1968 Sheffield City Council election

Election held on 9 May 1968 March 2015 March 2015 1968 Sheffield City Council election England Parliamentary no yes 1967 Sheffield City Council election 1967 1969 Sheffield City Council election 1969 30 councillors to Sheffield City Council 9 May 1968 Conservative Party (UK) 22 8 Labour Party (UK) 8 7 File:1968 Sheffield City Council election map-en.png 400px Majority party Majority party after election Labour Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) The 1968 Sheffield City Council election was held on 9 May 1968, with a third of the council up for vote, alongside three double vacancies in Broomhill, Handsworth and Mosborough. Overall turnout was 33.9%, a continuation of the preceding year's improvement. Following on from the previous year's momentous wins by the Conservatives, this historic night seen them surpass those and win control of the council for the first time since 1932, when it won as the Conservative-Liberal combination Progressives party. This election and the previous followed the national trend of Labour suffering massive losses around the country, even in their heartlands, with only two cities left Labour-controlled after these elections - Hull and Stoke - and even there the Tories were making significant inroads. The results were met with jubilant scenes in the town hall, where the Conservatives opened bottles of champagne and celebrated. The leader of the Conservative group, alderman Harold Hebblethwaite, remarked: "Tonight is a wonderful night. It is a narrow majority, nevertheless, it is a workable majority. This victory is the plum which the Conservative Party have been looking for nationally, and here it is. I am not used to making emotional statements such as 'to the victors the spoils' but it follows naturally from our victory that we shall take the committee chairmanships and deputy chairmanships. We will have to do that to control policy. We have a majority of only four but I would emphasise that if we had had this majority last year with the opportunity to manipulate aldermanic seats our majority on the council floor would have been 14." Labour Park councillor Joe Ashton, wrote "we will return" on the wall of the Town Hall whip's office in response to the defeat. The Conservatives gained seven seats from Labour in Birley, Darnall, Firth Park, Netherthorpe, Owlerton, Sharrow and Walkley, as well as the sole Independent seat in Mosborough. These gains transformed a narrow deficit in councillors, to a thirteen-strong majority. A poll of voters in the Darnall ward (an invariably Labour-won seat since 1945) was commissioned by the Morning Telegraph four days prior to the election, correctly predicting a Conservative gain with a swing to the Conservatives of 5.5% - a figure that was exceeded by one per cent on the night. Unfortunately for the Conservatives, the aldermanic elections weren't until 1970, and two-thirds of those currently represented Labour, reducing their majority to just 4, and as such, difficult to govern with. Aside from numerical difficulties, the recent report from the City's Treasurer precipitated financial restraint, so the incoming governments options were one of either cuts to the council's services, or rises in the city's rates. https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1BWkO-jL09UOWZlMjEyM2UtMTkxNy00M2FkLWE3MjAtNTViNzI2MjBhYmY4&hl=en_US Sheffield Local Elections 1960–1995 scans 2011-12-02 Election result Sheffield local election result 