2021 United Kingdom local elections

Last updated

2021 United Kingdom local elections
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  • 21 county councils
  • 124 unitary, district and borough councils
  • 13 directly elected mayors
  • 39 police and crime commissioners
  Boris Johnson election infobox.jpg Keir Starmer election infobox.jpg
Leader Boris Johnson Keir Starmer
Party Conservative Labour
Leader since 23 July 2019 4 April 2020
Popular vote [n 1] 36%29%
Swing [n 2] Increase2.svg 8%Increase2.svg 1%
Councils6344
Councils +/–Increase2.svg 13Decrease2.svg 8
Councillors2,3451,345
Councillors +/–Increase2.svg 235Decrease2.svg 327
  Official portrait of Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP crop 2.jpg Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley, 2018 (Cropped GE 2019).png
Leader Ed Davey Jonathan Bartley
and Siân Berry
Party Liberal Democrats Green
Leader since 27 August 2020 [n 3]
Popular vote [n 1] 17%
Swing [n 2] Decrease2.svg 2%
Councils70
Councils +/–Increase2.svg 1Steady2.svg
Councillors588151
Councillors +/–Increase2.svg 8Increase2.svg 88
2021 United Kingdom local elections in district, borough and unitary councils.svg
District, borough, and unitary councils
2021 United Kingdom local elections in county councils.svg
County councils
2021 United Kingdom local elections for mayors.svg
Mayors
2021 United Kingdom local elections for police and crime commissioners and police, fire and crime commissioners.svg
Police and crime commissioners
2021 United Kingdom local elections
Results in district, borough, and unitary councils
Postal voting pack used in the 2021 local elections: white for local councillors, yellow for mayoral elections and green for police and crime commissioner Postal voting pack for the 2021 United Kingdom local elections.jpg
Postal voting pack used in the 2021 local elections: white for local councillors, yellow for mayoral elections and green for police and crime commissioner

The 2021 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 6 May 2021. More than 145 English local councils, around 5,000 councillor seats (including by-elections), [2] thirteen directly elected mayors in England, [3] and 39 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales were contested. [4] On the same day, the 2021 Hartlepool by-election took place, and there were also elections to the Scottish Parliament (129 seats), Senedd (Welsh Parliament) (60 seats) and London Assembly (25 seats), the last in conjunction with the London mayoral election.

Contents

In March 2020, the government announced that the elections scheduled for 7 May 2020 would be delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were now held at the same time as the elections previously scheduled for 2021. [5] The seats up for election were those last contested in 2016 and 2017. New unitary authorities to replace the county and district councils in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire held their inaugural elections this year.

The Conservative Party made significant gains in the elections; despite initial predictions that the party would perform better in the seats last contested in 2016, but worse in the ones contested in 2017 (when the party benefited from the then-exceptionally high approval ratings of Theresa May's government in the run-up to that year's general election), they in fact performed even better in both sets of seats. Many observers attributed their performance to the successful rollout of the country's COVID-19 vaccination programme. By contrast, Labour's poor performance was generally ascribed to the party still being viewed by much of the working class as having been discredited by its prior opposition to Brexit, as well as party leader Keir Starmer's perceived opportunism in attacking Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the Downing Street refurbishment controversy. The Liberal Democrats made some minor gains despite a loss in their popular vote share, while the Green Party made more substantial gains.

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 local elections, these were the first local elections the three main parties contested under the leaderships of Johnson, Starmer, and Ed Davey of the Liberal Democrats.

Overall

Results of the 2021 council elections in England [6]
PartyCouncillorsCouncilsMayors
NumberChangeNumberChangeNumberChange
Conservative 2,345+23563+132-2
Labour 1,345-32744-811+5
Liberal Democrats 588+87+100
Green 151+880000
Mebyon Kernow 5+10000
Reform UK 2+20000
Liberal 1-10000
Health Concern 0-20000
UKIP 0−480000
Other parties300000
Residents' association 42+50000
Independents 255+390000
No overall control —29-6—
Total4,73714313+3

Background

The local elections in May 2019 across a majority of councils in England saw the Conservative Party suffer significant losses to the Liberal Democrats, who regained councils they lost to the Conservatives in 2015. The Labour Party, despite making some gains, had a net loss of over eighty seats in areas that had traditionally voted for them, particularly to independent candidates. Local elections also took place at the same time in Northern Ireland, which saw a rise in the Alliance Party's representation across the region. At the 2019 European Parliament election, a few weeks later, the Conservatives had their lowest share of the vote in a nationwide election in their history, with the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats coming first and second, respectively.

