Sheffield City Council elections

Sheffield City Council elections usually take place by thirds, three years out of every four. Sheffield City Council is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Each of Sheffield's 28 wards is represented by three positions on the council, meaning there are usually 28 seats contested in each local election. 1967, 1973, 2004 and 2016 saw new ward boundaries and therefore all seats were contested.

Council elections

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Seat total for parties, 1973-2012

Before 1974, elections were by thirds annually for a three-year term, with Aldermen elected from the body of councillors every three years. In 1974, Aldermen were abolished, and elections to Sheffield City Council are by thirds, in three years of every four, for a four-year term.

For twenty years from 1846, Isaac Ironside's Central Democratic Association was a force on the council. It then returned to typical ConservativeLiberal rivalry. Labour made little impact in its early years; by 1918, there were only three Labour councillors (and two Liberal-Labour, plus one Lib-Lab alderman). That all changed in 1919; Labour won almost all the seats up for election that year, giving them 12 and their coalition partners the Co-operative Party two. In response to their losses, the Conservative and Liberal groups merged to form the Citizens Association, retaining control with 32 councillors and 15 aldermen. The Lib-Labs remained unchanged in numbers and politically between the two groups.[1]

Year Conservative Liberal Liberal Unionist Lib-Lab Labour Others[2]
1881 34 30 - - - -
1882 34 30 - - - -
1883 36 28 - - - -
1884 34 30 - - - -
1885 33 31 - - - -
1886 31 29 4 - - -
1887 30 30 4 - - -
1888 29 30 5 - - -
1889 30 30 5 - - -
1890 29 31 4 - - -
1891 30 31 3 - - -
1892 31 30 3 - - -
1893 36 25 - 3 - -
1894 37 24 - 3 - -
1895 39 22 - 3 - -
1896 38 22 - 4 - -
1897 36 23 - 6 - -
1898[3] 32 25 - 5 - -
1899 34 25 - 5 - -
1900 35 23 - 6 - -
1901 29 29 - 6 - -
1902 32 26 - 6 - -
1903[3] 32 26 - 5 - -
1904 34 24 - 6 - -
1905 30 26 - 7 1 -
1906 30 25 - 6 3 -
1907 31 24 - 5 4 -
1908 35 22 - 4 3 -
1909 35 22 - 4 3 -
1910[3] 33 23 - 5 2 -
1911 29 30 - 4 1 -
1912 31 30 - 3 - -
1913 32 27 - 3 2 -
1919 26 22 - - 13 3
1920 24 21 - - 13 6

Labour continued to advance at the expense of the Citizens Association. By 1922, there were 18 Labour councillors and one alderman; by 1925, 22 councillors and one alderman. At the 1926 elections, Labour rose to 29 councillors. A majority on the council and a large number of retiring aldermen finally enabled them to take 8 positions on the aldermanic bench.[1]

The seats were redistributed into 24 wards in 1930, and the Citizens Association renamed itself the Progressive Party, and a further seat was added for Norton in 1934, taking the total number of positions to 75 councillors and 25 aldermen. That year, Labour briefly lost control, but regained it in 1934, with an increased majority of 12. This rose to 14 the following year. In 1945, Labour had 59 total seats to the Progressive's 39, one independent and one Communist. Labour continued to build its majority, to 34 in 1952 and 42 by 1958.[1] However, it lost control to the Conservative Party, again standing on its own, in 1968-9.

Year Labour Citizens' Association /
Municipal Progressive
Ind. Conservative Ind. Liberal Ind. Labour Party Communist Others[4]
1921 19 38 1 2 - - 8
1922 20 40 - 2 - - 6
1923 22 40 1 3 - - 2
1924 24 38 3 3 - - -
1925 24 39 3 2 - - -
1926 38 25 3 1 - - 1
1927 39 24 3 1 - - 1
1928 41 23 ? - - - 1
1929 63 22 9 ? - - ?
1930 57 ? ? ? - - ?
1931 49 ? ? ? 1 - ?
1932 41 ? ? ? 1 - ?
1933 50 ? ? ? - - ?
1934 56 ? ? ? - - ?
1935 57 ? ? ? - - ?
1936 ? ? ? ? - - ?
1937 ? ? ? ? - - ?
1938 53 ? ? ? - - ?
1945 59 39 - - - 1 1
1946 63 36 - - - - 1
1947 68 ? ? ? - - ?
1949 64 36 ? ? - - ?
Year Labour Liberal Conservative Independent Ratepayers
1950 64 0 36 0 0
1951 63 0 37 0 0
1952 67 0 33 0 0
1953 68 0 32 0 0
1954 70 0 30 0 0
1955 72 0 28 0 0
1956 72 0 28 0 0
1957 72 0 28 0 0
1958 72 0 28 0 0
1959 72 0 28 0 0
1960 67 0 32 0 1
1961 67 0 32 0 1
1962 67 0 32 0 1
1963 73 0 27 0 0
1964 73 0 27 0 0
1965 72 0 28 0 0
1966 72 0 28 0 0
1967 59 0 48 1 0
1968 52 0 56 0 0
1969 57 0 51 0 0
1970 63 1 44 0 0
1971 80 1 27 0 0
1972 84 1 23 0 0

