| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
33 out of 36 metropolitan boroughs, 47 out of 55 unitary authorities, 168 out of 192 district councils, all 11 Northern Irish councils and 6 directly elected mayors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map showing council control in England and largest parties by council in Northern Ireland following the election. Areas of England in pale cream did not hold an election, those in light grey are other parts of the United Kingdom which also did not hold elections. Black indicates a council in no overall control; all councils in Northern Ireland are in no overall control. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map showing the party with the most votes by ward. |
The 2019 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2019, with 248 English local councils, six directly elected mayors in England, and all 11 local councils in Northern Ireland being contested. [3]
A total of 8,886 councillors were elected: terms were up for 8,861 seats, but eight elections for a total of 14 seats were postponed due to the death of a candidate; [4] [5] there were also casual vacancies to be filled: 38 in England (including on nine councils with no other elections) and one on Dundee City Council in Scotland. [6]
With the exception of areas whose electoral cycle has temporarily changed (due to a boundary review) or permanently changed, or that have been reorganised, the seats up for election in England were last contested in the 2015 local elections, on the same day as the general election of that year. The seats in Northern Ireland were last regularly contested in 2014.
The biggest winners were the Liberal Democrats, who gained 704 seats to make a total of 1,351 councillors. The biggest losers were the Conservative Party down 1,333 from their previous total to 3,561 seats. Labour also lost seats, down by 84 to 2,021 seats. The Green Party gained 194 seats for a total of 265 seats. UKIP lost 145 seats, having only 31 councillors elected.
All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on the day of the election were entitled to vote in the local elections. [7]
A person with two homes (such as a university student having a term-time address and living at home during holidays) could register to vote at both addresses as long as the addresses are not in the same electoral area, and can vote in the local elections for the two different local councils. [8]
Ten local authorities in England required voters to provide identification as part of trial schemes. [9] [10]
A majority of the councils up for election in this year were last elected in 2015, the same day as the general election. [11] [12] The result of the 2018 local elections saw the collapse of the United Kingdom Independence Party's vote, largely to the benefit of the Conservatives. [13] The Liberal Democrats made gains in 2018; David Cutts, a professor of political science at the University of Birmingham, argued that the 2019 elections would be more a test of their relevance as the elections were in old strongholds of theirs. [14]
In the run-up to the elections, Facebook announced that they would only allow political adverts from authenticated accounts. [15] The government also funded a grant scheme for disabled candidates to participate, funding 60 candidates. [16]
Brexit dominated UK politics leading up to the local elections. In March, there was a demonstration in London, the Put it to the People March, in favour of a second referendum on EU membership, with an attendance reported to be between several hundred thousand and over one million. [17] In addition, an online petition calling for revocation of the UK's withdrawal notification under Article 50 TEU reached over 6 million signatures, becoming the fastest signed petition ever in the UK. [18] On 29 March thousands of pro-Brexit marchers demonstrated in Parliament Square in London. [19] Though the UK was set to leave the European Union on 29 March, this was initially delayed till 12 April, [20] then was further delayed to 31 October. [21] Because of this longer extension, the UK participated within elections to the European Parliament in order to avoid a no-deal scenario on 1 June. [21]
In April, protests in London around Parliament Square and Westminster organised by the environmental pressure group Extinction Rebellion took place, in which activist blocked roads, bridges and glued themselves to public buildings. [22] A total of 1,130 people were arrested during the demonstrations. [23]
Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, announced on 14 March that he would be stepping down from that role, with a new leadership election to be held after the May local elections. [24] There has been pressure within the Conservative party on prime minister Theresa May to resign following the local elections, triggering a new leadership election. [25]
The Conservatives stood candidates in 96% of the available seats, Labour contested 77%, the Liberal Democrats 53%, the Green Party of England and Wales 30% and UKIP 16%. [26]
8,530 / 8,886 (96%)6,842 / 8,886 (77%)4,710 / 8,886 (53%)2,666 / 8,886 (30%)1,422 / 8,886 (16%)
Seats contested by party, Politics Home
According to the Electoral Reform Society, there were 148 councillors who were elected unopposed, largely Conservatives. [27] New parties the Brexit Party and Change UK, although both standing in European elections later in the month, did not stand in the local elections. [28] Chuka Umunna, Change UK's spokesperson, recommended voters support anti-Brexit parties like the Liberal Democrats or Greens. [29] Leave.EU encouraged people to spoil their ballot paper in protest at delays in Brexit. [30]
