Pre-1973 local election results data

[The Bishop]

There was a Communist elected in Cirencester (somewhat more "bucolic" perhaps) around that time IIRC.

[Pete Whitehead]

grahamstevenson.me.uk/2010/12/01/cohen-june/

[swanarcadian]

For anyone who has been reading Alan Willis 's pre-1973 local election data in this sub forum, you might have noticed his requests for assistance in tracking down more results. 

If anyone might be interested in assisting towards this enormous project - either in your locality or maybe further afield - it is obviously helpful to know where to search and what (relatively small, in my view) costs are involved.  nick10 , for instance has been researching Walton-upon-Thames UDC.   

Local libraries and archives can usually help, although current circumstances have made access to their facilities difficult.  Most of the information has come from the online British Newspaper Archive (BNA), and its collection is growing. 
Information on subscription options for the BNA are provided here.  I would encourage people not to grumble about these - when you consider what a vast advantage we have over researchers of a generation ago.  You can get access to the BNA with a FindMyPast "Pro" subscription.  There is also a free, high quality archive of Welsh newspapers up to 1919 National Library of Wales. 

hullenedge has very helpfully compiled this spreadsheet.  It provides polling days where UDC elections were held on a Saturday in Yorkshire and some other locations, from 1894 to 1972.  Polling was usually done over a space of a week all over England and Wales, so when searching for UDC results it is best to search a week either side of these days.  Elections held on a Saturday would normally have appeared in newspapers on the Monday after.  If you don't succeed in finding election results, you can also search for nominations which were held 14-16 days before polling and could be withdrawn after a few days.

[swanarcadian]

Shipley UDC 1894-1972

A particularly interesting one to research as the council was fought on party lines at a relatively early stage, ie. before the First World War.
It was divided into 5 wards - Central, East, North, South and West throughout its whole existence.

The results I have collated are almost complete - I was unable to track down any for 1904 or 1950, and I'm sure there will have been some by-elections I haven't discovered also.
The Liberals were originally dominant, but their fortunes gradually dwindled and they lost their last seat in the 1947 elections.  By the end of the period it was a keenly fought district between the Tories and Labour, with the Tories usually able to count on the South and West wards, and Labour usually dominant in the other three.

Note the Labour candidate for West ward in 1961, 1962 and 1963, GR Cryer - who I'm almost certain was one and the same as Bob Cryer who later went on to become MP for Keighley, then Bradford South.

[finsobruce]

Aug 8, 2020 13:57:12 GMT swanarcadian said:

Shipley UDC 1894-1972

A particularly interesting one to research as the council was fought on party lines at a relatively early stage, ie. before the First World War.
It was divided into 5 wards - Central, East, North, South and West throughout its whole existence.

The results I have collated are almost complete - I was unable to track down any for 1904 or 1950, and I'm sure there will have been some by-elections I haven't discovered also.
The Liberals were originally dominant, but their fortunes gradually dwindled and they lost their last seat in the 1947 elections.  By the end of the period it was a keenly fought district between the Tories and Labour, with the Tories usually able to count on the South and West wards, and Labour usually dominant in the other three.

Note the Labour candidate for West ward in 1961, 1962 and 1963, GR Cryer - who I'm almost certain was one and the same as Bob Cryer who later went on to become MP for Keighley, then Bradford South.

1904

West Ward - Ellis Denby Liberal and a 'gentleman'

North Ward - Naaman Clough .  Liberal and a leather merchant.

East Ward - Joe Cooke.  Liberal and an insurance agent. 

Central ward - Miles Rhodes . Conservative and a tanner by trade.

South ward  - Joseph Midgley. Liberal and a quarry owner

These from adverts the successful candidates placed in the Shipley Times to thank the electors, except Midgley (mean sod) which is taken from the nominations.  Rhodes mentioned that he was re-elected.

All unopposed , even Cooke who initially had another Liberal, Mr Thomas Barker nominated against him.

[ColinJ]

Aug 8, 2020 13:57:12 GMT swanarcadian said:

Shipley UDC 1894-1972

A particularly interesting one to research as the council was fought on party lines at a relatively early stage, ie. before the First World War.
It was divided into 5 wards - Central, East, North, South and West throughout its whole existence.