1968 Conservative Party (UK) 22 8 0 +8 73.3 57.4 72,763 +7.0 Labour Party (UK) 8 0 7 -7 26.7 36.0 45,555 -2.2 Communist Party of Great Britain 0 0 0 0 0.0 2.4 3,006 -2.0 Liberal Party (UK) 0 0 0 0 0.0 2.1 2,697 -2.1 Other 0 0 1 -1 0.0 2.1 2,652 -0.6 The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections: PartyPrevious councilNew councilCllrAldCllrAld Conservatives 39 9 47 9 Labour 41 18 34 18 Communists 0 0 0 0 Liberals 0 0 0 0 Independent 1 0 0 0 Total 81 27 81 27 108 108 Working majority #FFBF00 1 darkgray #FFBF00 9 darkgray #FFBF00 13 darkgray #FFBF00 -9 darkgray#FFBF00 10 darkgray#FFBF00 4 darkgray Ward results Attercliffe Labour Party (UK) Harry Firth 2,257 66.4 -4.7 Conservative Party (UK) Harold Mellor 1,141 33.6 +4.7 1,116 32.8 -9.4 3,398 21.2 -1.6 Labour Party (UK) -4.7 Beauchief Conservative Party (UK) Thomas Crewe 6,303 82.9 +11.4 Labour Party (UK) Kenneth Morgan 1,300 17.1 -11.4 5,003 65.8 +22.8 7,603 53.1 +3.4 Conservative Party (UK) +11.4 Birley Conservative Party (UK) Danny George 2,507 54.1 +15.8 Labour Party (UK) Leonard Stones 1,903 41.1 +0.5 Independent (politician) Laurence Gillatt 221 4.8 -16.3 604 13.0 +10.8 4,631 31.2 +1.9 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +7.6 Brightside Labour Party (UK) George Wilson 1,838 52.8 +1.3 Conservative Party (UK) Leonard Scott 1,261 36.2 +6.7 National Front (UK) George Clark 214 6.1 -3.7 Communist Party of Great Britain Joe Stevens 170 4.9 -4.3 577 16.6 -5.4 3,483 27.1 +1.5 Labour Party (UK) -2.7 Broomhill Conservative Party (UK) Graham Cheetham 3,560 66.4 -10.8 Conservative Party (UK) A. Smith 3,419 Labour Party (UK) Annie Britton 999 18.6 -4.2 Liberal Party (UK) J. Garb 804 15.0 +15.0 2,561 47.7 -6.6 5,363 33.1 -0.8 Conservative Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) -3.3 Burngreave Conservative Party (UK) Jack Osborne 1,842 49.7 +5.1 Labour Party (UK) Harry Hall 1,567 42.3 +4.6 Communist Party of Great Britain Jim Ashurst 172 4.6 -4.5 D. Biddles 124 3.4 +3.4 275 7.4 +5.8 3,705 27.3 -0.3 Conservative Party (UK) +0.2 Castle Labour Party (UK) Roy Munn 1,759 54.0 +2.6 Conservative Party (UK) Simon Newall 1,109 34.0 -2.6 G. May 217 4.8 +4.8 Communist Party of Great Britain Edna Ashworth 174 5.3 -7.2 650 19.9 +4.7 3,259 28.9 +2.5 Labour Party (UK) +2.3 Darnall Conservative Party (UK) J. Heath 2,395 50.9 +6.6 Labour Party (UK) Arnold Wood 2,312 49.1 -6.6 83 1.7 -9.6 4,707 30.4 -2.8 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +6.6 Dore Conservative Party (UK) Patricia Santhouse 5,039 80.3 +2.5 Labour Party (UK) John Cornwell 1,235 19.7 -2.5 3,804 60.3 +5.0 6,274 48.7 +5.3 Conservative Party (UK) +2.5 Ecclesall Conservative Party (UK) Andrew Cook 4,844 78.1 +9.3 Liberal Party (UK) A. Barrett 720 11.6 -5.5 Labour Party (UK) Leon Harris 636 10.2 -3.8 4,124 67.9 +16.2 6,200 42.7 -0.1 Conservative Party (UK) +7.4 Firth Park Conservative Party (UK) Madge Kerton 2,163 46.0 +6.1 Labour Party (UK) Tom Lowe 1,846 39.3 +1.2 Liberal Party (UK) Francis Butler 471 10.0 -2.4 Communist Party of Great Britain R. Wilkinson 217 4.6 -4.9 317 6.7 5.0 4,697 32.8 +1.2 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +2.4 Gleadless Conservative Party (UK) Charles Davison 4,089 63.8 +8.3 Labour Party (UK) Alfred Wood 1,952 30.4 -2.4 Liberal Party (UK) Dennis Boothroyd 370 5.8 -5.9 2,137 33.3 +10.7 6,411 46.5 -4.0 Conservative Party (UK) +5.3 Hallam Conservative Party (UK) Guy Walker 4,321 79.6 +1.2 Labour Party (UK) Jack Watson 1,108 20.4 -1.2 3,213 59.2 +2.3 5,429 39.5 +0.7 