The fourth election to the Greater London Council (GLC) was held on 12 April 1973. Labour won a large majority of 58 seats to 32 for the Conservatives; the Liberals also won their first two seats on the council.
As there had been a boundary commission report with new Parliamentary constituencies which coincided with the border of Greater London, the electoral system was changed (as had always been intended) so that the GLC was elected from single member electoral divisions which were identical with the Parliamentary constituencies.
Councillors were elected for a three-year term. This was extended for an extra year in 1976 when the electoral cycle was switched to four-yearly.
The Labour Party won a majority of seats at the election.
With an electorate of 5,313,470, there was a turnout of 36.8%.
Among those who were first elected to the GLC in 1973 were Ken Livingstone (Labour, Lambeth, Norwood), later to lead it, Andrew McIntosh (Labour, Haringey, Tottenham) who was his brief moderate rival for the Labour leadership, and Serge Lourie (Labour, Havering, Hornchurch), who became a founder member of the SDP and leader of Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council in 2001.
In addition to the 92 elected councillors, there were fifteen aldermen elected by the council. Eight aldermen elected in 1970 continued to serve until 1976 and the eight elected in 1967 retired before the 1973 election. Seven aldermen were elected by the council on 4 May 1973 to serve until 1979.
Aldermen elected in 1973, to retire in 1979:
The aldermen divided 9 Labour and 6 Conservative, so that Labour had 67 members to 38 for the Conservatives following the aldermanic election. It would be the final election of aldermen to the council, with those elected in 1970 and 1973 having their terms altered to all end in 1977.
Members of the old council*
Curtis - Parent Action Group for Education
Ashworth - Centre Party
Scruby - Surbiton Residents & Ratepayers
Boaks - Air Road Public Safety White Resident
Ower - Ratepayers & Citizens Association
Wilson - Anti-Mass Redevelopment
The first by-election of the term was caused by the court voiding the election in Croydon North East (see Morgan v Simpson). The former Conservative member Billie Morgan regained the seat she had narrowly lost in Croydon North East on 5 September 1974. Labour retained seats in Greenwich on 24 October 1974 and Dagenham on 30 January 1975 caused by the deaths of sitting councillors. The Conservatives kept their seat in Finchley on 15 May 1975 caused by the resignation of Roland Freeman and St Marylebone on 8 April 1976 caused by the resignation of former GLC leader Desmond Plummer.
There was one aldermanic by-election caused by the resignation of Oliver Piers Stutchbury (Labour) in 1976. Alfred Frederick Joseph Chorley (Labour) was elected by the council on 21 September 1976, to serve until 1977.