The first elections to the newly created Leeds City Council were held on 10 May 1973, with the entirety of the 96 seat council - three seats for each of the 32 wards - up for vote. The Local Government Act 1972 stipulated that the elected members were to shadow and eventually take over from the predecessor corporation on 1 April 1974. The order in which the councillors were elected dictated their term serving, with third-place candidates serving two years and up for re-election in 1975, second-placed three years expiring in 1976 and 1st-placed five years until 1978.
As well as replacing the County Borough of Leeds, the new council included:
The election resulted in no overall control.
Election result
This result has the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections: