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 5 March 1931. 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 two votes in the two-member seats. The

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

slightly increased its majority on the council, with overall results matching those from 1925.

Campaign

The Municipal Reform Party had run the council since 1907. The party campaigned on its record in government, contending that it had run the council economically, keeping rates low. Since the previous election, the council had gained the power to administer welfare benefits, and the Municipal Reformers argued that the Labour Party would practice "

Poplarism The Poplar Rates Rebellion, or Poplar Rates Revolt, was a tax protest that took place in Poplar, London, England, in 1921. It was led by George Lansbury, the previous year's Labour Mayor of Poplar, with the support of the Poplar Borough Counci ...

" and be overly generous. The party stood 106 candidates, and won the seats in

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, Kensington South, Paddington South,

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and

Westminster St George's Westminster St George's, originally named St George's, Hanover Square, was a parliamentary constituency in Central London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by th ...

without facing a contest. The Labour Party argued that welfare was administered in a harsh and cruel manner. It also contended that the Municipal Reform Party had not constructed houses for workers, and supported a government scheme for a board with oversight of traffic control in the city. The ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' noted that Labour did not expect to take control of the council, as it was losing ground nationally. Other than the uncontested seats, the party stood everywhere except

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, while it had only a single candidate in Stoke Newington. 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 ...

released a pamphlet putting forward ideas on housing, education, traffic, and the rating of land values. The Municipal Reform Party and the Liberal Party had a limited pact, with the two jointly backing anti-socialist candidates in Hackney South and the three divisions of Southwark. In the two divisions of Bethnal Green, and in Lambeth North, the Municipal Reformers backed the Liberal candidates. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' noted that the Liberals were planning a much smaller campaign than in 1928, due to their losses that year, and a shortage of funds. The party stood only 27 candidates, down from 82 in 1928. The Communist Party of Great Britain stood 14 candidates, and also backed six "Organised Unemployed" candidates in the three Southwark constituencies.

Results

'' noted that "rarely has an election of such importance caused so few changes". The Municipal Reformers made limited gains, taking the Liberal seat in

Hackney Central Hackney Central is a sub-district of Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney in London, England and is four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross. The Hackney Central area is focused on Mare Street and the retail areas to the north o ...

, and Labour seats in Hammersmith North, Islington South, Kennington,

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

and St Pancras South East. Labour's vote fell, but the party gained seats in

Islington East Islington East was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United ...

and

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

, while the Liberal Party gained seats from Labour in Lambeth North. The Communist Party of Great Britain performed poorly. Former Member of Parliament

Shapurji Saklatvala Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a communist activist and British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. Saklatvala is notable for being the first person of Indian heritage to become a British Member of Parliamen ...

took only 728 votes for the party in Battersea North. The numbers of seats won by each party matched exactly the results of the 1925 London County Council election.

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1931 1931 elections in the United Kingdom County Council election 1931 English local elections London County Council elections March 1931 events