1961 Edinburgh Corporation election

1961 Edinburgh Corporation election
	2 May 1961
23 of the 69 seats to the Edinburgh Corporation; 35 seats needed for a majority
	Results by ward.
Council control before election; ; Progressives	Council control after election ; ; Progressives

Elections to Edinburgh Corporation were held on 2 May 1961, alongside municipal elections across Scotland. Of the councils 69 seats, 23 were up for election. However, only 16 seats were contested, as councillors were returned unopposed in seven wards.^[1]

Only one seat changed hands; Corstorphine ward was gained by the Liberal Party from the Progressive Party.

After the election Edinburgh Corporation was composed of 38 Progressives, 28 Labour councillors, 2 Liberal, and 1 Protestant Action. The Progressives retained overall control of the council.

Turnout in the 14 contested wards was 76,953 or 33.7%.^[1]

Aggregate results

Edinburgh Corporation election, 1961^[1]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes
Progressives	12	0	1	1	58.3	43.6	33,496
Labour	10	0	0		39.1	36.1	27,757
Liberal	1	1	0	1	4.3	19.6	15,083
Communist	0	0	0		0.0	0.6	496

Ward Results

Broughton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives		Unopposed
	Progressives hold

Calton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	D. A. P. Buchanan	2,041
	Labour	J. S. Cook	1,929
Majority			112
Turnout				33.77
	Progressives hold

Central Leith
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Barbara Woodburn	2,574
	Progressives	J. Tait	932
	Communist	T. C. Taylor	106
Majority			1642
Turnout				27.97
	Labour hold

Colinton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	Catherine Filsell	Unopposed
	Progressives hold

Corstorphine
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	D. C. Davies	3,406
	Progressives	M. A. Murray	2,493
Majority			915
Turnout				38.89
	Liberal gain from Progressives

Craigentinny
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Marion R. Alexander	3,112
	Progressives	A. W. Hunt	2,288
Majority			824
Turnout				35.84
	Labour hold

Craigmillar
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Kane	2,025
	Communist	J. A. Young	205
Majority			1,820
Turnout				22.54
	Labour hold

George Square^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	J. Slack	1,350
	Liberal	V. S. MacKinnon	1,270
	Labour	G. Drummond	731
Majority			80
Turnout				29.95
	Progressives hold

Gorgie-Dalry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. M. Swanson	2,655
	Progressives	W. E. Bruges	1,591
Majority			1,064
Turnout				29.20
	Labour hold

Holyrood
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	P. Rogan	2,194
Communist	J. Ashton	185
Labour hold

Liberton^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	P. Wilson	4,180	53.0
	Progressives	N. Fairbairn	3,699	46.9
Majority			481
Turnout			7,879	40.63
	Labour hold

Merchiston^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	Maurice Heggle	Unopposed
	Progressives hold

Morningside^[1]
	Candidate	Votes
Progressives	Elizabeth M. Mein	3,165
Liberal	Bethia L. Howden	1,718
Progressives hold

Murrayfield-Cramond^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	J. W. McKay	2,808	55.0
	Liberal	J. S. Fowlie	2,295	45.0
Majority			513	10.0
Turnout			5,103	34.48
	Progressives hold

Newington^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	G. Hodderwick	3,186
	Liberal	W. G. Henderson	2,817
	Labour	Frieda White	1,098
Majority			369
Turnout				43.27
	Progressives hold

Pilton^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Magnus Williamson	Unopposed
	Labour hold

Portobello^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	A. D. Jameson	2,988
	Labour	R. G. Blanche	1,550
	Liberal	J. M. Farquhar	1,534
Majority			1,438
Turnout				33.41
	Progressives hold

Sighthill^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Isabella Stewart	Unopposed
	Labour hold

South Leith^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Anne K. Simpson	3,695
	Progressives	E. W. Hall	2,909
Majority			786
Turnout				28.84
	Labour hold

St. Andrews^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	Craig Richards	Unopposed
	Progressives hold

St. Bernard's^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	J. Millar	3,005
	Liberal	A. Gordon	2,043
Majority			962
Turnout				28.55
	Progressives hold

St. Giles^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Henderson	2,014
	Progressives	I. H. McKee	1,041
Majority			973
Turnout				23.23
	Labour hold

West Leith
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	Margaret Ross	Unopposed
	Progressives hold

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Results in the Municipal Elections". The Glasgow Herald. 4 May 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

[Glasgow_Herald-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Results in the Municipal Elections". The Glasgow Herald. 4 May 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

[1]

Elections in Edinburgh
Edinburgh Corporation	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 Abolished
City of Edinburgh District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 Abolished
Lothian Regional Council	1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 Abolished
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Referendums	2005

(1960 ←) 1961 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1962)
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