Sheffield City Council elections usually take place by thirds, three years out of every four. Sheffield City Council is the local authority for the

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Each of Sheffield's 28 wards is represented by three positions on the council, meaning there are usually 28 seats contested in each local election. 1967, 1973, 2004 and 2016 saw new ward boundaries and therefore all seats were contested.

Political control

Graph showing total seat number for each political party in local elections in Sheffield, UK, 1973–2011

From 1889 to 1974 Sheffield was a county borough, independent of any county council. Under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

it had its territory enlarged and became a

, with South Yorkshire County Council providing county-level services. The first election to the reconstituted city council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. South Yorkshire County Council was abolished in 1986 and Sheffield became a unitary authority. Political control of the council since 1973 has been held by the following parties:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1901 have been: County Borough The last leader of the city council before the 1974 reforms, Ron Ironmonger, went on to be the first leader of South Yorkshire County Council. Metropolitan Borough

Council elections

Before 1974, elections were by thirds annually for a three-year term, with Aldermen elected from the body of councillors every three years. In 1974, Aldermen were abolished, and elections to Sheffield City Council are by thirds, in three years of every four, for a four-year term. For twenty years from 1846, Isaac Ironside's

Central Democratic Association The Central Democratic Association, also known as the Democratic Association or the Democrats, was a political party of Chartists which was prominent in Sheffield, England in the mid-nineteenth century. Establishment Sheffield Town Council was c ...

was a force on the council. It then returned to typical Conservative– Liberal rivalry. Labour made little impact in its early years; by 1918, there were only three Labour councillors (and two Liberal-Labour, plus one Lib-Lab alderman). That all changed in 1919; Labour won almost all the seats up for election that year, giving them 12 and their coalition partners the Co-operative Party two. In response to their losses, the Conservative and Liberal groups merged to form the Citizens Association, retaining control with 32 councillors and 15 aldermen. The Lib-Labs remained unchanged in numbers and politically between the two groups.J. Mendelson, W. Owen, S. Pollard and V. M. Thornes, ''The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council 1858 - 1958'' Labour continued to advance at the expense of the Citizens Association. By 1922, there were 18 Labour councillors and one alderman; by 1925, 22 councillors and one alderman. At the 1926 elections, Labour rose to 29 councillors. A majority on the council and a large number of retiring aldermen finally enabled them to take 8 positions on the aldermanic bench. The seats were redistributed into 24 wards in 1930, and the Citizens Association renamed itself the Progressive Party, and a further seat was added for Norton in 1934, taking the total number of positions to 75 councillors and 25 aldermen. That year, Labour briefly lost control, but regained it in 1934, with an increased majority of 12. This rose to 14 the following year. In 1945, Labour had 59 total seats to the Progressive's 39, one independent and one

Communist 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 s ...

. Labour continued to build its majority, to 34 in 1952 and 42 by 1958. However, it lost control to the Conservative Party, again standing on its own, in 1968-9. Boundary changes took place for the 2004 election which reduced the number of seats by 3, leading to the whole council being elected in that year. Graph showing total popular vote numbers for each political party in local elections in Sheffield, UK, 1973–2011

Graph showing total popular vote numbers for each political party in local elections in Sheffield, UK, 1973–2011

Graph showing popular vote share for each political party in local elections in Sheffield, UK, 1973–2012

Borough result maps

File:1967 Sheffield City Council election map-en.png, 1967 results map File:1968 Sheffield City Council election map-en.png, 1968 results map File:1970 Sheffield City Council election map-en.png, 1970 results map File:1971 Sheffield City Council election map-en.png, 1971 results map File:1972 Sheffield City Council election map-en.png, 1972 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1980 map.png, 1980 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1982 map.png, 1982 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1983 map.png, 1983 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1984 map.png, 1984 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1986 map.png, 1986 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1987 map.png, 1987 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1988 map.png, 1988 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1990 map.png, 1990 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1991 map.png, 1991 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1992 map.png, 1992 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1994 map.png, 1994 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1995 map.png, 1995 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1996 map.png, 1996 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1998 map.png, 1998 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 1999 map.png, 1999 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2000 map.png, 2000 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2002 map.png, 2002 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2003 map.png, 2003 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2004 map.svg, 2004 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2006 map.svg, 2006 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2007 map.svg, 2007 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2008 map.svg, 2008 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2010 map.svg, 2010 results map File:Sheffield UK local election 2011 map.svg, 2011 results map File:Sheffield local election map 2012.gif, 2012 results map File:Sheffield local election map 2014.gif, 2014 results map File:Sheffield local election map 2015.gif, 2015 results map File:Sheffield local election map 2016.gif, 2016 results map File:Sheffield City Council election, 2018.svg, 2018 results map File:Sheffield City Council election, 2019.svg, 2019 results map File:Sheffield City Council election, 2021.svg, 2021 results map File:2022 Sheffield City Council election.svg, 2022 results map

By-election results

By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections; full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.

References

External links

Sheffield City CouncilMembers of Sheffield City Council 1974–present
{{Metropolitan districts of England Politics of Sheffield Council elections in South Yorkshire Local government in Sheffield Sheffield