Aldermen were supposed to be selected in the same proportion as the full council, but the temptation for a party in a small majority to take as many aldermen as they could was not always resisted. In the 1949 London County Council elections, Labour and the Conservatives each obtained 64 seats, with one Liberal. Labour used the outgoing Aldermen to elect a Labour chairman, then used the Chairman's casting vote to elect six Labour aldermen and a working majority of ten.
In Westminster, Labour's depleted strength in 1968 still entitled it to one alderman, and the choice of the Labour Party was Ashley Bramall, the former Labour Group leader who had lost his seat in the elections. The Conservative Group refused to accept him, giving the name of another defeated Labour councillor who they would be prepared to accept. Labour would not change its nominee and so the Conservatives proposed another candidate of their own - taking all the seats on the aldermanic bench.
| A.C. Barrett M.D.N. Cobbold R.T. Glenny Sir W.C. Norton G.H.M. Pirie | C C C C C |
| P.G.F. Barry H.E. Browne G.T. Hesketh Countess of Lucan B.J. Tibbles | C Lab C Lab Lab |
| P.G.F. Barry Miss D.W. Doyle J. Gillett E.L. Hancock H.H. Sandford | C C C C (Resigned, 19th May 1971) C |
| A.C. Barrett | C |
| Mrs. I.L. Bolton M.D.N. Cobbold J.T. Dunn H.G. Garside G.H.M. Pirie | Lab C Lab Lab C |
| A.C. Barrett P.G.F. Barry H.G. Cubitt J. Gillett H.H. Sandford | C C C C C |