On 12 December 2019, the UK held a snap general election that led to the Conservatives winning a majority of eighty in the House of Commons, while Labour had their worst share of the seats since the 1935 general election. [7] Following the election result, Jeremy Corbyn announced that he would step down as leader of the Labour Party; [8] Keir Starmer was elected the new leader on 4 April 2020. [9] The Liberal Democrats also held a leadership election after Jo Swinson lost her seat in the general election; [10] in the interim, the party's deputy leader Ed Davey and party president Mark Pack acted as co-leaders, and in August Davey was elected as leader. [11]

Prior to the elections, structural changes to local government in England merged some district and county councils into unitary authorities, which meant more power was consolidated; an example is Buckinghamshire Council, which replaced five councils in April 2020. In addition, new combined authorities (institutions which cover two or more local authorities) are being created, with the electorate of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority electing their mayor at this election. Intentions to reorganise councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset caused elections in those areas to be rescheduled for 2022. [12] More combined authorities and significant reorganisations were planned, but in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the government's devolution program for England. [13] [14]

Postponement to 2021

A pandemic of a new strand of coronavirus spread across the world from February 2020. On 1 March, Health Secretary Matt Hancock issued a warning that "all options" were being considered if the virus spread further, including delaying the local elections, for the first time since the 2001 elections which were delayed by a month due to the foot-and-mouth outbreak. [15] On 12 March, the Association of Electoral Administrators asked the government to consider postponing the elections should the situation in the UK deteriorate. [16] The same day, the Electoral Commission recommended that the elections be delayed till the autumn. [17]

A day later, Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to postpone the 2020 UK local elections until May 2021. [5] [18] This decision was legislated for in the Coronavirus Act 2020, which was enacted on 25 March. [19] The bill gave the government the power to postpone any elections, including by-elections, which would otherwise have been held between 16 March 2020 and 5 May 2021. [20] To preserve the four-year electoral cycle, those elected in 2021 would serve three-year terms. [21]

On 4 November 2020, the Cabinet Office ruled out any further delays to local elections, after suggestions from some local authorities to defer the elections by a couple of weeks, in order to allow enough time to get the electoral roll in order without having to knock on doors during the second wave of the pandemic. [22] After the country went into a third national lockdown in January 2021, the County Councils Network called on Johnson to declare "as soon as possible" whether the elections would go ahead as planned. Suggestions had been put forward include delaying the elections until June or July; delaying them until the Autumn; and conducting them in May but entirely via postal voting. [23] [24] On 9 January election officials stated that the local elections will take place as planned. However Johnson said this remains "under review". [25] It was confirmed in February by Chloe Smith and the Cabinet Office that the elections would in fact take place in line with the government's target to vaccinate all over 50s by the beginning of May. [26]

By-elections

The Coronavirus Act 2020 also postponed by-elections to fill casual vacancies occurring because a sitting councillor resigned or died. [19] On 15 March 2021, it was reported that more than 260 by-elections would take place alongside the planned council elections. [27]

In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, by-elections were held in the wards of Canford Heath [28] and Commons. [29] Four by-elections in the London Borough of Lewisham were also held. [30]

Restrictions on campaigns

In January 2021, government guidance on activity during the national lockdown was issued by the Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution, Chloe Smith, stating that door-to-door campaigning or leafleting by individual political party activists was not possible under the restriction "You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary". [31] Labour suspended leafleting and urged other parties to do the same, but the Liberal Democrats' leader Ed Davey defended the party's leafleting activities, arguing that the party had taken legal advice and that leafleting was allowed under an exemption for volunteer organisations. [32] Rights and democracy groups criticised the restrictions on campaigning, claiming that there was no leafleting ban in the coronavirus regulations and raising concerns it could interfere with the right to free expression and the functioning of democracy. [33]

On 26 February, the UK government said the restrictions in England would be changed to allow door-to-door campaigns from 8 March, and that similar guidance would be published by the Welsh and Scottish governments. Campaigners would be able to deliver leaflets and speak to electors on their doorsteps. [34] [35]

Campaign

Going into the short campaign period, the Conservative Party started to develop a 6–7% poll lead on the Labour Party. [27]

On Thursday 11 March, Labour launched its local election campaign, with the party's leader Keir Starmer, deputy leader Angela Rayner, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and West Yorkshire metro-mayor candidate Tracy Brabin as speakers. The party focused its election priorities on giving nurses a pay rise. [36] [37]

Following the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, political parties halted campaigning for local and devolved elections for a period of mourning of a few days. [38]

Voters and voting systems

In England, all residents of the areas covered who are 18 years or over and are a British or Irish citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen, or a citizen of the European Union were eligible to vote. [39] A resident can be registered to vote in two local authorities, such as a student living away from home, and they may vote in both. [40] In Wales, all residents who are 16 years or over and are registered to vote, regardless of citizenship, will be eligible to vote. [41] The deadline to be registered to vote in the May 2021 elections is 11:59pm on 19 April 2021. [42]

Because this wave of local elections incorporates different positions, voters used different voting systems to elect politicians. Councillors were elected using first-past-the-post, meaning that the candidate with the most votes in a ward was elected. [40] Councils having "all-up" elections had block voting, where voters have a vote for each seat the ward represents and the top candidates are elected. All mayors of England and Police and crime commissioners of England and Wales were elected using the supplementary vote system, where voters select a first and second choice. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote, all except the top two are eliminated. If a voter's first choice candidate is eliminated, and their second choice is for one of the top two, then the second choice is counted. [43] [44]

The Welsh and Scottish parliaments used the additional member system, or AMS. This means voters vote once in a single member constituency and once for party representation in their electoral region. [45] London uses two systems: the Mayor of London is elected using the supplementary vote system while the London Assembly uses AMS. [43]

England

On 13 March 2020, the Government announced that the 2020 elections would be postponed until 2021 in response to growing concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. [5] [18]

County councils

2021 United Kingdom local elections
2021 United Kingdom local elections
Click or tap on the map to show the party in control of each council before and after the election
  Conservative
  No overall control
  No election

County councils are elected in full every four years, with the last election having been in 2017. County councils are the upper part of a two-tier system of local government, with the area each covers subdivided into district councils with different responsibilities. These are first-past-the-post elections with a mixture of single-member and multi-member electoral divisions.

There were previously twenty-six county councils, but there will only be twenty-four by the time of the election. Buckinghamshire County Council was replaced with a unitary authority, Buckinghamshire Council, on 1 April 2020. [46] Northamptonshire County Council "declared itself effectively bankrupt" in February 2018 [47] and two new unitary authorities, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire replaced it on 1 April 2021. [48]

In late February 2021 the government confirmed that council elections in Cumbria, North Yorkshire, and Somerset were to be rescheduled for May 2022 because of plans to re-organise the structure of local government in those areas. This meant that council elections for Cumbria County Council, North Yorkshire County Council and Somerset County Council were postponed until the May 2022 local elections. [12]

CouncilSeatsOriginal yearPrevious controlResultDetails
Cambridgeshire 61 2021 Conservative No overall control (Lib Dem/Labour/independent coalition) Details
Derbyshire 64 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Devon 60 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
East Sussex 50 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Essex 75 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Gloucestershire 53 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Hampshire 78 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Hertfordshire 78 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Kent 81 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Lancashire 84 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Leicestershire 55 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Lincolnshire 70 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Norfolk 84 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Nottinghamshire 66 2021 No overall control (Conservative/Mansfield Independent Forum coalition) Conservative Details
Oxfordshire 63 2021 No overall control (Conservative/independent coalition) No overall control (Lib Dem/Labour/Green coalition) Details
Staffordshire 62 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Suffolk 75 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Surrey 81 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Warwickshire 57 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
West Sussex 70 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
Worcestershire 57 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
All 21 councils1,632

