2013 United Kingdom local elections

Last updated

2013 United Kingdom local elections
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  2012 2 May 2013 2014  

All 27 county councils, 7 out of 55 unitary authorities,
1 out of 22 Welsh principal councils, 1 sui generis authority,
and 2 directly elected mayors
 First partySecond party
  David Cameron official.jpg Ed Miliband election infobox.jpg
Leader David Cameron Ed Miliband
Party Conservative Labour
Leader since6 December 200525 September 2010
SwingDecrease2.svg6%Decrease2.svg9%
Projected vote-share25% [lower-alpha 1] 29%
Councils183
Councils +/–Decrease2.svg10Increase2.svg2
Councillors1,136538
Councillors +/–Decrease2.svg335Increase2.svg291

 Third partyFourth party
  Nick Clegg official portrait.jpg Nigel Farage MEP 1, Strasbourg - Diliff (cropped).jpg
Leader Nick Clegg Nigel Farage
Party Liberal Democrats UKIP
Leader since18 December 20075 November 2010
SwingDecrease2.svg2%Not given
Projected vote-share14%22%
Councils00
Councils +/–Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Councillors352147
Councillors +/–Decrease2.svg124Increase2.svg139

2013 UK Local Elections - Ward and Council Control.svg
Map showing council control (left) and largest party by ward or division (right) following the election.
   Conservative    
   Labour    
   Liberal Democrats    
   UKIP
   Green Party    
   Plaid Cymru    
   Independent    
   No overall control    
  No election   

The 2013 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2013. [1] Elections were held in 35 English councils: all 27 non-metropolitan county councils and eight unitary authorities, and in one Welsh unitary authority. Direct mayoral elections took place in Doncaster and North Tyneside. These elections last took place on the 4 June 2009 at the same time as the 2009 European Parliament Elections, except for County Durham, Northumberland and the Anglesey where elections last took place in 2008.

Contents

The BBC's projected national vote share (PNV) put Labour on 29%, the Conservatives on 25%, UKIP on 23% and the Liberal Democrats on 14%. [2] Elections analysts Rallings and Thrasher estimated 29% for Labour, 26% for the Conservatives, 22% for UKIP and 13% for the Liberal Democrats. [3]

On the same day a parliamentary by-election took place in the North East constituency of South Shields following the departure of David Miliband, with the Labour Party retaining the seat.

Criteria to vote

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those 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, [4] as were those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors. [5] [6]

Record choice

The UK Independence Party and the Green Party stood record numbers of candidates. [7]

Results

PartyCouncilsCouncillors
NumberChangeNumberChange
Conservative 18Decrease2.svg101,116Decrease2.svg335
Labour 3Increase2.svg3538Increase2.svg291
Liberal Democrats 0Steady2.svg352Decrease2.svg124
UKIP 0Steady2.svg147Increase2.svg139
Green 0Steady2.svg22Increase2.svg5
Plaid Cymru 0Steady2.svg12Increase2.svg6
Residents 0Steady2.svg12Increase2.svg2
Mebyon Kernow 0Steady2.svg4Increase2.svg1
Liberal 0Steady2.svg3Increase2.svg1
Health Concern 0Steady2.svg2Steady2.svg
BNP 0Steady2.svg0Decrease2.svg3
Independent/Other0Steady2.svg166Increase2.svg24
No overall control 14Increase2.svg9

Labour and UKIP made substantial gains, but the Conservatives won the most councillors and retained control of most councils. The BBC published projected national vote shares, adjusting for which regions are holding local elections and extrapolating to the national situation. These were Labour 29%, Conservatives 25%, UKIP 23% and the Liberal Democrats 14%. This is the lowest figure for the Conservatives since 1982 and the lowest ever figure for the Liberal Democrats. It is also the first time that none of the three main parties in the Commons has scored 30% or more. [8] Rallings & Thrasher separately calculated a projected national vote share of Labour 29%, Conservatives 26%, UKIP 22% and the Liberal Democrats 13%. [9]

The actual votes received were Conservative 34.3%, Labour 21.1%, UKIP 19.9%, Lib Dem 13.8% and Green 3.5%. [10]

Overall, in England, the Conservatives saw 1116 councillors elected (down 335), Labour 538 (up 291), the Liberal Democrats 352 (down 124), independents 165 (up 24), UKIP 147 (up 139), the Greens 22 (up 5), Residents Associations 12 (up 2), Mebyon Kernow 4 (up 1), the Liberal Party 3 (up 1) and Independent Community and Health Concern 2 (no change). The BNP won no seats (down 3). [11]

England

Non-metropolitan county councils

Map of the results by council (left) and ward (right). 2013 UK Local Elections - Ward and Council Control.svg
Map of the results by council (left) and ward (right).

