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An election to theCounty Council ofLondon occurred on 13 April 1961. It was the last election to the council, and plans for its replacement by theGreater London Council were already in process. The council was elected byFirst Past the Post, with each elector having three votes in the three-member seats.
The campaign attracted little attention.[1] TheConservative Party campaign focused on housing issues. TheLondon Labour Party organised a tour of twenty cars through South East London, carrying politicians who made short speeches at numerous locations in the area.[2] Other election issues included the proposed construction of theRoyal National Theatre and theLondon Ringways road schemes.[1]
The Labour Party lost seventeen seats to the Conservative Party but still secured a substantial majority of seats on the council. This ensured that the Labour Party would complete thirty years in control of the council.[3]
TheLiberal Party hoped to win at least one seat in the election but failed.[2][3] TheIndependent Labour Party,Union Movement andBritish National Party also stood candidates but failed to secure any seats, as did assortedindependent candidates.[3]
Turnout in the election was 34.7%, an increase of 3.2% over the previous election. A closely fought contest in Fulham led to a turnout of 47%, a record for the seat.[4]
| Party | Votes[5] | Seats[5] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Stood | Seats | % | ||||
| Labour | 403,680 | 50.4 | 126 | 84 | 66.7 | |||
| Conservative | 336,468 | 42.0 | 126 | 42 | 33.3 | |||
| Liberal | 47,845 | 6.0 | 69 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Communist | 7,622 | 1.0 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| British National | 3,695 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Union Movement | 2,605 | 0.3 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Independent | 2,094 | 0.3 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Ind. Labour Party | 1,633 | 0.2 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
| Alert Party | 672 | 0.1 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | |||
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