The 1986

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...

elections were held on Thursday, 8 May 1986, with one third of the council and a vacancy in Halton to be elected, following the resignation by

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

incumbent Martin Dodgson in March. Prior to that, there had been a defection by the former-

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

councillor 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 now houses the Leeds Industrial ...

, Sandy Melville, to

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

in January and a sacking (from committees) and de-selection as Labour candidate for Wortley for Pat Fathers after he was found to be leaking information the previous December. Although largely a re-run of the last election's wins (with an extra victory in

Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 25,393. History T ...

South) for Labour, these seats having been last fought in the 1982 election with a much stronger performance from the Conservatives resulted in a handful of gains for Labour. The Conservatives continued their decline, winning less than a quarter of the wards for the first time, with their wins mostly confined to the north of the city facing an increasingly competitive Alliance there. The Alliance, resurgent after much of their 1982 spike had looked to be ebbing away, were now close to usurping the Conservatives for second place in votes. Labour captured the remaining Tory seats in Barwick & Kippax and Garforth & Swillington, and increased their representation in Morley North and Pudsey South with gains from the weakened Conservatives there. Labour also gained the sole Alliance seat in Richmond Hill, and came within 26 votes from gaining Armley from them. The Alliance however managed to offset their loss with a gain of their own in Moortown, ousting prominent Tory Sydney Symmonds.

Election result

This result has the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:

Ward results

By-elections between 1986 and 1987

References

{{Leeds Council elections 1986 English local elections

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1980s in Leeds