Local government elections were held in the thirty-two London boroughs on Thursday 9 May 1968. Polling stations were open between 8am and 9pm.
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All 1,863 on all 32 London boroughs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 35.8% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by Borough in 1968. (Red indicates Labour, blue indicates the Conservatives and black indicates No Overall Control) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All seats were up for election. The result was a landslide for the Conservative Party,[1] who won twenty-eight of the boroughs, while Labour lost control of seventeen of the twenty boroughs it had held going into the elections (including Bexley, where it did not win a single seat). Only ten Liberal councillors were elected in London.[2]
The result followed the Conservative gain of the Greater London Council in the elections the previous year.
Aldermanic elections
editUntil 1978, each council had aldermen, in the ratio of one aldermen to six councillors. Following the elections, each council elected half of its aldermen, who served until 1974. The remaining aldermen had been elected in 1964 and would serve until 1971. This only affected political control in Newham, which remained Labour-held after the election of aldermen.
Results summary
edit| Party | Councillors | Change | Councils | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 1,438 | +770 | 28 | +19 | |
| Labour | 350 | -668 | 3 | -17 | |
| Liberal | 10 | -6 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Residents | 36 | -13 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent | 26 | +15 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist | 3 | ±0 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Others | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ±0 | |
| No overall control | n/a | n/a | 1 | -2 | |
- Turnout: 1,876,698 voters cast ballots, a turnout of 35.8%.[2]
Council results
editSummary of council election results:
| Previous control | New control | Conservative | Labour | Liberal | Others | Details | |
| Barking | Labour | Labour | 13 | 32 | - | 4 | Details |
| Barnet | Conservative | Conservative | 56 | 3 | 1 | - | Details |
| Bexley | Labour | Conservative | 55 | - | - | 1 | Details |
| Brent | Labour | Conservative | 49 | 11 | - | - | Details |
| Bromley | Conservative | Conservative | 52 | 5 | 3 | - | Details |
| Camden | Labour | Conservative | 42 | 18 | - | - | Details |
| Croydon | NOC | Conservative | 47 | 1 | 1 | 11 | Details |
| Ealing | Labour | Conservative | 53 | 5 | - | 2 | Details |
| Enfield | Labour | Conservative | 51 | 9 | - | - | Details |
| Greenwich | Labour | Conservative | 38 | 22 | - | - | Details |
| Hackney | Labour | Conservative | 31 | 27 | 2 | - | Details |
| Hammersmith | Labour | Conservative | 54 | 6 | - | - | Details |
| Haringey | Labour | Conservative | 53 | 7 | - | - | Details |
| Harrow | Conservative | Conservative | 56 | - | - | - | Details |
| Havering | NOC | Conservative | 35 | 7 | - | 13 | Details |
| Hillingdon | Labour | Conservative | 60 | - | - | - | Details |
| Hounslow | Labour | Conservative | 53 | 7 | - | - | Details |
| Islington | Labour | Conservative | 47 | 10 | - | 3 | Details |
| Kensington and Chelsea | Conservative | Conservative | 57 | 3 | - | - | Details |
| Kingston upon Thames | Conservative | Conservative | 59 | 1 | - | - | Details |
| Lambeth | Labour | Conservative | 57 | 3 | - | - | Details |
| Lewisham | Labour | Conservative | 44 | 16 | - | - | Details |
| Merton | NOC | Conservative | 46 | 4 | - | 4 | Details |
| Newham | Labour | NOC | 6 | 30 | 3 | 21 | Details |
| Redbridge | Conservative | Conservative | 55 | 5 | - | - | Details |
| Richmond upon Thames | Conservative | Conservative | 54 | - | - | - | Details |
| Southwark | Labour | Labour | 27 | 33 | - | - | Details |
| Sutton | Conservative | Conservative | 41 | 7 | - | 3 | Details |
| Tower Hamlets | Labour | Labour | - | 57 | - | 3 | Details |
| Waltham Forest | Labour | Conservative | 44 | 4 | - | - | Details |
| Wandsworth | Labour | Conservative | 48 | 12 | - | - | Details |
| Westminster | Conservative | Conservative | 55 | 5 | - | - | Details |
Overall councillor numbers
edit| Councillor statistics, 1968 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | +/- | Councils | +/- | |
| Conservative | 1,438 | +770 | 28 | +19 | |
| Labour | 350 | -668 | 3 | -17 | |
| Residents' association | 36 | -13 | |||
| Independent | 26 | +15 | |||
| Liberal | 10 | -6 | |||
| Communist | 3 | ±0 | |||
| No overall control | 1 | -2 | |||
References
edit- ^ "Those little local difficulties". BBC News. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ a b "London Borough Council Elections 9 May 1968" (PDF). London Datastore. Greater London Council.