    Metropolitan boroughs

    2021 United Kingdom local elections
    2021 United Kingdom local elections
    Click or tap on the map to show the party in control of each council before and after the election
      Labour
      Conservative
      No overall control
      No election

    There are thirty-six metropolitan boroughs, which are single-tier local authorities. Thirty-three of them elect a third of their councillors every year for three years, with no election in each fourth year. These councils hold their elections on the same timetable, and were due to hold an election in 2020 but not in 2021. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the May 2020 elections were postponed to May 2021. The remaining three metropolitan boroughs elect their councillors in full every four years. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council was due to hold an election for all councillors in May 2020, but this was postponed to 2021. Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council was due to elect their councillors in 2021. Birmingham City Council holds its elections on a four-year cycle from 2018, so is not due to hold an election until 2022; there were, however, by-elections in 4 wards. [49]

    Due to boundary changes, Salford City Council also elected all of its councillors in 2021, and will now be returning to the thirds schedule. The remaining thirty-two metropolitan borough councils that elect their councillors in thirds did so as usual at this election.

    Elections for all councillors

    CouncilSeatsOriginal yearPrevious controlResultDetails
    Doncaster 552021 Labour Labour Details
    Rotherham 592020 Labour Labour Details
    Salford 602020 Labour Labour Details
    All three councils178

    Elections for one third of councillors

    CouncilSeatsOriginal yearPrevious controlResultDetails
    upof
    Barnsley 21632020 Labour Labour Details
    Bolton 20602020 No overall control (Conservative minority with independent/Lib Dem/UKIP support) No overall control (Conservative minority with independent/UKIP support) Details
    Bradford 30902020 Labour Labour Details
    Bury 17512020 Labour Labour Details
    Calderdale 17512020 Labour Labour Details
    Coventry 18542020 Labour Labour Details
    Dudley 24722020 No overall control (Conservative minority) Conservative Details
    Gateshead 22662020 Labour Labour Details
    Kirklees 23692020 No overall control (Labour minority) No overall control (Labour minority) Details
    Knowsley 15452020 Labour Labour Details
    Leeds 33992020 Labour Labour Details
    Liverpool 30902020 Labour Labour Details
    Manchester 32962020 Labour Labour Details
    Newcastle upon Tyne 26782020 Labour Labour Details
    North Tyneside 20602020 Labour Labour Details
    Oldham 20602020 Labour Labour Details
    Rochdale 20602020 Labour Labour Details
    Sandwell 24722020 Labour Labour Details
    Sefton 22662020 Labour Labour Details
    Sheffield 28842020 Labour No overall control (Labour/Green coalition) Details
    Solihull 17512020 Conservative Conservative Details
    South Tyneside 18542020 Labour Labour Details
    St Helens 16482020 Labour Labour Details
    Stockport 21632020 No overall control (Labour minority) No overall control (Labour minority) Details
    Sunderland 25752020 Labour Labour Details
    Tameside 19572020 Labour Labour Details
    Trafford 21632020 Labour Labour Details
    Wakefield 21632020 Labour Labour Details
    Walsall 20602020 Conservative Conservative Details
    Wigan 25752020 Labour Labour Details
    Wirral 22662020 No overall control (Labour minority) No overall control (Labour minority) Details
    Wolverhampton 20602020 Labour Labour Details
    All 32 councils7292,187

    Unitary authorities

    2021 United Kingdom local elections
    2021 United Kingdom local elections
    Click or tap on the map to show the party in control of each council before and after the election
      Labour
      Conservative
      No overall control
      No election

