Middlesex County Council elections

The first period of local political preferences of 45 years saw victories somewhat reliant on independents and Liberals, but quite concertedly anti-socialist councillors, many or most of whom Conservatives.

Politically wavering and/or new Middlesex voters across a decisive 15 of 87 electoral districts returned to the Conservatives three years later but the 1958 result presaged the second clear ascendancy of the Labour Party.

Middlesex considerably urbanised – whereas the population of London after 1911 fell, in favour of commercial property and the clearance of slum, overcrowded and war-damaged housing.

By 1958 it is clear the bulk of the population could not be seen as core base "Villa Tory" shopkeepers, merchants, finance sector workers, and business owners.

New homes dominated Wembley, Harrow, Hendon, Southgate, Enfield, Feltham, Staines, Twickenham, Uxbridge, Ruislip and north Ealing districts.

In new, or rump, Middlesex this "cracked" i.e. pitched the social bulk of voters against heavily working class Acton, Tottenham and Edmonton to form the 1889 definition of the county.

[5] It was decided to seek Middlesex Guildhall, Westminster, as the headquarters of the county council (extra-territorial but convenient to local-line terminus railway stations).

The triennial elections were suspended for the duration of the First World War, and when polling was held on 8 March 1919 there was a vigorous campaign centred on the issue of the Sunday opening of cinemas.

The Times noted that it was "impossible to separate the candidates into different classes, and the contests are run much more upon local considerations than any widespread policy labelled throughout the county".

[9] Labour continued to make advances at the 1931 election, and this led to the formation of a Middlesex Municipal Association "representative of all anti-Socialist members".