1988 Leeds City Council election

The Leeds City Council elections were held on Thursday, 5 May 1988, with one third of the council and a vacancy in Headingley to be elected.

Following national patterns, the newly merged Social and Liberal Democrats, seen a substantial fall in vote to their lowest share in a decade, with former candidates standing against them as SDP in opposition to the merger. The SLD collapse was largely uniform, mostly transferring to Labour, except in northern wards – where support tended to disperse between the main parties and any minor candidate standing (usually Green or the aforementioned breakaway SDP) – or wards in which Independents stood. Importantly for the SLD, their support in the three wards they were defending notably withstood that collapse, although hopes of retaking Armley after their councillor turned Independent were dashed by large swings away to allow a Labour gain there (with Michael Meadowcroft later alleging racist campaigning by Labour). Elsewhere, the incumbent Independent in Pudsey South was comfortably re-elected, tripling his majority there. As the chief recipient of lost SLD support, Labour won their highest share of vote since the council's inception in 1973, and their greatest vote and majority on the council since 1980's re-warding.^[1]

Election result

Leeds Local Election Result 1988
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	21	1	0	+1	61.8	46.2	94,347	+8.1%
Conservative	9	0	0	0	26.5	33.0	67,550	-0.1%
SLD	3	0	0	0	8.8	17.1	35,033	-11.2%
Independent	1	0	1	-1	2.9	1.8	3,600	+1.7%
SDP	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.9	1,894	+0.9%
Green	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.8	1,549	+0.5%
Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	414	+0.1%

This result has the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:

Party		Previous council	New council
	Labour	58	59
	Conservative	25	25
	SLD	14	14
	Independent	2	1
Total		99	99
Working majority		17	19

Ward results

Aireborough^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Hughes-Rowlands	3,096	43.8	+6.9
	Labour	M. Dunn	2,211	31.2	+11.8
	SLD	S. Denby	1,769	25.0	−18.7
Majority			885	12.5	+5.7
Turnout			7,076
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.4

Armley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James McKenna	3,312	55.0	+18.8
	SLD	Mohammed Riasat	1,688	28.0	−17.7
	Conservative	P. Netzel	1,026	17.0	−1.0
Majority			1,624	26.9	+17.3
Turnout			6,026
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing	+18.2

Barwick & Kippax^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Sturgess	4,381	58.8	+7.0
	Conservative	B. Caro	2,616	35.1	+1.8
	SLD	R. Hutchinson	448	6.0	−8.8
Majority			1,765	23.7	+5.2
Turnout			7,445
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.6

Beeston^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Beevers	2,949	67.9	+12.8
	Conservative	H. Woodhead	1,083	24.9	−2.7
	SLD	K. Lee	270	6.2	−11.1
	Communist	W. Innes	44	1.0	+1.0
Majority			1,866	42.9	+15.5
Turnout			4,346
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.7

Bramley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Cliff	3,539	68.8	+13.2
	Conservative	H. Hinchcliffe	861	16.7	−1.8
	SLD	M. Tones	747	14.5	−11.4
Majority			2,678	52.0	+22.3
Turnout			5,147
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.5

Burmantofts^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SLD	N. Mackie	3,044	49.5	+0.9
	Labour	J. Lister	2,728	44.4	+0.1
	Conservative	J. Galbraith	378	6.1	−1.1
Majority			316	5.1	+0.8
Turnout			6,150
	SLD hold		Swing	+0.4

Chapel Allerton^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Frankland	3,795	65.4	+7.0
	Conservative	I. Baxter	1,388	23.9	−1.7
	SLD	J. Levy	301	5.2	−10.9
	Green	S. Needham	165	2.8	+2.8
	SDP	S. Cohen	158	2.7	+2.7
Majority			2,407	41.4	+8.6
Turnout			5,807
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

City & Holbeck^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Glassford	3,389	77.0	+11.9
	Conservative	D. Boynton	677	15.4	−0.7
	SLD	D. Hollingsworth	336	7.6	−11.2
Majority			2,712	61.6	+15.3
Turnout			4,402
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.3

Cookridge^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K. Loudon	4,084	60.3	+7.6
	Labour	A. Procter	1,563	23.1	+7.9
	SLD	J. Hall	760	11.2	−20.8
	SDP	M. Bray	367	5.4	+5.4
Majority			2,521	37.2	+16.5
Turnout			6,774
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.1

Garforth & Swillington^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Moakes	4,692	57.5	+13.2
	Conservative	M. Stelling	2,954	36.2	−0.5
	SLD	G. Roberts	517	6.3	−12.7
Majority			1,738	21.3	+13.7
Turnout			8,163
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.8

Halton^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Townsley	3,399	54.6	−0.5
	Labour	S. Butterfield	2,102	33.7	+10.5
	SLD	T. Ayres	729	11.7	−10.0
Majority			1,297	20.8	−11.1
Turnout			6,230
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.5

Harehills^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Cohen	3,525	65.5	+15.3
	SLD	C. Holden	1,029	19.1	−19.3
	Conservative	R. Richardson	830	15.4	+4.1
Majority			2,496	46.4	+34.6
Turnout			5,384
	Labour hold		Swing	+17.3

Headingley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Page	2,828	41.8	+0.9
	Labour	K. Nathan	2,822
	SLD	C. Shaw	2,032	30.1	−6.6
	SLD	E. Low	1,756
	Conservative	G. Castle	1,042	15.4	−0.8
	Conservative	J. Montague	1,001
	Green	C. Nash	640	9.5	+4.1
	Communist	B. Cooper	216	3.2	+2.4
Majority			796	11.8	+7.6
Turnout			6,758
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.8

Horsforth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SLD	S. Cooksey	3,432	44.5	+0.4
	Conservative	J. Cason	3,087	40.0	−1.2
	Labour	A. Radford	1,192	15.5	+0.9
Majority			345	4.5	+1.6
Turnout			7,711
	SLD hold		Swing	+0.8

Hunslet^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Driver	3,011	77.8	−1.8
	Conservative	A. Larvin	407	10.5	+0.4
	Independent	L. Parrish	308	8.0	+8.0
	SLD	C. Lunn	142	3.7	−6.6
Majority			2,604	67.3	−2.1
Turnout			3,868
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.1

Kirkstall^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. St. David-Smith	3,707	66.5	+13.6
	Conservative	C. Mollitt	1,061	19.0	−1.2
	SLD	J. Brophy	810	14.5	−12.4
Majority			2,646	47.4	+21.5
Turnout			5,578
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.4

Middleton^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	F. Dignan	3,126	77.4	+10.2
	Conservative	A. Dufton	642	15.9	−0.7
	SLD	T. Garbett	273	6.8	−5.5
Majority			2,484	61.5	+10.9
Turnout			4,041
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.4

Moortown^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SLD	M. Harris	3,814	47.6	+1.2
	Conservative	V. Kendall	2,729	34.1	−2.5
	Labour	A. Hollas	1,470	18.3	+1.4
Majority			1,085	13.5	+3.7
Turnout			8,013
	SLD hold		Swing	+1.8

Morley North^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P. Jones	3,552	50.8	+11.4
	Conservative	E. Reddyhoff	2,767	39.6	−5.9
	SDP	L. Jagger	313	4.9	+4.9
	SLD	P. Haywood	329	4.7	−10.5
Majority			785	11.2	+5.1
Turnout			6,991
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

Morley South^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	B. North	3,915	63.5	+13.7
	Conservative	R. Senior	1,807	29.3	−4.8
	SLD	T. Leadley	441	7.2	−9.0
Majority			2,108	34.2	+18.5
Turnout			6,163
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.2

North^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Morris	3,593	57.6	+6.5
	Labour	E. Moxon	1,476	23.7	+12.8
	SLD	M. Gregory	854	13.7	−24.3
	SDP	P. Rogers	313	5.0	+5.0
Majority			2,117	33.9	+20.8
Turnout			6,236
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.1

Otley & Wharfedale^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Hindle	4,343	46.6	+6.1
	SLD	M. Coles	3,232	34.7	−9.4
	Labour	S. Egan	1,261	13.5	+0.5
	SDP	J. Cusworth	253	2.7	+2.7
	Green	A. Stevens	226	2.4	+0.1
Majority			1,111	11.9	+8.3
Turnout			9,315
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.7

Pudsey North^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Carter	3,968	51.7	+7.7
	Labour	B. Dale	2,260	29.4	+4.8
	SLD	C. Garner	1,450	18.9	−12.5
Majority			1,708	22.2	+9.7
Turnout			7,678
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

Pudsey South^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	P. Kersting	3,292	46.4	+46.4
	Labour	A. Jarosz	2,102	29.6	−9.4
	Conservative	D. Ballinger	1,487	21.0	−15.5
	SLD	B. Selby	214	3.0	−21.5
Majority			1,190	16.8	+14.2
Turnout			7,095
	Independent hold		Swing	+27.9

Richmond Hill^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Lyons	3,863	79.1	+13.4
	Conservative	W. Birch	544	11.1	−1.8
	SLD	K. Norman	474	9.7	−11.6
Majority			3,319	68.0	+23.5
Turnout			4,881
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.6

Rothwell^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Lund	3,829	66.5	+8.3
	Conservative	A. Heeson	1,495	26.0	−2.4
	SLD	M. Galdas	433	7.5	−5.8
Majority			2,334	40.5	+10.7
Turnout			5,757
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.3

Roundhay^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Crotty	3,862	56.8	+2.4
	Labour	K. Prior	1,674	24.6	+5.8
	SLD	S. Holland	963	14.2	−12.7
	Green	P. Ellis	305	4.5	+4.5
Majority			2,188	32.2	+4.7
Turnout			6,804
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.7

Seacroft^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Mudie	3,594	81.3	+16.2
	Conservative	R. Negus	599	13.5	−2.8
	SLD	R. Senior	229	5.2	−13.4
Majority			2,995	67.7	+21.3
Turnout			4,422
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.5

University^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. Kilgallon	3,253	74.9	+11.1
	Conservative	J. Leng	597	13.7	−2.0
	SLD	R. Mundell	341	7.8	−9.4
	Communist	R. Honey	154	3.5	+0.3
Majority			2,656	61.1	+14.7
Turnout			4,345
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.5

Weetwood^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Castle	2,881	42.5	+0.6
	Labour	P. Hall	1,990	29.4	+2.3
	SLD	J. Ewens	1,692	25.0	−4.1
	Green	G. Rainford	213	3.1	+1.1
Majority			891	13.1	+0.3
Turnout			6,776
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

Wetherby^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Gardiner	4,844	67.0	+5.3
	Labour	J. Postill	1,161	16.1	+3.7
	SLD	T. Burgess	764	10.6	−15.3
	SDP	H. Westbrook	460	6.4	+6.4
Majority			3,683	50.9	+15.1
Turnout			7,229
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

Whinmoor^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. Armitage	3,128	57.3	+6.0
	Conservative	M. Silversides	1,991	36.5	+2.9
	SLD	N. Snowdon	340	6.2	−8.8
Majority			1,137	20.8	+3.1
Turnout			5,459
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

Wortley^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	P. Towler	3,769	59.7	+17.0
	Conservative	B. Nicol	1,412	22.4	+0.5
	SLD	L. Thackray	1,136	18.0	−17.5
Majority			2,357	37.3	+30.1
Turnout			6,317
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.2

By-elections between 1988 and 1990

Armley by-election 8 December 1988
replacing David Selby (resigned)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Paley	1,580	46.4	−8.6
	SLD		1,110	32.6	+4.6
	Conservative		662	19.4	+2.4
	SDP		53	1.5	+1.5
Majority			470	13.8	−13.1
Turnout			3,405	21.3	−16.4
	Labour gain from SLD		Swing	-6.6

Double by-election, Horsforth, 8 June 1989
replacing S.J. Cooksey and B. Rich^[3]
	Candidate	Votes
SLD	Andrew McCaig^[4]	2,658
SLD	John Meade	2,625
Conservative	June Casson	2,374
Conservative	Rodney Cam (Con)	2,273
Labour	Brian Dale (Lab)	886
Labour	Alan Radford (Lab)	959

