1961 London County Council election

← 1958

13 April 1961

1964 →

	First party	Second party
	Lab
Leader	Isaac Hayward	Geoffrey Rippon
Party	Labour	Conservative
Leader since	1947	22 April 1958
Leader's seat	Alderman	Chelsea
Seats won	84	42
Seat change	17	17

An election to the County Council of London occurred on 13 April 1961. It was the last election to the council, and plans for its replacement by the Greater London Council were already in process. The council was elected by First Past the Post, with each elector having three votes in the three-member seats.

Campaign

The campaign attracted little attention.^[1] The Conservative Party campaign focused on housing issues. The London Labour Party organised a tour of twenty cars through South East London, carrying politicians who made short speeches at numerous locations in the area.^[2] Other election issues included the proposed construction of the Royal National Theatre and the London Ringways road schemes.^[1]

Results

The Labour Party lost seventeen seats to the Conservative Party but still secured a substantial majority of seats on the council. This ensured that the Labour Party would complete thirty years in control of the council.^[3]

The Liberal Party hoped to win at least one seat in the election but failed.^[2]^[3] The Independent Labour Party, Union Movement and British National Party also stood candidates but failed to secure any seats, as did assorted independent candidates.^[3]

Turnout in the election was 34.7%, an increase of 3.2% over the previous election. A closely fought contest in Fulham led to a turnout of 47%, a record for the seat.^[4]

Party		Votes^[5]			Seats^[5]
Party		Number	%	Stood	Seats	%
	Labour	403,680	50.4	126	84	66.7
	Conservative	336,468	42.0	126	42	33.3
	Liberal	47,845	6.0	69	0	0.0
	Communist	7,622	1.0	5	0	0.0
	British National	3,695	0.5	3	0	0.0
	Union Movement	2,605	0.3	3	0	0.0
	Independent	2,094	0.3	2	0	0.0
	Ind. Labour Party	1,633	0.2	3	0	0.0
	Alert Party	672	0.1	2	0	0.0

References

^ ^a ^b "The invisible election". The Guardian. 10 April 1961.
^ ^a ^b "Drive to get London to the poll". The Times. 7 April 1961.
^ ^a ^b ^c "No change in last LCC results". The Times. 15 April 1961.
^ "Tories regain control of Middlesex". The Guardian. 14 April 1961.
^ ^a ^b Woollard, John; Willis, Alan (2000). Twentieth Century Local Election Results. Vol. 3. Elections Centre.

v t e London County Council
Elections	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961
Members	Chairmen Members 1889-1919 Members 1919-1937 Members 1937-1949 Members 1949-1965
Constituencies (1889–1919)	Battersea Bermondsey Bethnal Green North East Bethnal Green South West Bow and Bromley Brixton Camberwell North Chelsea City of London Clapham Deptford Dulwich Finsbury Central Finsbury East Fulham Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North Hackney South Haggerston Hammersmith Hampstead Holborn Hoxton Islington East Islington North Islington South Islington West Kennington Kensington North Kensington South Lambeth North Lewisham Limehouse Marylebone East Marylebone West Mile End Newington West Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar Rotherhithe St George's Hanover Square St George St Pancras East St Pancras North St Pancras South St Pancras West Southwark West Stepney Strand Walworth Wandsworth Westminster Whitechapel Woolwich
Constituencies (1919–1949)	Balham and Tooting Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey West Bethnal Green North East Bethnal Green South West Bow and Bromley Brixton Camberwell North Camberwell North West Chelsea City of London Clapham Deptford Dulwich Finsbury Fulham East Fulham West Greenwich Hackney Central Hackney North Hackney South Hammersmith North Hammersmith South Hampstead Holborn Islington East Islington North Islington South Islington West Kennington Kensington North Kensington South Lambeth North Lewisham East Lewisham West Limehouse Mile End Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar South Putney Rotherhithe St Marylebone St Pancras North St Pancras South East St Pancras South West Shoreditch Southwark Central Southwark North Southwark South East Stoke Newington Streatham Wandsworth Central Westminster Abbey Westminster St George's Whitechapel and St George's Woolwich East Woolwich West
Constituencies (1949–1964)	Barons Court (1955–1964) Battersea North Battersea South Bermondsey Bethnal Green Brixton Chelsea Cities of London and Westminster Clapham Deptford Dulwich Fulham (1955–1965) Fulham East (1949–1955) Fulham West (1949–1955) Greenwich Hackney Central (1955–1964) Hackney South (1949–1955) Hammersmith North Hammersmith South (1949–1955) Hampstead Holborn and St Pancras South Islington East Islington North Islington South West Kensington North Kensington South Lewisham North Lewisham South Lewisham West Norwood Paddington North Paddington South Peckham Poplar Putney St Marylebone St Pancras North Shoreditch and Finsbury Southwark Stepney Stoke Newington and Hackney North Streatham Vauxhall Wandsworth Central Woolwich East Woolwich West
Other topics	Tramways Coat of Arms County Hall

v t e Elections and referendums in London
Mayor of London	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021 2024
London Assembly	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021 2024
Inner London Education Authority	1986
Greater London Council	1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981
London County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961
Borough Councils	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Referendums	1998
See also Elections in London Boroughs Middlesex County Council elections

v t e (1960 ←) 1961 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1962)
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