All 27 county councils for areas with a two-tier structure of local governance had all of their seats up for election. These were first-past-the-post elections in a mixture of single-member and multi-member electoral divisions.

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Buckinghamshire Conservative Conservative Details
Cambridgeshire Conservative No overall control (Conservative Minority) Details
Cumbria No overall control No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem Coalition) Details
Derbyshire Conservative Labour Details
Devon Conservative Conservative Details
Dorset Conservative Conservative Details
East Sussex Conservative No overall control (Conservative Minority) Details
Essex Conservative Conservative Details
Gloucestershire Conservative No overall control (Conservative Minority) Details
Hampshire Conservative Conservative Details
Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative Details
Kent Conservative Conservative Details
Lancashire Conservative No overall control (Labour Minority w/ Lib Dem Support) Details
Leicestershire Conservative Conservative Details
Lincolnshire Conservative No overall control (Conservative/Lib Dem Coalition) Details
Norfolk Conservative No overall control (Labour/UKIP/LibDem Minority w/Green & Ind Support) Details
North Yorkshire Conservative Conservative Details
Northamptonshire Conservative Conservative Details
Nottinghamshire Conservative Labour Details
Oxfordshire Conservative No overall control (Conservative Minority) Details
Somerset Conservative Conservative Details
Staffordshire Conservative Conservative Details
Suffolk Conservative Conservative Details
Surrey Conservative Conservative Details
Warwickshire Conservative No overall control [12] (Conservative Minority) Details
West Sussex Conservative Conservative Details
Worcestershire Conservative Conservative Details

†The Conservatives won control of the council in the 2009 elections but lost their majority during its term.

Unitary authorities

Seven single-tier unitary authorities held elections. Seven of these had all of their seats up for election, whilst one, Bristol, elected a third of its seats. These are first-past-the-post elections in a mixture of single-member and multi-member wards.

CouncilProportion up
for election
Previous controlResultDetails
Bristol 1/3 No overall control No overall control Details
Cornwall All No overall control No overall control [13] (Lib Dem/Independent Coalition) Details
Durham All Labour Labour Details
Isle of Wight All Conservative No overall control (Island Independents Minority) Details
Northumberland All No overall control No overall control (Labour Minority) Details
Shropshire All Conservative Conservative Details
Wiltshire All Conservative 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

Two elections for directly elected mayors were held, who act as council leader. These are elected using the Supplementary Vote system. Hartlepool's referendum in November 2012 resulted in the post being abolished from May 2013. [14]

Local AuthorityIncumbent MayorResultDetails
Doncaster Peter Davies (Independent) [15] Ros Jones (Labour) Details
North Tyneside Linda Arkley (Conservative) Norma Redfearn (Labour) Details
Map showing the results of the elections in Wales
Key:
No Overall Control
No election held WalesLocal2013.png
Map showing the results of the elections in Wales
Key:
  No election held

Wales

In Wales, a single council, the Isle of Anglesey, was up for election. This election was postponed in 2012, when all other Welsh councils were elected, in order to allow an electoral review to take place for the council. [16]

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Isle of Anglesey No overall control No overall control Details

Elections not scheduled to be held in 2013 (other than by-elections)

See also

Notes

  1. All vote shares in the infobox are projected national vote shares calculated by the BBC.

Related Research Articles

In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom, no overall control is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, analogous to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for election in the 2019 local elections, 73 resulted in a NOC administration. In the 2021 local elections, 14 resulted in no overall control. The term can still be used for several other countries, such as for two local councils of Malta and the General Assembly of Budapest in Hungary.

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References

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  13. "Cornwall Council". Cornwall.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  14. Mulholland, Hélène (16 November 2012). "Mayor H'Angus the Monkey finally loses his Hartlepool habitat". The Guardian . London: 16 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
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