The first elections to the newly created Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 10 May 1973, with the entirety of the 51 seat council â three seats for each of the 17 wards â 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 Halifax, the new council included:
The election resulted in Labour gaining control.
In May 1974 a by-election for the Brighouse ward occurred to replace the Conservative councillor G. Wood. The by-election was won by the Labour candidate M. Cunningham.
After the election the composition of the council was: