An election to the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

took place on 7 April 1949. The council was elected by

First Past the Post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

with each elector having three votes in the three-member seats. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

made substantial gains, achieving the same number of seats as the Labour Party. However, Labour held the chair of the council, and was thus able to retain control. The constituencies were completely reorganised before the election. The 60 former two-member constituencies and one four-member constituency were replaced by 43 three-member constituencies, to align with the UK Parliamentary constituencies due to be introduced at the 1950 UK general election.

Campaign

The Labour Party campaigned on its progress on the ''

County of London Plan The County of London Plan was prepared for the London County Council in 1943 by John Henry Forshaw (1895–1973) and Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1957) Its main purpose was to point out the main directions of development and ...

'', its construction of housing and schools, and its takeover of health services. The

chose not to stand candidates in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

, where it hoped its supporters would instead vote for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidates. It argued that the Labour administration was short of talent. The

and

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

each stood only six candidates, and hoped to retain representation in their strongest areas: Bethnal Green for the Liberals, and

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

for the Communists.

Results

The Conservative Party secured the most votes, but won the same number of seats as the Labour Party. The Liberal Party leader

Percy Harris Percy Harris is the name of: *Percy Harris (lawyer), British barrister *Percy Harris (politician), British politician See also

*Percy Harris Bowers, Anglican priest *Percy Harrison (disambiguation) {{human name disambiguation, Harris, Percy ...

was the only other councillor to win a seat. Because there were ten appointed

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

, all Labour representatives, Labour retained a majority for the election of a new chair, who would hold a casting vote. While this would usually be a council member, the party instead selected J. W. Bowen, a party member who was not on the council, and thereby secured an ongoing majority. Thus assured, it agreed to a Conservative proposal to arrange for the election of new aldermen in proportion to the party strengths. Turnout at the election was 39%, a considerable increase from 26% three years earlier.

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1949 London County Council election County Council election London County Council election London County Council elections London County Council election