Boundary changes took place for the 2004 election which reduced the number of seats by 3, leading to the whole council being elected in that year.

 
Popular vote numbers, 1973-2012
 
Popular vote share, 1973-2012
Year Labour Conservative Liberal and SDP (before 1990)
Liberal Democrat
(after 1990)
Greens Independent UKIP
1973 69 18 3 0 0 0
1975 66 20 4 0 0 0
1976 63 22 5 0 0 0
1978 60 24 6 0 0 0
1979 62 22 6 0 0 0
1980 60 18 9 0 0 0
1982 60 18 9 0 0 0
1983 60 18 9 0 0 0
1984 61 17 9 0 0 0
1986 63 15 9 0 0 0
1987 65 13 9 0 0 0
1988 66 12 9 0 0 0
1990 69 10 7 0 0 0
1991 70 11 6 0 0 0
1992 67 11 9 0 0 0
1994 56 8 22 0 0 0
1995 58 4 25 0 0 0
1996 55 1 31 0 0 0
1998 50 1 36 0 0 0
1999 39 1 47 0 0 0
2000 37 1 49 0 1 (Liberal) 0
2002 43 2 42 0 0 0
2003 49 1 37 0 0 0
2004 44 2 37 1 0 0
2006 44 2 36 2 0 0
2007 41 1 39 2 1 0
2008 36 0 45 3 0 0
2010 39 0 42 2 1 0
2011 50 0 32 2 0 0
2012 60 0 22 2 0 0
2014 59 0 18 4 0 3
2015 59 0 17 4 0 4
2016 57 0 19 4 0 4
2018 53 0 22 6 0 3
2019 49 0 26 8 0 1
2021 41 1 29 13 0 0
2022 39 1 29 14 1 0
2023 39 1 29 14 1 0
2024 36 0 27 14 7 0

Borough result maps

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By-election results

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By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections; full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.

By-election Date Incumbent party Winning party
Ecclesall by-election 28 January 1977 Conservative Conservative
Nether Edge by-election 28 January 1977 Conservative Conservative
Manor by-election 12 August 1977 Labour Labour
Brightside by-election 8 October 1992 Labour Liberal Democrats
Dore by-election 8 October 1992 Conservative Conservative
Walkley by-election 26 November 1992 Labour Liberal Democrats
Walkley by-election 14 January 1993 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Park by-election 14 January 1999 Labour Liberal Democrats
Chapel Green by-election 7 July 1999 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Park by-election 19 October 2000 Labour Labour
Southey Green by-election 19 October 2000 Labour Labour
Birley by-election 5 May 2005 Labour Labour
East Ecclesfield by-election 30 April 2009 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Woodhouse by-election 26 August 2010 Labour Labour
Manor Castle by-election 21 October 2010 Labour Labour
Fulwood by-election 2 May 2013 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Arbourthorne by-election 6 February 2014 Labour Labour
Mosborough by-election 8 September 2016 Labour Liberal Democrats
Southey by-election 4 May 2017 Labour Labour
Nether Edge and Sharrow by-election 22 June 2017 Labour Labour
Beighton by-election 12 October 2017 Labour Labour
Firth Park by-election 16 September 2021 Labour Labour
Stannington by-election 18 January 2024 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c J. Mendelson, W. Owen, S. Pollard and V. M. Thornes, The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council 1858 - 1958
  2. ^ Discharged Soldiers and Sailors Association, Middle Classes Union, National Democratic and Labour Party and one candidate elected in 1920 after the formation of the Citizen's Association.
  3. ^ a b c Some seats were vacant during this session.
  4. ^ Discharged Soldiers and Sailors Association, Middle Classes Union and National Democratic and Labour Party in the 1920s and some independents later.
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