The results I have collated are almost complete - I was unable to track down any for 1904 or 1950, and I'm sure there will have been some by-elections I haven't discovered also.
The Liberals were originally dominant, but their fortunes gradually dwindled and they lost their last seat in the 1947 elections.  By the end of the period it was a keenly fought district between the Tories and Labour, with the Tories usually able to count on the South and West wards, and Labour usually dominant in the other three.

Note the Labour candidate for West ward in 1961, 1962 and 1963, GR Cryer - who I'm almost certain was one and the same as Bob Cryer who later went on to become MP for Keighley, then Bradford South.

Yes, no doubt it was Bob Cryer, whose full name according to Wikipedia was George Robert Cryer, and he was educated at Salt High School, Shipley.

My grandparents, Cuthbert Arthur and Jessie Margaret Gray can be found in the electoral registers for South Ward in the 1930s; they lived at 2 Norwood Street. My father, uncle and aunt were all born there at this time.

[swanarcadian]

Thanks finsobruce for the 1904 details.   

It's odd about 1950: for some bizarre reason the BNA seem to have omitted editions for the Shipley Times and Express (the local paper which went defunct in 1981) that year.  They just jump from 1949 to 1951.  I couldn't find anything for Baildon UDC that year either.  I made enquiries about the year being omitted but was just given the standard reply "We cannot confirm when these pages will be made available" or words to that effect.
The Shipley Times was the most useful source.  I also used the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, the Leeds Mercury and the Bradford Daily Telegraph.

It's a small world ColinJ.  Salt High School is now Shipley College.  My wife went to Salt Grammar School (now Titus Salt School), although that's near the tramway leading up to Shipley Glen.

[swanarcadian]

Aug 8, 2020 13:57:12 GMT swanarcadian said:

Shipley UDC 1894-1972

A particularly interesting one to research as the council was fought on party lines at a relatively early stage, ie. before the First World War.
It was divided into 5 wards - Central, East, North, South and West throughout its whole existence.

The results I have collated are almost complete - I was unable to track down any for 1904 or 1950, and I'm sure there will have been some by-elections I haven't discovered also.
The Liberals were originally dominant, but their fortunes gradually dwindled and they lost their last seat in the 1947 elections.  By the end of the period it was a keenly fought district between the Tories and Labour, with the Tories usually able to count on the South and West wards, and Labour usually dominant in the other three.

Note the Labour candidate for West ward in 1961, 1962 and 1963, GR Cryer - who I'm almost certain was one and the same as Bob Cryer who later went on to become MP for Keighley, then Bradford South.

Thanks to hullenedge for unearthing the 1950 results for Shipley UDC and Baildon UDC.

[swanarcadian]

Aireborough UDC 1937-1972

This district was created by an amalgamation of older districts in north western parts of the modern day Leeds and neighbouring parts of Bradford.  The former urban councils of Guiseley, Yeadon and Rawdon and smaller settlements from Wharfedale Rural District merged to create it on 1 April 1937. 

Derived from the River Aire, the name Aireborough was adopted to reflect the equality of all the townships it comprised of.  Today the name is still used as a census ward among other things, and in 2001 it was named as the most average place in England and Wales, which makes election results in the area all the more interesting.

I was unable to find the 1948 results from the British Newspaper Archive; both the Bradford Observer and the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer appear to have omitted them from their reports that year although I did find a list of nominated candidates.   I was unable to track down anything for year zero, 1937 - perhaps for whatever the first elections were not held at the same time as in other parts of the West Riding.

[swanarcadian]

Aug 29, 2020 23:00:19 GMT swanarcadian said:

Aireborough UDC 1937-1972

This district was created by an amalgamation of older districts in north western parts of the modern day Leeds and neighbouring parts of Bradford.  The former urban councils of Guiseley, Yeadon and Rawdon and smaller settlements from Wharfedale Rural District merged to create it on 1 April 1937. 

Derived from the River Aire, the name Aireborough was adopted to reflect the equality of all the townships it comprised of.  Today the name is still used as a census ward among other things, and in 2001 it was named as the most average place in England and Wales, which makes election results in the area all the more interesting.