Nationally, Labour organised their campaign on raising awareness of the impact of the austerity programme by the Conservative-led government on local councils, which led subsequently to higher council tax and reduced local services. [31] As an effect of cuts to council budgets, council spending per person has fallen 30% since 2010. [32] The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, commented that the economic policies of Preston City Council, where Labour took control of the council in 2011, were a model that he wanted other Labour councils to follow. Their changes saw the public procurement budget rise significantly, unemployment decrease and quality of life improve. [33] Labour sought to avoid talking about Brexit, but internal rows over their Brexit policy continued to create headlines. [34]
Similarly, the Conservatives focused their campaign away from Brexit and instead on efficient local services, low council tax and green credentials. [35] [36] [37] This detraction from Brexit, however, was quite difficult. Internal party sources voiced a negative outlook on the success of these elections, [38] with the deputy chair of the party saying it was an opportunity for voters to protest against the party's handling of the Brexit negotiations. [39] ConservativeHome interviewed ten Conservative councillors about how the campaigning had gone across the country and found a negative attitude. [12] Defence secretary Gavin Williamson was sacked the day before the elections, which was predicted to be unhelpful for the Conservative campaign. [40]
There were isolated incidents of politically motivated violence during the election campaign. There were a few cases of councillors, from the Labour and Conservative parties, being assaulted whilst campaigning. [41] A currently unknown assailant fired shots at the home of a Labour councillor in Sheffield. [42] Homes with Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green signs were damaged in Lewes, [43] and a Liberal Democrat candidate's car was attacked and painted with swastikas in Faversham. [44]
Party | Councillors | Councils | Votes[ citation needed ] | Projected national equivalent [n 1] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | Change | Number | Change | Number | Share | |||
Conservative | 3,564 | 1,330 | 93 | 44 | 2,985,959 | 31.4% | 28% | |
Labour | 2,021 | 84 | 60 | 6 | 2,531,907 | 26.6% | 28% | |
Liberal Democrats | 1,351 | 704 | 18 | 10 | 1,602,042 | 16.8% | 19% | |
Green | 265 | 194 | 0 | 878,485 | 9.2% | 25% | ||
UKIP | 31 | 145 | 0 | 430,455 | 4.5% | |||
RA | 119 | 49 | 2 | 1 | 1,080,328 | 11.4% | ||
Health Concern | 8 | 6 | 0 | |||||
Liberal | 7 | 1 | 0 | |||||
Independent and minor parties | 1,045 | 606 | 2 | 2 | ||||
No overall control | — | 73 | 37 | — | ||||
† Final results [45]
The Conservatives lost control of 44 councils and more than 1,300 council seats. It was the worst Conservative local election performance since 1995, when the party lost more than 2,000 seats. [46] Labour, despite topping national polls, lost 6 councils and more than 80 seats. [47]
Parties supporting remaining in the EU performed well. [48] The Liberal Democrats made the most gains of any party, [49] [50] while the Greens also picked up seats with the largest percentage growth. This election was the largest rise in Green council seat gains in 20 years. [51] There was also a significant increase in the number of independent and local party councillors, with their number of seats more than doubling. Similarly, in Northern Ireland, Alliance (the Lib Dems' sister party), some smaller parties and independents also made significant gains. [52]
The elections were marked by a number of spoiled ballots expressing anger toward the Brexit stances of the Conservative and Labour parties. [53] In the voter ID trial areas an average of 102 voters in each pilot area failed to vote due to not having the required documentation, compared with 70 per pilot area in 2018. [51]
Leading up to the election, journalists had noted the Conservatives' had performed well when these council seats had last been elected in the 2015 local elections due to those elections coinciding with the 2015 general election, where the party made gains. [12] [11] Defending those gains was predicted to be difficult, and when combined with Theresa May's struggle to deliver on Brexit, various sources predicted a loss of between 500 and 1000 seats for the Conservatives. [54] [55] Conservative peer Lord Robert Hayward projected that his party would lose at least 800 seats, with 500 to go to the Liberal Democrats and 300 to Labour. [56]
The BBC and other analysts calculated projected national vote shares from these local election results. These projections aim to assess what the council results indicate the UK-wide vote would be if the results were repeated at a general election. The BBC's estimate put Labour and the Conservatives on 28% (both down 7% from the local elections the previous year), the Liberal Democrats on 18% (up 2%) and all other parties combined on 25%. [1]
Sir John Curtice, who calculated the BBC's national projected vote share, commented that the rise of smaller parties and in particular the independents showed a dissatisfaction with the party system presently. Additionally, Curtice noted how the Green party benefited from recent climate protests across the country. [57]