Conservative Party (UK) +1.2 Handsworth Conservative Party (UK) Francis Brookes 2,105 50.5 +1.0 Conservative Party (UK) Jack Kerton 2,073 Labour Party (UK) James Pearson 2,066 49.5 -1.0 Labour Party (UK) George Nicholls 2,064 7 0.9 -0.2 4,171 32.7 -5.6 Conservative Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) +1.0 Heeley Conservative Party (UK) Michael Swain 3,855 57.7 +8.9 Labour Party (UK) Peter Jones 2,413 36.1 -5.4 Communist Party of Great Britain Robert Moody 407 6.1 -3.6 1,442 21.6 +14.3 6,675 40.5 -1.7 Conservative Party (UK) +7.1 Hillsborough Conservative Party (UK) Irvine Patnick 4,309 68.3 +8.8 Labour Party (UK) Albert Morris 1,997 31.7 -8.8 2,312 36.7 +17.5 6,306 42.8 -4.2 Conservative Party (UK) +8.8 Intake Conservative Party (UK) Frank Woodger 2,920 57.2 +5.3 Labour Party (UK) Joseph Albaya 2,181 42.7 -5.3 739 14.5 +10.6 5,101 32.6 -2.7 Conservative Party (UK) +5.3 Manor Labour Party (UK) George Machin 1,785 49.3 +3.5 Conservative Party (UK) Raymond Brown 1,410 38.9 +5.7 Communist Party of Great Britain John Hukin 425 11.7 -9.2 375 10.3 -2.1 3,620 25.8 -1.0 Labour Party (UK) -1.1 Mosborough Conservative Party (UK) Hugh Rowbotham 1,532 50.5 +24.1 Labour Party (UK) Dorothy Walton 1,498 49.4 +13.6 Labour Party (UK) Harry Havenhand 1,415 Conservative Party (UK) Eric Vawser 1,317 83 1.1 -0.9 3,030 33.6 +2.8 Conservative Party (UK) Independent (politician) Labour Party (UK) -5.2 Nether Edge Conservative Party (UK) Charles Macdonald 4,515 82.8 +17.7 Labour Party (UK) Charles Hayward 938 17.2 -1.3 3,577 65.6 +19.0 5,453 39.8 +3.9 Conservative Party (UK) +9.5 Nether Shire Labour Party (UK) Fred Staton 1,928 39.5 +1.7 Conservative Party (UK) Michael Black 1,792 36.7 +3.8 R. Hewitt 567 11.6 +11.6 Liberal Party (UK) Albert Hattersley 332 6.8 -9.7 Communist Party of Great Britain Ken Hattersley 266 5.4 -7.4 136 2.8 -2.0 4,885 39.4 +4.0 Labour Party (UK) -1.0 Netherthorpe Conservative Party (UK) Jean Grindrod 1,486 45.9 +8.7 Labour Party (UK) Marie Rodgers 1,483 45.8 -1.5 Communist Party of Great Britain Roy Barrett 270 8.3 -7.2 3 0.1 -10.0 3,239 28.9 +2.3 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +5.1 Owlerton Conservative Party (UK) Nesta Bennett 1,509 45.8 +15.3 Labour Party (UK) John Yeardley 1,435 43.6 -3.0 Communist Party of Great Britain Dave Jeffery 349 10.6 -1.0 74 2.2 -13.7 3,293 22.5 -3.1 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +9.1 Park Labour Party (UK) Dennis Dunn 1,726 47.0 -4.7 Conservative Party (UK) June Harris 1,145 31.1 -2.6 M. Macdonald 631 12.1 +12.1 Communist Party of Great Britain Cyril Morton 172 4.7 -9.8 581 15.8 -2.1 3,674 24.8 -1.0 Labour Party (UK) -1.0 Sharrow Conservative Party (UK) J. Pashley 2,388 51.5 +11.2 Labour Party (UK) Ethel Evans 2,039 44.0 +4.7 National Front (UK) Barrie Bolton 204 4.5 -3.9 349 7.5 +6.5 4,631 39.3 +1.8 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +3.2 Southey Green Labour Party (UK) Francis O'Shaughnessy 1,478 52.1 -0.0 Conservative Party (UK) Charles Hughes 975 34.4 +2.4 Communist Party of Great Britain Gordon Ashberry 384 13.5 -2.3 503 17.7 -2.4 2,837 21.0 -0.6 Labour Party (UK) -1.2 Walkley Conservative Party (UK) John Goodram 2,248 48.9 +3.4 Labour Party (UK) Bernard Kidd 1,876 40.8 -4.7 National Front (UK) Alan Holmes 244 5.3 -3.7 G. Bohannon 230 5.0 +5.0 372 8.1 +8.1 4,598 31.5 +2.7 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +4.0 References 1 Sheffield City Council election 1968 City Council election, 1968 Sheffield City Council election