The final Leeds municipal elections were held on 5 May 1972, with a third of the councillors up for re-election. The wide-reaching reforms set out in the Local Government Act 1972 had scheduled the council's abolition to coincide with its replacement by the enlarged successor Leeds metropolitan district on 1 April 1974. Prior to the election, a by-election had resulted in Labour gaining the seat in Castleton from the Liberals.[1]
Labour repeated all of the gains of the previous year's gains (in the 1971 Leeds City Council election), with the exceptions of the Castleton and Osmondthorpe seats - both of which they already held; the latter being their solitary gain in the 1969 election. Much like Labour's performance in the 1969 election, the Conservatives halted their decline - at least in vote share (like Labour, their total vote actually fell a further 5,000, setting a new party low). Having won full representation in West Hunslet, the Liberals defended the seat and retained their total of four. Turnout fell to 34.4%, from 37.8% the year before.[1]
The reaction from the Labour leader, Albert King, was one of contentment: "This is a satisfactory evening for us, and the gains were more or less in line with what I expected". The Conservatives meanwhile were reported to be relieved, with their leader Frank Marshall commenting that the results were better than expected a couple of months ago, and pointing to a significantly reduced Labour vote in Burley from the year before as a reason for optimism for the future.[1]
The sixteen gains for Labour were enough to re-take control of the council from the Conservatives for its last years of existence.[1]