Some argued that the Conservatives had set their expectations so low so that the perceived significance of their losses was reduced. [58] Media reports described the results as poor for both Labour and the Conservatives, with many noting decline of Labour representation in some leave areas. It was also regarded as a disappointing result for Labour because of expectations that they would make gains. [n 5]
Will Jennings, a professor at the University of Southampton analysed ward-level data and found little correlation between Labour's decline and the level of Brexit support in a ward. Labour made both gains and loses in areas that both voted to leave and remain in the 2016 referendum. Jennings instead noted the results better fit the transition in British politics at that time; where large cities, areas with high student populations, and professionals were moving towards Labour, whilst deindustrialised towns were moving towards the Conservatives. [59]
Simon Briscoe, statistician and director of The Data Analysis Bureau, was critical of the idea that the Liberal Democrats had experienced a surge on the scale that commentators described. He instead attributed their gains to a much lower turnout when compared to the 2015 local elections. An example of this is that any swings in vote share towards the Liberal Democrats masked the fact that the number of votes for them hadn't changed significantly from 2015. [60]
Martin Baxter, the creator of the political analytics website Electoral Calculus, suggested that the election data indicated that the next general election could produce a Labour-Scottish Nationalist coalition government. [61]
In England, council elections were held in 33 metropolitan boroughs, 168 of the second-tier districts, and 47 of the unitary authorities, as well as for six directly elected mayoral posts. 248 of the 343 English local councils held elections, with the exception of eight unitary authorities, the Isles of Scilly, the 26 counties, 24 non-metropolitan districts and boroughs, three metropolitan boroughs, the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. 8,399 seats were up for election (but elections are postponed for 14), with a further 38 casual vacancies to be filled, so 8,423 councillors were elected. Elections also took place for most English parish councils.
By-elections were held for seven county council seats (in Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Gloucestershire, Kent (two seats), Surrey and West Sussex) and for two seats in the London Borough of Lewisham. [6] Other casual vacancies to be filled (variously by by-election or multiple vacancy election) are indicated in the tables below by a superscript addition (+n).
In 33 of the 36 English metropolitan borough councils, one-third of their seats were up for election. Elections were not held in Birmingham, Doncaster or Rotherham.
Elections took place in 47 of the 55 unitary authorities. No elections took place in Bristol, Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, Shropshire, Warrington or Wiltshire.
By-elections took place in Durham (2 seats) and Northumberland, in addition to those indicated below.
In 30 English unitary authorities the whole council was up for election.
Unitary authorities for Bournemouth and Poole had merged with Christchurch district council to form one new unitary for the eastern portion of Dorset. An additional unitary authority replaced the remaining portion of Dorset County Council’s area and the district councils of North, West and East Dorset, Weymouth and Portland and Purbeck. Both authorities had their inaugural elections in May, and their predecessor authorities were all Conservative controlled except for Weymouth and Portland, which is in no overall control. Nine other unitary authorities were elected on new ward boundaries.
In 17 English unitary authorities one third of the council is up for election.
Council | Seats | Previous control | Result | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
up | of | |||||
Blackburn with Darwen | 17 | 51 | Labour | Labour | ||
Derby | 17 | 51 | No overall control (Conservative minority with UKIP/Lib Dem support) | No overall control (Conservative minority with UKIP/Lib Dem support) | ||
Halton | 19 | 56 | Labour | Labour | ||
Hartlepool | 11 | 33 | Labour | No overall control (Independent/Conservative coalition) | ||
Hull | 19 | 57 | Labour | Labour | ||
Milton Keynes | 19 | 57 | No overall control (Labour minority with Lib Dem support) | No overall control (Labour minority with Lib Dem support) | ||
North East Lincolnshire | 15+1 | 42 | No overall control (Labour minority with Lib Dem support) | Conservative | ||
Peterborough | 20 | 60 | Conservative | No overall control (Conservative minority with Independent support) | ||
Plymouth | 19 | 57 | Labour | Labour | ||
Portsmouth | 14+1 | 42 | No overall control (Lib Dem minority with Labour support) | No overall control (Lib Dem minority with Labour support) | ||
Reading | 15+1 | 46 | Labour | Labour | ||
Slough | 14 | 42 | Labour | Labour | ||
Southampton | 16 | 48 | Labour | Labour | ||
Southend-on-Sea | 17 | 51 | Conservative | No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem/Independent coalition) | ||
Swindon | 19 | 57 | Conservative | Conservative | ||
Thurrock | 16+1 | 49 | No overall control (Conservative minority) | No overall control (Conservative minority) | ||
Wokingham | 18 | 54 | Conservative | Conservative | ||
All 17 councils | 285+4 | 853 |
Elections took place in 168 non-metropolitan districts.
