28.7 |
| | Labour | Norman Davy | 2,477 | |
| | Liberal | Winifred Francis Underhill | 1,247 | 13.8 |
| | Liberal | Albert Edward Marshall | 1,238 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,362 | 28.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,065 | |
Osmondthorpe :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Ms. May Firth | 3,817 | 76.0 |
| | Labour | Fred Potter | 3,781 | |
| | Conservative | Albert Edward Baker | 1,204 | 24.0 |
| | Conservative | Herbert Reginald Stott | 1,143 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,577 | 52.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,021 | |
Potternewton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Charles Benjamin Bradley | 3,381 | 56.6 |
| | Labour | Karl Cyril Cohen | 3,197 | |
| | Labour | Barnet Weinrib | 3,121 | |
| | Conservative | James Thomas Mulley | 2,595 | 43.4 |
| | Conservative | Charles Henry Driver | 2,587 | |
| | Conservative | Eldon Jenkins Fenton | 2,518 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 526 | 13.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,976 | |
Richmond Hill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Willie Fowler | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
Roundhay :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Francis Eric Tetley | 5,661 | 62.1 |
| | Conservative | Alexander Ayrton Watt | 5,257 | |
| | Labour | Ms. Ivy Veitch | 3,462 | 37.9 |
| | Labour | William Merritt | 3,434 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,795 | 24.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,123 | |
Upper Armley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Ernest Blackburn | 3,738 | 59.0 |
| | Labour | John Herbert Underwood | 3,729 | |
| | Labour | William Bramham | 3,719 | |
| | Conservative | Ms. Jenny Wormald | 2,598 | 41.0 |
| | Conservative | Edward Dean Glover | 2,528 | |
| | Conservative | Matthew Farey | 2,421 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,121 | 18.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,336 | |
West Hunslet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Harold Watson | 3,725 | 71.0 |
| | Conservative | Percival Arthur Woodward | 960 | 18.3 |
| | Liberal | George Petch | 560 | 10.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,765 | 52.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,245 | |
Westfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Villiers Stoner | 1,551 | 74.1 |
| | Labour | Ms. Edith Youngman | 1,528 | |
| | Conservative | Ms. Mabel Burton | 541 | 25.9 |
| | Conservative | Stanley Hodgson Doyle | 527 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 987 | 48.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,092 | |
Woodhouse :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Ms. Mary Pearce | 2,730 | 62.4 |
| | Conservative | George Sydney Taylor | 1,076 | 24.6 |
| | Liberal | Ernest Lightowler | 568 | 13.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,654 | 37.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,374 | |