    There were previously fifty-five unitary authorities, but three more were created by the May elections. Buckinghamshire County Council was replaced with a unitary authority, Buckinghamshire Council, on 1 April 2020; [50] the first election to the new unitary authority was scheduled for May 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic was rescheduled for May 2021. Subsequent elections are due to be held every four years from 2025. [46] Northamptonshire County Council was replaced with two unitary authorities, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire on 1 April 2021. [51] The first elections to the shadow authorities (temporary council structures before the council formally begins) were planned to be held in May 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic have been rescheduled to May 2021. Subsequent elections will be held every four years from 2025. [49]

    Of the resulting fifty-eight unitary authorities, thirty elect all their councillors every four years on the cycle from 2019, so are not due to hold elections until 2023. Six elect their councillors every four years and were originally planning to elect in 2021. The three new unitary authorities were scheduled to hold their elections in 2020 and then every four years from 2025, before the 2020 local elections were postponed to 2021. Two unitary authorities were scheduled to elect all their councillors in 2020 but these have also been postponed to 2021. Seventeen unitary authorities elect a third of their councillors every year for three years including 2020 but not 2021, and these elections have been postponed to 2021. Two of these, Halton and Hartlepool, have had boundary changes that mean they are electing all of their councillors in 2021. [52] [53]

    Elections for all councillors

    CouncilSeatsOriginal yearPrevious controlResultDetails
    Bristol 70 2020 Labour No overall control (Labour minority) Details
    Buckinghamshire [lower-alpha 1] 1472020New unitary authority Conservative Details
    Cornwall 87 [lower-alpha 2] 2021 No overall control (Lib Dem/independent coalition) Conservative Details
    County Durham 1262021 Labour No overall control (Conservative/Lib Dem/independent coalition) Details
    Halton 54 [lower-alpha 2] 2020 Labour Labour Details
    Hartlepool 36 [lower-alpha 2] 2020 No overall control (Conservative/Independent Union/Veterans and People's Party coalition) No overall control (Conservative/independent coalition) Details
    Isle of Wight 39 [lower-alpha 2] 2021 Conservative No overall control (Independent/Green/Island Independents/Our Island coalition) Details
    North Northamptonshire [lower-alpha 1] 782020New unitary authority Conservative Details
    Northumberland 672021 No overall control (Conservative minority) Conservative Details
    Shropshire 742021 Conservative Conservative Details
    Warrington 582020 Labour Labour Details
    West Northamptonshire [lower-alpha 1] 932020New unitary authority Conservative Details
    Wiltshire 98 [lower-alpha 2] 2021 Conservative Conservative Details
    All thirteen councils986

    Elections for one third of councillors

    CouncilSeatsOriginal yearPrevious controlResultDetails
    upof
    Blackburn with Darwen 17512020 Labour Labour Details
    Derby 17512020 No overall control (Conservative minority) No overall control (Conservative minority) Details
    Hull 19572020 Labour Labour Details
    Milton Keynes 19572020 No overall control (Labour minority with Lib Dem support) No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem coalition) Details
    North East Lincolnshire 12422020 Conservative Conservative Details
    Peterborough 22602020 No overall control (Conservative minority with independent support) No overall control (Conservative minority with independent support) Details
    Plymouth 19572020 Labour No overall control (Conservative minority) Details
    Portsmouth 14422020 No overall control (Lib Dem minority) No overall control (Lib Dem minority with Labour/Progressive Portsmouth People support) Details
    Reading 16462020 Labour Labour Details
    Slough 14422020 Labour Labour Details
    Southampton 16482020 Labour Conservative Details
    Southend 17512020 No overall control (Labour/independent/Lib Dem coalition) No overall control (Labour/independent/Lib Dem coalition) Details
    Swindon 19572020 Conservative Conservative Details
    Thurrock 17492020 Conservative Conservative Details
    Wokingham 18542020 Conservative Conservative Details
    All fifteen councils255764

    District councils

    2021 United Kingdom local elections
    2021 United Kingdom local elections
    Click or tap on the map to show the party in control of each council before and after the election
      Labour
      Conservative
      Liberal Democrats
      No overall control
      No election

    62 out of the 182 non-metropolitan district councils held council elections.