The new districts of Somerset West and Taunton, East Suffolk and West Suffolk held their first elections in 2019. They replace Taunton Deane, West Somerset, Waveney, Suffolk Coastal, Forest Heath, and St Edmundsbury.
Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Bucks, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough and Wycombe originally had elections scheduled for 2019, but the elections were postponed in law following a decision to merge these councils into unitary authorities covering Northamptonshire [74] and Buckinghamshire. [75]
Additionally, there were no elections in Adur, Cheltenham, Fareham, Gloucester, Gosport, Harrogate, Hastings, Huntingdonshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Oxford, South Cambridgeshire or Stroud.
A by-election was held in Newcastle-under-Lyme, in addition to those indicated below.
In 121 English district authorities the whole council was up for election.
46 of these councils were electing on new ward boundaries, including six councils which normally elect by thirds: Carlisle, Crawley, Norwich, Preston, Reigate and Banstead and Runnymede. In addition, Great Yarmouth and Wyre Forest switched from thirds to whole council elections.
In 47 English district authorities, one-third of the council is up for election.
Seven other district councils normally elect by thirds. As noted above, due to boundary changes, six of these have all-up elections. Daventry originally had elections scheduled for 2019, but the elections were postponed following a decision to merge the seven districts of Northamptonshire into two unitary authorities covering the county from 2020.
Six direct mayoral elections were held. Five are for local authorities (the Mayoralty of Torbay is abolished this year):
Local Authority | Incumbent Mayor | Result | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Bedford | Dave Hodgson (Lib Dem) | Dave Hodgson (Lib Dem) | ||
Copeland | Mike Starkie [131] (Ind) | Mike Starkie [131] (Ind) | ||
Leicester | Peter Soulsby (Lab) | Peter Soulsby (Lab) | ||
Mansfield | Kate Allsop (MIF) | Andy Abrahams (Lab) | ||
Middlesbrough | Dave Budd (Lab) | Andy Preston (Ind) |
One election was held for a regional mayor: this newly established combined authority was set up by groups of local councils, much like similar devolution deals across the country, giving the combined authorities additional powers and funding.
Combined authority | Interim mayor/chair | Result | Details | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North of Tyne | Norma Redfearn (Lab) | Jamie Driscoll (Labour Co-op) | Details |
In Northern Ireland, local elections were last held in 2014. No party held a working majority on any council (proportional representation makes this less likely) before the 2019 election, although the Democratic Unionist Party came close on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, with half of the seats.
The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland published lists and total numbers of candidates Archived 14 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine , showing that a total of 819 persons were nominated to stand. Elections are by single transferable vote in 5- to 7-member district electoral areas.
Council | Seats | Largest party before election | Largest party after election | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belfast [132] | 60 | Sinn Féin (19) | Sinn Féin (18) | ||
Ards & North Down [133] | 40 | DUP (17) | DUP (14) | ||
Antrim & Newtownabbey [134] | 40 | DUP (15) | DUP (14) | ||
Lisburn & Castlereagh [135] | 40 | DUP (20) | DUP (15) | ||
Newry, Mourne & Down [136] | 41 | Sinn Féin (14) | Sinn Féin (16) | ||
SDLP (14) | |||||
Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon [137] | 41 | DUP (13) | DUP (11) | ||
Mid & East Antrim [138] | 40 | DUP (16) | DUP (15) | ||
Causeway Coast & Glens [139] | 40 | DUP (11) | DUP (14) | ||
Mid Ulster [140] | 40 | Sinn Féin (18) | Sinn Féin (17) | ||
Derry & Strabane [141] | 40 | Sinn Féin (16) | Sinn Féin (11) | ||
SDLP (11) | |||||
Fermanagh & Omagh [142] | 40 | Sinn Féin (17) | Sinn Féin (15) | ||
All eleven councils | 462 | DUP (130) | DUP (122) |
The council by-election in Scotland (seat previously Labour) was won by the Scottish National Party, resulting in the party taking control of Dundee City Council. [143]
North West Cambridgeshire is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2024 by Sam Carling of the Labour Party. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Hertfordshire County Council in England is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes took effect in 2017 there have been 78 electoral divisions electing one councillor each.