I was unable to find the 1948 results from the British Newspaper Archive; both the Bradford Observer and the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer appear to have omitted them from their reports that year although I did find a list of nominated candidates.   I was unable to track down anything for year zero, 1937 - perhaps for whatever the first elections were not held at the same time as in other parts of the West Riding.

Thanks to hullenedge for sending me the details for 1937 and 1948.



In 1937, there were a number of districts including this one which were merged or enlarged, and in the West Riding they polled two weeks before the unchanged districts. For some unknown reason the relevant 1948 reports on the BNA appear to have been replaced with inferior editions over the past few years; certainly they are much less useful for researching. 

[swanarcadian]

One problem I've had when searching old newspapers is being able to determine whether a party label states (L) or (I.).  It seems it was commonplace practice, but not universal, to place a full stop after each party label when reporting election results.  Independent was abbreviated simply to "I" rather than "Ind" as you would normally see nowadays (when there aren't lockdowns being imposed).
Therefore it's not always easy to decipher whether a candidate was a Liberal or an Independent, depending on the quality of the image I'm viewing.

[swanarcadian]

Aug 29, 2020 23:00:19 GMT swanarcadian said:

Aireborough UDC 1937-1972

This district was created by an amalgamation of older districts in north western parts of the modern day Leeds and neighbouring parts of Bradford.  The former urban councils of Guiseley, Yeadon and Rawdon and smaller settlements from Wharfedale Rural District merged to create it on 1 April 1937. 

Derived from the River Aire, the name Aireborough was adopted to reflect the equality of all the townships it comprised of.  Today the name is still used as a census ward among other things, and in 2001 it was named as the most average place in England and Wales, which makes election results in the area all the more interesting.

I was unable to find the 1948 results from the British Newspaper Archive; both the Bradford Observer and the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer appear to have omitted them from their reports that year although I did find a list of nominated candidates.   I was unable to track down anything for year zero, 1937 - perhaps for whatever the first elections were not held at the same time as in other parts of the West Riding.

Guiseley UDC 1894-1936

Rawdon UDC 1894-1936

Yeadon UDC 1894-1936

A few gaps.
I worked backwards in time, given that more recent elections tended to be held on political lines, and therefore perhaps of more interest.  But Guiseley was something of an exception, notwithstanding Labour candidates sometimes appearing among the lists of mostly non aligned names before the 1930s, I got back to 1900 and all of a sudden it was a keenly fought Liberal/Conservative battle.

Labour stood a lot of candidates in Rawdon, but aside from the odd councillor elected in the 1930s, perhaps unsurprisingly they didn't enjoy much success there.  However, socialism definitely had a presence in Yeadon right from the start, with an ILP candidate being amongst those elected in the first elections of 1894. 

[swanarcadian]

Bingley UDC 1894-1972

The results I have collated are of varying quality, depending on what newspapers are available for online viewing, the information they saw fit to provide and the quality of the images.

Today we know Bingley as a ward on Bradford MDC (there is also a Bingley Rural). But the first elections for the UDC in December 1894 saw 38 candidates fighting for 17 seats. The district was originally unwarded in the early years, then in 1898 it absorbed both the short lived Bingley Outer and Wilsden UDCs. Bingley Outer’s four wards had been named after the villages and hamlets which comprised it: Cottingley, Hainworth, Harden and Micklethwaite.

Bingley Outer UDC 1894-1897
Wilsden UDC 1894-1897

The new enlarged Bingley district’s seven wards, in use from 1898 right until its abolition were Central, Cullingworth, East, North, South, West and Wilsden. Following the final elections in 1972, the composition of the council was Conservatives 15, Labour 4 and Independent 1. Labour’s best ward by far was Central (notwithstanding the Liberal gain of 1969). Tom Snowden won it for the ILP as far back as 1911. East and North were more marginal. Cullingworth could be won by any of the three main parties within the last decade, with the rest of the wards more Conservative inclined. Wilsden had been won by Labour; they faced no opposition in 1956, but by the 1968 it was the two Conservative candidates who got a free run.

