Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Friday 1 November 1861. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years, and nine of the 16 wards were uncontested. After the election, the composition of the council was:
Because of the large number of uncontested seats, these statistics should be taken in that context.
* - Retiring Councillor seeking re-election
Until the Ballot Act 1872 polling at elections was in public and the state of the polls were reported on an hour by hour basis in the newspapers.
The discrepancy between the final results given in the Council Minute Book and the 4 o'clock final figures as reported in the Liverpool Mercury should perhaps be attributed to errors in the newspaper report.