Burmantofts by-election 15th June 1989
replacing Margaret Clay^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sydney Butterfield	3,226	53.3	+8.9
	SLD		2,356	39.0	−10.5
	Conservative		465	7.7	+1.6
Majority			870	14.3	+9.2
Turnout			6,047	44.0	−0.7
	Labour gain from SLD		Swing	+9.7

Morley North by-election 15th June 1989
replacing Philippa Fitzpatrick^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Francis Jones	3,617	48.7	−2.1
	Conservative		2,747	37.0	−2.6
	Green		614	8.3	+8.3
	SLD		444	6.0	+1.3
Majority			870	11.7	+0.5
Turnout			7,422	42.0	+2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

City & Holbeck by-election 30th November 1989
replacing Roy Glassford^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elizabeth Nash	1,982	80.2	+3.2
	Conservative		254	10.3	−5.1
	SLD		234	9.5	+1.9
Majority			1,728	69.9	+8.3
Turnout			2,470
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.1

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah "District results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 6 May 1988.
^ "By-elections December 1988". Tribune. 16 December 1988. Retrieved 10 December 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Page 11". Yorkshire Evening Post. 9 June 1989.
^ McCaig, Andrew. "Index of Leeds City Council election candidates 1980-2016" (PDF). The Thoresby Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
^ ^a ^b "By-elections June 1989". Tribune. 23 June 1989. Retrieved 10 December 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "By-elections December 1989". Tribune. 8 December 1989. Retrieved 10 December 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[results-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah "District results: Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. 6 May 1988.

[2] "By-elections December 1988". Tribune. 16 December 1988. Retrieved 10 December 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[3] "Page 11". Yorkshire Evening Post. 9 June 1989.

[4] McCaig, Andrew. "Index of Leeds City Council election candidates 1980-2016" (PDF). The Thoresby Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.

[tribunejune89-5] "By-elections June 1989". Tribune. 23 June 1989. Retrieved 10 December 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[6] "By-elections December 1989". Tribune. 8 December 1989. Retrieved 10 December 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e (1987 ←) 1988 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1989)
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bradford Bolton Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
District councils (England)	Adur Amber Valley Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bath Blackburn Brentwood Brighton Bristol Broadland Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Carlisle Cheltenham Cherwell Chester Chorley Colchester Congleton Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Daventry Derby Eastbourne Eastleigh Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Exeter Fareham Gillingham Gloucester Gosport Great Grimsby Great Yarmouth Halton Harlow Harrogate Hart Hartlepool Hastings Havant Hereford Hertsmere Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Kingston upon Hull Leominster Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Milton Keynes Mole Valley Newcastle-under-Lyme North Bedfordshire North Hertfordshire Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oadby and Wigston Oxford Pendle Penwith Peterborough Portsmouth Preston Purbeck Reading Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor Scunthorpe Shrewsbury and Atcham Slough South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Herefordshire South Lakeland Southampton Southend-on-Sea St Albans Stevenage Stoke-on-Trent Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Thamesdown Three Rivers Thurrock Tonbridge and Malling Torbay Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Wokingham Worcester Worthing Wyre Forest York
District councils (Scotland)	Aberdeen Angus Annandale and Eskdale Argyll and Bute Badenoch and Strathspey Banff and Buchan Bearsden and Milngavie Berwickshire Caithness Clackmannan Clydebank Clydesdale Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Cumnock and Doon Valley Cunninghame Dumbarton Dundee Dunfermline East Kilbride East Lothian Eastwood Edinburgh Ettrick and Lauderdale Falkirk Glasgow Gordon Hamilton Inverclyde Inverness Kilmarnock and Loudoun Kincardine and Deeside Kirkcaldy Kyle and Carrick Lochaber Midlothian Monklands Moray Motherwell Nairn Nithsdale North East Fife Perth and Kinross Renfrew Ross and Cromarty Roxburgh Skye and Lochalsh Stewartry Stirling Strathkelvin Sutherland Tweeddale West Lothian Wigtown

v t e Council elections in West Yorkshire
Mayor	2021 2024
Bradford	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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Calderdale	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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Kirklees	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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Leeds	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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Wakefield	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 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
West Yorkshire CC	1973 1977 1981 Abolished
West Riding CC	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