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1974 local elections handbook
Final edition
Scheduled council elections held between April and June 1974, from our ward results. This is the final edition. Where our results for a council are incomplete, its figures will be too low.
- Councils
- 35
- Wards
- 433
- Seats
- 224
- Candidates
- 3,289
- Votes
- 3,354,822
Seats won by party
| Party | Seats | Candidates | Votes | Vote share* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 122 | 1,172 | 1,396,919 | 44.2% | |
| Conservative | 100 | 1,048 | 1,436,397 | 45.5% | |
| LIB | 1 | 650 | 316,685 | 10.0% | |
| Residents | 1 | 8 | 8,810 | 0.3% |
*Note on vote share: this is each party's share of the votes cast in the wards we hold for 1974. It is not an estimate for the whole country: many councils did not vote this year, some of our results may be missing, and in wards with several seats each voter had several votes.
Councils changing hands (6)
| Council | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Bexley | Labour | Conservative |
| Croydon | No overall control | Conservative |
| Harrow | No overall control | Conservative |
| Havering | Labour | No overall control |
| Merton | Labour | Conservative |
| Sutton | No overall control | Conservative |
Every council (35)
| Council | Wards | Seats | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 9 | 0 | Labour | Labour |
| Barnet | 16 | 0 | — | — |
| Bexley | 18 | 0 | Labour | Conservative |
| Brent | 30 | 0 | Labour | Labour |
| Bromley | 20 | 9 | Conservative | Conservative |
| Camden | 11 | 0 | Labour | Labour |
| Croydon | 13 | 3 | No overall control | Conservative |
| Ealing | 11 | 12 | Labour | Labour |
| Enfield | 23 | 0 | — | — |
| Greenwich | 17 | 10 | — | — |
| Greenwich | 4 | 9 | Labour | Labour |
| Hackney | 10 | 9 | Labour | Labour |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 9 | 6 | Labour | Labour |
| Haringey | 10 | 3 | Labour | Labour |
| Harrow | 17 | 42 | No overall control | Conservative |
| Havering | 15 | 6 | Labour | No overall control |
| Hillingdon | 13 | 7 | Labour | Labour |
| Hounslow | 10 | 0 | Labour | Labour |
| Islington | 9 | 6 | Labour | Labour |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| Kingston upon Thames | 1 | 4 | Conservative | Conservative |
| Kingston upon Thames | 17 | 20 | — | — |
| Lambeth | 14 | 15 | Labour | Labour |
| Lewisham | 17 | 6 | Labour | Labour |
| Merton | 11 | 28 | Labour | Conservative |
| Newham | 22 | 0 | Labour | Labour |
| Redbridge | 8 | 7 | Conservative | Conservative |
| Richmond upon Thames | 10 | 0 | Conservative | Conservative |
| Southwark | 10 | 3 | Labour | Labour |
| Sutton | 8 | 0 | No overall control | Conservative |
| Tower Hamlets | 16 | 3 | Labour | Labour |
| Waltham Forest | 8 | 6 | Labour | Labour |
| Wandsworth | 12 | 6 | Labour | Labour |
| Warwickshire | 1 | 0 | No overall control | No overall control |
| Westminster | 8 | 4 | Conservative | Conservative |
See also Election Health for 1974's competitiveness figures and Council Control.