The
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...
elections were held on Thursday, 4 May 1990, with one third of the council and two
casual vacancies in
Beeston and
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
to be elected. There had been a
number of by-elections in the interim, resulting in two
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 ...
gains in
Armley
Armley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It starts less than from Leeds city centre. Like much of Leeds, Armley grew in the Industrial Revolution and had several mills, one of which houses now the Leeds Industrial ...
and
Burmantofts
Burmantofts is an area of 1960s high-rise housing blocks in inner-city east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England adjacent to the city centre and St. James's Hospital. It is a racially diverse area, with sizable Afro-Caribbean and Irish communities, ...
from the
Social and Liberal Democrats and holds elsewhere.
The election was held amidst deep unpopularity for the
Conservative
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 i ...
national government and their
poll tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
measure, resulting in the party's worst ever performance in the English locals.
The effects it had in Leeds were no less severe, with the party obtaining a record low vote share, with their victories confined to just 4 of the 33 wards, restricted to their Northern heartlands –
Cookridge
Cookridge is a suburb of north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, north of the Leeds Outer Ring Road. In 1715 Ralph Thoresby described it as a village four miles from Leeds and three from Otley, dating from 1540.Ralph Thoresby (1715) ''Duc ...
, North,
Roundhay
Roundhay is a large suburb in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Roundhay had a population of 22,546 in 2011.
It sits in the Roundhay ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency.
History Etymology
Roun ...
and
Wetherby
Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...
– losing stalwarts
Aireborough
Aireborough is a district within the West Yorkshire Urban Area, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is mostly within the present Leeds metropolitan borough, although some areas now in Bradford metropolitan district may also be conside ...
,
Halton,
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford, Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of ...
North and
Weetwood
Weetwood is an area between Headingley and Meanwood in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded on the north by the A6120 road, A6120 (Outer Ring Road), on the west by the A660 road, A660 (Otley Road), on the east by Meanwood ...
to Labour for the first time.
Both the Conservative vote and the SLD vote were little changed from the
previous election; the landslide was caused by a remarkable increase in Labour's vote – over 50% on recent elections – bringing with it a record turnout (with
1979 omitted). The SLD's slate was notably much reduced, fielding their lowest number of candidates since
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
, after their fall-back at their last outing. Similar to the last election, their sole loss was found in Armley to Labour, narrowly holding onto
Otley
Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...
&
Wharfedale
Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It is ...
, but much more comfortably their
Horsforth
Horsforth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England, lying about five miles north-west of Leeds city centre. Historically a village within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a p ...
and
Moortown seats. In total, Labour's five gains extended their majority by ten, comfortably surpassing party records in votes, vote share and council majority.
Elsewhere, the leader of the newly formed
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 ...
Michael Meadowcroft
Michael James Meadowcroft (born 6 March 1942) is a British author, politician and political affairs consultant. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West from 1983 to 1987.
Early life
Meadowcroft was born in Halifax, West Yorks ...
– alongside his fellow candidate in
Harehills
Harehills is an inner-city area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north east of Leeds city centre. Harehills is situated between the A58 (towards Wetherby) and the A64 (towards York). It sits in the Gipton & Ha ...
– won a respectable second place in
Bramley. Meanwhile, their fellow SLD defectors, the
SDP joined the
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
in producing just one candidate – with both collecting negligible support, suggesting possible demise (with the latter likely adversely impacted by recent international events).
Election result
This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:
Ward results
References
{{Leeds Council elections, state=expanded
1990 English local elections
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
1990s in Leeds