The Liberals originally dominated the scene in 1894, then gradually declined in line with the rest of the country but retained some residual strength at later stages, managing to wrest Cullingworth from the Tories in 1966.

Similarly, the fortunes of Independent candidates dwindled as party politics gradually took over, in line with most other places. This had been a hung council in the 1950s, owing to their presence. But in 1951, the Conservatives overtook them, the composition that year being Conservative 9, Independent 8 and Labour 3.

Working backwards to the 1930s we customarily begin to learn more about the candidates’ occupations, with political leanings being mentioned rather more sporadically. There was a Property Owners group in 1932 which managed to get one of its four candidates elected. Two of those defeated that year were seeking re-election.

[andrewteale]

This event on Friday week may be of interest:

[swanarcadian]

Oct 6, 2020 21:00:32 GMT andrewteale said:

This event on Friday week may be of interest:

Yes, that was brought to my attention.  I e-mailed Dr David Jeffery about the Old UK Councils forum and he tells me he has bookmarked it; hopefully it might encourage a few more volunteers to come on board with this huge project.

[swanarcadian]

I have today been informed I am at risk of redundancy.

This will put a halt, hopefully temporarily, to my contributions to the Old UK Councils forum as I have decided to let my BNA membership lapse as a precaution. However, I will still be on hand over there to deal with admin tasks such as approving new members, removing spam and so forth.

[Defenestrated Fipplebox]

Oct 7, 2020 17:35:23 GMT swanarcadian said:

I have today been informed I am at risk of redundancy.

This will put a halt, hopefully temporarily, to my contributions to the Old UK Councils forum as I have decided to let my BNA membership lapse as a precaution. However, I will still be on hand over there to deal with admin tasks such as approving new members, removing spam and so forth.

Best of luck.

[swanarcadian]

Oct 7, 2020 17:35:23 GMT swanarcadian said:

I have today been informed I am at risk of redundancy.

This will put a halt, hopefully temporarily, to my contributions to the Old UK Councils forum as I have decided to let my BNA membership lapse as a precaution. However, I will still be on hand over there to deal with admin tasks such as approving new members, removing spam and so forth.

A bit of good news amidst the COVID-19 doom and gloom: I have been gifted a 12 month subscription for the BNA, so I will be able to continue researching pre-1973 local election results whatever happens to my employment status.  It will provide a distraction for me during this seemingly endless nightmare. 

The redundancy process is of course ongoing.  There were two nominees for two employee representatives, of which I am one, so we were both returned unopposed.

[swanarcadian]

Saddleworth UDC 1959

The Liberals won every ward that was contested, bar one - Springhead Lower Higher - where they didn't field a candidate.

DELPH - Lib gain

O Sowerbutts, Lib 831

P Kershaw, Lab 457



DOBCROSS - 2 seats - 2 Lib gains

G Marsden, Lib 716

E Hobson, Lib 668

*S Buckley, Lab 598

N McConnell, Lab 434



GREENFIELD - Lib gain

G Lord, Lib 1068

*G Holtby, Con 990



SPRINGHEAD HIGHER

*A Pearson, Con 395

A Wright, Lab 284



SPRINGHEAD LOWER - Lib gain

D Dellhide, Lib 747

*C Fitton, Con 614

[Defenestrated Fipplebox]

Oct 20, 2020 16:18:38 GMT swanarcadian said:

Saddleworth UDC 1959

The Liberals won every ward that was contested, bar one - Springhead Lower - where they didn't field a candidate.

DELPH - Lib gain

O Sowerbutts, Lib 831

P Kershaw, Lab 457



DOBCROSS - 2 seats - 2 Lib gains

G Marsden, Lib 716

E Hobson, Lib 668

*S Buckley, Lab 598

N McConnell, Lab 434



GREENFIELD - Lib gain

G Lord, Lib 1068

*G Holtby, Con 990



SPRINGHEAD HIGHER

*A Pearson, Con 395

A Wright, Lab 284



SPRINGHEAD LOWER - Lib gain

D Dellhide, Lib 747

*C Fitton, Con 614

You've got Springfield Higher with no Liberal candidate here, not Springfield Lower as you state. There's an error somewhere.