Election Name: | 1964 Westminster City Council election |
Type: | parliamentary |
Ongoing: | no |
Next Election: | 1968 Westminster City Council election |
Next Year: | 1968 |
Seats For Election: | All 60 council seats of the Westminster City Council |
Majority Seats: | 31 |
Election Date: | 7 May 1964 |
Council control | |
Posttitle: | Subsequent council control |
After Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
The 1964 Westminster Council election took place on 7 May 1964 to elect members of Westminster City Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative party gained control of the council.[1]
These elections were the first to the newly formed borough. Previously elections had taken place in the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone and Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. These boroughs were joined to form the new London Borough of Westminster by the London Government Act 1963.
A total of 155 candidates stood in the election for the 60 seats being contested across 31 wards. These included a full slate from the Conservative and Labour parties, while the Liberals stood 31 candidates. Other candidates included 4 from the Communist party. There were 20 single-seat wards, 6 three-seat wards, 4 five-seat wards and 1 two-seat ward.
This election had aldermen as well as directly elected councillors. The Conservatives got 7 aldermen and Labour 3.
The Council was elected in 1964 as a "shadow authority" but did not start operations until 1 April 1965.
The results saw the Conservatives gain the new council with a majority of 22 after winning 41 of the 60 seats. Overall turnout in the election was 28.0%. This turnout included 1,343 postal votes.