The fourth election to the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

was held on 12 April 1973.

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

won a large majority of 58 seats to 32 for the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

; the Liberals also won their first two seats on the council.

Electoral arrangements

As there had been a boundary commission report with new Parliamentary constituencies which coincided with the border of Greater London, the electoral system was changed (as had always been intended) so that the GLC was elected from single member electoral divisions which were identical with the Parliamentary constituencies.

Results

With an electorate of 5,313,470, there was a turnout of 36.8%. In addition to the 92 councillors, there were sixteen

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 ...

who divided 9 Labour and 6 Conservative, so that Labour actually had 67 seats to 38 for the Conservatives following the election. Among those who were first elected to the GLC in 1973 were

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

(Labour, Lambeth, Norwood), later to lead it, Andrew McIntosh (Labour, Haringey, Tottenham) who was his brief moderate rival for the Labour leadership, and

Serge Lourie (Alexander) Serge Lourie CF (born 22 February 1946) is a former Leader of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, where he was a local government councillor from 1982 to 2010. He was Chairman of the United Kingdom Housing Trust, Kingston ...

(Labour, Havering Hornchurch), who became a founder member of the SDP and Leader of the LB Richmond upon Thames in 2001.

By-elections 1973–1977

The first by-election of the term was caused by the court voiding the election in Croydon North East (see ''

Morgan v Simpson ''Morgan v Simpson'' 975QB 151 is a UK constitutional law case, concerning the right to vote and the integrity of votes and elections in the United Kingdom. Facts Gladys Morgan and four voters in the 1973 election for the Greater London Counci ...

''). On 5 September 1974 the former Conservative member Billie Morgan regained the seat she had narrowly lost. Labour retained seats in Greenwich on 24 October 1974 and Dagenham on 30 January 1975 caused by the deaths of sitting councillors. The Conservatives kept their seat in Finchley on 15 May 1975 caused by the resignation of Roland Freeman and St. Marylebone on 8 April 1976 caused by the resignation of former GLC leader

Desmond Plummer Arthur Desmond Herne Plummer, Baron Plummer of St Marylebone, TD, DL, FRSA (25 May 1914 – 2 October 2009) was a British Conservative Party politician in London and the longest serving Leader of the Greater London Council 1967–1973. Educ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greater London Council Election, 1973

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

1973 English local elections 1973 in London April 1973 events in the United Kingdom