Monmouthshire County Council is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales.
Medway Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, England. It was created on 1 April 1998 replacing Gillingham and Rochester-upon-Medway.
The 2013 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2013. 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.
The 2014 United Kingdom local elections were held on 22 May 2014. Usually these elections are held on the first Thursday in May but were postponed to coincide with the 2014 European Parliament Elections. Direct elections were held for all 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 74 district/borough councils, 19 unitary authorities and various mayoral posts in England and elections to the new councils in Northern Ireland.
The 2013 elections to Shropshire Council were held on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. These were the second elections to the unitary authority created as part of local government restructuring in Shropshire, following on from the previous elections in 2009. All 74 seats in the 63 electoral divisions were up for election across Shropshire. At the same time, all town and parish council contested elections took place, most notably including Shrewsbury Town Council.
An election to Durham County Council took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. Following a boundary review, 126 councillors were elected from 63 electoral divisions which returned either one, two or three councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The previous election took place in 2008 in advance of the council becoming a unitary authority after the 2009 changes to local government. The election saw the Labour Party increase their majority on the council.
The 2017 Scottish local elections were held on Thursday 4 May, in all 32 local authorities. The SNP retained its position as the largest party in terms of votes and councillors, despite suffering minor losses. The Conservatives made gains and displaced Labour as the second largest party, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a net loss of councillors despite increasing their share of the vote. Minor parties and independents polled well; and independent councillors retained majority control over the three island councils. For the first time since the local government reforms in 1995, all mainland councils fell under no overall control.
The 2015 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 7 May 2015, the same day as the general election for the House of Commons.
The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election. It was held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020, and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and was the first European election in the United Kingdom to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections since 1999. This was the first of two national elections that would be held in the United Kingdom in 2019 with the 2019 general election being held six months later in December 2019.
The 2017 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 4 May 2017. Local elections were held across Great Britain, with elections to 35 English local authorities and all councils in Scotland and Wales.
The 2018 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 3 May 2018, with local council elections taking place in all 32 London boroughs, 34 metropolitan boroughs, 67 district and borough councils and 17 unitary authorities. There were also direct elections for the mayoralties of Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Watford.
Local elections were held in Northern Ireland on Thursday 2 May 2019. The last elections were held in 2014. 819 candidates contested 462 seats across Northern Ireland's 11 local government districts. 1,305,384 people aged 18 and over were eligible to vote, and 52.7% of the electorate turned out.
The 2021 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 6 May 2021. More than 145 English local councils, around 5,000 councillor seats, thirteen directly elected mayors in England, and 39 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales were contested. On the same day, the 2021 Hartlepool by-election took place, and there were also elections to the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and London Assembly, the last in conjunction with the London mayoral election.
The 2022 North Yorkshire Council election took place on 5 May 2022, alongside the other local elections. These were the last elections to North Yorkshire County Council, and the elected councillors would also serve as the first councillors on the North Yorkshire Council, which replaced the existing county council in April 2023.
The 2022 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 5 May 2022. These included elections for all London borough councils, and for all local authorities in Wales and Scotland. Most seats in England were last up for election in 2018 and in Scotland and Wales in 2017. The elections coincided with the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election. In 91 cases, most of them in Wales, council seats were uncontested, each having only one candidate. Three seats in Scotland remained unfilled as no one nominated to fill them.
The 2022 Welsh local elections took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of all twenty-two local authorities in Wales. They were held alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. The previous elections were held in 2017.
The 2022 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election took place as of 5 May 2022. Due to boundary changes, all 60 councillors were elected at the same time. The election took place alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom.
Local Elections Handbook 2019 Archived 29 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine