Control of the council went from the Conservative Party to no party having overall control. Turnout across the county was 32% with 151,250 votes cast.[2] The Conservatives gained most votes in four of the six parliamentary seats, the Liberal Democrats coming first in Cheltenham and UKIP in the Forest of Dean. The Conservatives were the only party to win a county council seat in every district.[n 1]
All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 2 May 2013 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections,[3] although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections. It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.[4]
County Council single-member electoral review 2012-13
Going into the elections, the Conservatives held a majority of 21 seats. Due to boundary changes and a reduction in the number of councillors from 63 to 53[n 2] following a public consultation by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England[5] the notional results to be used for the purposes of election planning and comparison before the election were: Conservatives - 36, Liberal Democrats - 10, Labour - 4, People Against Bureaucracy - 1, Greens - 1, Independents - 1. This gave a notional Conservative majority of 17 seats.
Summary
The Conservative Party lost 13 notional seats, although the numerical loss was larger due to the reduction in the total number of councillors. The Liberal Democrats remained the second largest party by total seats and percentage vote, while the Labour Party had the largest net gain of five seats. UKIP won representation on the county council for the first time, winning three seats.
The number of Independent councillors rose to two, while both the Green Party and People Against Bureaucracy saw their only councillors re-elected.
In July 2016, UKIP group leader Alan Preest defected to the Conservatives, claiming that the party lacked a purpose following the EU Referendum.[7] He was followed shortly thereafter by UKIP councillor Colin Guyton, who left UKIP to serve as an independent.[8] He later resigned from the County Council entirely, but a by-election was not held in his division due to the short length of time between then and the 2017 local elections.[9]
Mitcheldean
A by-election was held for the Mitcheldean Division on 23 October 2014 following the death of Independent councillor Norman Stephens.
↑ However, note that this was an election to the county council only; elections to district councils are held in other years.
↑ Although described in the official consultation as an open proposal as to the Size of Council, this denotes the number of councillors only, not relating to budget or number of local government staff.
Elections in Anglesey were due on 3 May 2012, but were postponed one year by the Welsh Government.
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