The county borough was abolished in 1974 and replaced with the larger City of Leeds, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire.

[3] The borough formed only a small area adjacent to a crossing of the River Aire, between the old settlement centred on Leeds Parish Church to the east and the manor house and mills to the west.

The parish and borough consisted of eleven chapelries (Armley, Beeston, Bramley, Chapel Allerton, Farnley, Headingley cum Burley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Leeds, Potternewton and Wortley) and parts of two more (Seacroft and Temple Newsam).

[3][6][7] The new corporation was given extensive powers to enforce and make laws to regulate trade and ensure the good governance of the town.

The reformed borough was initially unchanged in area, and was divided into 12 wards, with a town council of 16 aldermen and 48 councillors, headed by a mayor.

The Local Government Act 1888 created elected county councils to administer services throughout England and Wales.

In that year Birmingham, Dundee and Belfast were granted letters patent raising them to cities by virtue of their population, economic importance and history of good municipal government.

In 1892 another borough in the West Riding, Sheffield, announced that it was seeking the grant of city status to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the town's incorporation, which was to occur in 1893.

A delegation from Leeds, including two Members of Parliament (MPs), met with the Home Secretary, H H Asquith on 27 January to press the borough's case.

[16] The Home Secretary forwarded the petitions of both boroughs to The Queen on 3 February, recommending that the honour be granted in both cases as they were the "only towns in the United Kingdom with a population exceeding 300,000 to which the title of City, enjoyed by many smaller of less important places, has not been granted; and that both appear to be well fitted by their loyalty, public spirit, and industrial progress, for this mark of your Majesty's favour.

"[16] On 7 February, Sir Godfrey Lushington, permanent secretary to the Home Office, wrote to the mayors of both towns signifying that the applications had been approved.

[18] The award which empowered the Lord Mayor to enjoy and use all the rights, privileges, pre-eminencies and advantages to "such degree duly and of right belonging" was made by Letters Patent dated 12 July,[7] and was published in the London Gazette on the following day: The Queen has been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date the 12th July, 1897 to ordain that the Chief Magistrate, now, and for the time being, of the City of Leeds, shall be styled Lord Mayor of Leeds.

In 1904 the city council applied unsuccessfully to the Local Government Board for an enlargement of the county borough.

[20][21] On 4 May the town clerk of Leeds was informed that the extension had been granted, with the exception of 169 acres (0.68 km2) of agricultural land with an estimated population of 50 to 100.

[14][22][23] In 1919 the city council sought another extension, this time to the south, by taking in the parish of Middleton from Hunslet Rural District.

The boundary change took effect on 1 April 1920, and Middleton formed a 17th ward, electing 3 councillors and 1 alderman to the city council, which was increased in size accordingly.

[24] The extra territory was acquired by the county borough for a major scheme of council housing, the construction of which commenced almost immediately.

[5] In 1927 Leeds Corporation promoted a bill to add further areas to the city, namely Gildersome Urban District, and parts of the rural districts of Hunslet, Tadcaster and Wharfedale (the parishes of Adel cum Eccup, Alwoodley, Austhorpe – except for a detached part – and Templenewsham).

The petition was successful, with an Order in Council made on 28 July dividing the city into twenty-eight wards:[29]

[30] Following the Second World War a Local Government Boundary Commission was appointed to review administrative structures throughout England and Wales.

[31] The commission itself was wound up in 1949, and the final enlargement of the county borough took place under the Leeds Corporation Act 1956, on 1 April 1957.

[33] Following a change of government, a white paper issued in 1971 rejected the unitary structure and instead proposed a metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, with Leeds forming a district in a two-tier system.