1968 Leeds City Council election

The 1968 Leeds municipal election was held on 9 May 1968. Following extensive boundary changes, the whole council was up for election. The re-warding increased the number of wards by two, up to 32 wards, raising in-turn the councillor total by six, to 90, and the aldermen total up two to 30.

In total ten wards were abolished, twelve created and eighteen remained.

Abolished:

• Allerton
• Blenheim
• Cross Gates
• Far Headingley
• Hunslet Carr
• Hyde Park
• Meanwood
• Potternewton
• Wellington
• Westfield Created:
• Burley
• Castleton
• Chapel Allerton
• Cookridge
• Gipton
• Headingley
• Scott Hall
• Seacroft
• Talbot
• Weetwood
• West Hunslet
• Whinmoor

The election followed national patterns of the Conservatives inflicting resounding defeats upon the Labour party, winning representation in all but five wards with a crushing 75 seats at the hand of their highest vote since 1951 and a record vote share. Labour representation was confined to City, East Hunslet, Holbeck and Middleton (although coming within a straw for the third seat in Whinmoor) as they picked up their lowest post-war vote and vote share. The Labour collapse also seen the smaller party make gains, as the Liberals won representation on the council for the first time in the post-war period via comfortably winning the three newly created Castleton seats and the Communists, who fielded a full-slate for the first and only time, more than tripled their previous records in both vote share and vote figure.

As a result, the Conservatives gained control of the council for the first time since 1952, with a whopping majority of 80.