Politics
The first election to the council was on 1 November 1900, with the Progressive Party taking control of the new borough. They retained power until 1909, when the Municipal Reform Party (allied to the Conservatives) gained a majority. The Progressives regained the council in 1912, holding power until 1919 when the Labour Party gained control. In 1931 the borough come under Municipal Reform control again. Labour regained power in 1934, retaining it for the rest of the borough's existence.
Elections of the whole council were held every three years. Elections were cancelled during the two world wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945). The 1952 election was postponed for a year so that it did not clash with elections to the London County Council. The number of councillors returned at each election was as follows:.
- Local elections
| Year | 1900 | 1903 | 1906 | 1909 | 1912 | 1919 | 1922 | 1925 | 1928 | 1931 | 1934 | 1937 | 1945 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressives | 37 | 38 | 29 | 2 | 29 | ||||||||
| Municipal Alliance | 17 | 16 | 25 | ||||||||||
| Municipal Reform | 52 | 25 | 11 | 21 | 25 | 22 | 31 | 18 | 15 | 5 | |||
| Labour | 41 | 33 | 29 | 33 | 23 | 37 | 40 | 50 | |||||
| Discharged servicemen | 2 |
No Municipal Reform candidates were nominated after 1946, and Conservative candidates were nominated at local elections for the first time.
| Year | 1949 | 1953 | 1956 | 1959 | 1962 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 34 | 37 | 46 | 34 | 40 |
| Conservative | 21 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 12 |
| Liberal | 3 |
Read more about this topic: Metropolitan Borough Of Battersea
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”
—Margaret Thatcher (b. 1925)
“...to many a mother’s heart has come the disappointment of a loss of power, a limitation of influence when early manhood takes the boy from the home, or when even before that time, in school, or where he touches the great world and begins to be bewildered with its controversies, trade and economics and politics make their imprint even while his lips are dewy with his mother’s kiss.”
—J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)
“Man made one grave mistake: in answer to vaguely reformist and humanitarian agitation he admitted women to politics and the professions. The conservatives who saw this as the undermining of our civilization and the end of the state and marriage were right after all; it is time for the demolition to begin.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)