    Whole district councils

    Seven district councils have all of their seats up for election. The seats for Gloucester and Stroud were last up for election in 2016. Basingstoke and Deane, Cambridge, Chorley, Oxford and Pendle have all seats up for election due to ward boundary changes. [54] [55]

    CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
    Basingstoke and Deane No overall control (Conservative minority) Conservative Details
    Cambridge Labour Labour Details
    Chorley Labour Labour Details
    Gloucester No overall control (Conservative minority) Conservative Details
    Oxford Labour Labour Details
    Pendle No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem coalition) Conservative Details
    Stroud No overall control (Labour/Green/Lib Dem coalition) No overall control (Labour/Green/Lib Dem coalition) Details

    Half of councils

    Six councils have half of their seats up for election. These seats were last up for election in 2016, and were due to be contested in 2020. [54]

    CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
    Adur Conservative Conservative Details
    Cheltenham Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
    Fareham Conservative Conservative Details
    Gosport Conservative Conservative Details
    Hastings Labour Labour Details
    Nuneaton and Bedworth No overall control (Labour minority) Conservative Details

    Forty-six councils have one-third of their seats up for election. These seats were last up for election in 2016, and were due to be contested in 2020. [54] Elections in Craven, Carlisle and South Lakeland have been postponed due to pending local government reorganisation. In July 2021 the government announced that these three district councils will be abolished in April 2023. The postponed elections will therefore not take place, and the councillors elected in 2016 will serve until 2023.

    CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
    Amber Valley Labour Conservative Details
    Basildon No overall control (Labour/independent coalition) Conservative Details
    Brentwood Conservative Conservative Details
    Broxbourne Conservative Conservative Details
    Burnley No overall control (Labour minority) No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem coalition) Details
    Cannock Chase No overall control (Labour minority) Conservative Details
    Castle Point Conservative Conservative Details
    Cherwell Conservative Conservative Details
    Colchester No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem coalition) No overall control (Conservative/independent coalition) Details
    Crawley No overall control (Labour minority) No overall control (Labour/independent coalition) Details
    Eastleigh Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
    Elmbridge No overall control (Lib Dem/Residents Associations coalition) No overall control (Lib Dem/Residents Association coalition) Details
    Epping Forest Conservative Conservative Details
    Exeter Labour Labour Details
    Harlow Labour Conservative Details
    Hart No overall control (Lib Dem/Community Campaign coalition) No overall control (Lib Dem/Community Campaign coalition) Details
    Havant Conservative Conservative Details
    Hyndburn Labour Labour Details
    Ipswich Labour Labour Details
    Lincoln Labour Labour Details
    Maidstone No overall control (Lib Dem/independent coalition) Conservative Details
    Mole Valley Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
    North Hertfordshire No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem coalition) No overall control (Labour/Lib Dem coalition) Details
    Norwich Labour Labour Details
    Preston Labour Labour Details
    Redditch Conservative Conservative Details
    Reigate and Banstead Conservative Conservative Details
    Rochford Conservative Conservative Details
    Rossendale Labour No overall control (Labour minority) Details
    Rugby Conservative Conservative Details
    Runnymede Conservative Conservative Details
    Rushmoor Conservative Conservative Details
    St Albans No overall control (Lib Dem minority) Liberal Democrats Details
    Stevenage Labour Labour Details
    Tamworth Conservative Conservative Details
    Tandridge No overall control (Conservative minority) No overall control (Independent/Residents Group minority with Lib Dem support) Details
    Three Rivers Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
    Tunbridge Wells Conservative No overall control (Conservative minority) Details
    Watford Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
    Welwyn Hatfield No overall control (Conservative minority) Conservative Details
    West Lancashire Labour No overall control (Labour minority) Details
    West Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative Details
    Winchester Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
    Woking No overall control (Conservative minority) No overall control (Conservative minority) Details
    Worcester No overall control (Conservative/Labour coalition) Conservative Details
    Worthing Conservative Conservative Details

    London Assembly

    The London Assembly consists of twenty-five elected members and acts as a scrutiny panel to the mayor. