2009 United Kingdom local elections

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2009 United Kingdom local elections
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  2008 4 June 2009 2010  

All 27 county councils, 7 out of 55 unitary authorities,
1 sui generis authority, and 3 directly elected mayors
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Davidcameron (cropped).jpg Nick Clegg by the 2009 budget cropped.jpg Gordon Brown (2008).jpg
Leader David Cameron Nick Clegg Gordon Brown
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour
Leader since6 December 200518 December 200724 June 2007
Percentage38% [1] 28%23%
SwingDecrease2.svg6%Increase2.svg3%Decrease2.svg1%
Councils3010
Councils +/–Increase2.svg7Decrease2.svg1Decrease2.svg4
Councillors1,531484178
Councillors +/–Increase2.svg244Decrease2.svg2Decrease2.svg291

Map of the results of the United Kingdom local elections 2009.png
County council election results

UK 2009 Local Election Results.svg
Unitary authority and mayoral elections

The 2009 United Kingdom local elections were elections held to all 27 County Councils, three existing Unitary Authorities and five new Unitary Authorities, all in England, on 4 June 2009. [2] [3] The elections were due to be held on 7 May 2009, but were delayed in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament. [4] [5]

Contents

The elections resulted in significant gains for the Conservatives. The party won Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Lancashire from Labour, as well as Devon and Somerset from the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats did however win a majority in Bristol. Despite the optimism for the Conservatives in seat and council gains, their share of the vote at 38% was 6% down on 2008. That said, they had a clear 10% lead over the Liberal Democrats who achieved a respectable second place on 28%.

Labour, taking the blame in government from a worsening economic climate, soaring unemployment and the expenses scandal, lost all of its councils, with some authorities being swept clear of any Labour councillors at all. The party also performed poorly in the European elections on the same day.

Summary of results

PartyCouncillorsCouncils
NumberChangeNumberChange
Conservative 1,531Increase2.svg24430Increase2.svg7
Liberal Democrats 484Decrease2.svg21Decrease2.svg1
Labour 178Decrease2.svg2910Decrease2.svg4
Independent 97Increase2.svg60Steady2.svg
Green 18Increase2.svg80Steady2.svg
Residents9Increase2.svg20Steady2.svg
UKIP 7Increase2.svg70Steady2.svg
BNP 3Increase2.svg30Steady2.svg
Mebyon Kernow 3Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg
Liberal 2Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg
Others30Increase2.svg150Steady2.svg
No overall controln/an/a3Decrease2.svg2

Source: BBC News Isles of Scilly Council not included in the above figures.

County councils

All 27 English County Councils were up for election. All seats on the councils were contested at this election.

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Buckinghamshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cambridgeshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cumbria No overall control No overall control hold Details
Derbyshire Labour Conservative gain Details
Devon Liberal Democrats Conservative gain Details
Dorset Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Sussex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Essex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gloucestershire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hampshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Kent Conservative Conservative hold Details
Lancashire Labour Conservative gain Details
Leicestershire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Lincolnshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Norfolk Conservative Conservative hold Details
North Yorkshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Northamptonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Nottinghamshire Labour Conservative gain Details
Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Somerset Liberal Democrats Conservative gain Details
Staffordshire Labour Conservative gain Details
Suffolk Conservative Conservative hold Details
Surrey Conservative Conservative hold Details
Warwickshire No overall control Conservative gain Details
West Sussex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Worcestershire Conservative Conservative hold Details

Unitary authorities

Existing authorities

CouncilProportion up
for election
Previous controlResultDetails
Bristol 1/3 No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Isle of Wight All Conservative Conservative hold Details

New authorities

Elections were held for five new unitary authorities. All councillors were elected at this election.

CouncilResultDetails
Bedford No overall control Details
Central Bedfordshire Conservative Details
Cornwall No overall control (Conservative/Independent Coalition) Details
Shropshire Conservative Details
Wiltshire Conservative Details

Isles of Scilly

The Council of the Isles of Scilly was created by the Local Government Act 1888, meaning they lie outside the classifications of authorities used in the rest of England.

CouncilProportion up
for election
Previous controlResultDetails
Isles of Scilly All Independent Independent hold Details

Mayoral elections

Local AuthorityPrevious MayorCandidate electedDetails
Doncaster Martin Winter (Independent [6] ) Peter Davies (English Democrats) Details
Hartlepool Stuart Drummond (Independent) Stuart Drummond (Independent) Details
North Tyneside John Harrison (Labour) Linda Arkley (Conservative) Details

A mayoral election was also due to be held in Stoke-on-Trent, however voters in the city voted to abolish the directly elected mayor system in a referendum held in October 2008. The referendum decided to replace the mayor and executive system with a council leader and cabinet system of local government. [7]

See also

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References

  1. "BBC projected national vote shares for 2009". BBC News. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  2. "Communities and Local Government - Local government elections in 2009". Communities.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  3. Communities and Local Government - Moving the date of English Local Government elections to the date of the European Parliament elections in 2009 - Consultation Archived August 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (4 November 2008). "House of Commons Hansard Debates from 04 Nov 2008 - Local Government Motion". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "'British expenses scandal dominates political debate', 23 May 2009". City Mayors. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  6. Winter was twice elected mayor as the Labour Party's candidate, but he declared himself an independent following the 2008 local elections and was subsequently expelled from the Labour Party. He did not stand for re-election in 2009.
  7. "Mayor faces final months in power". BBC News. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.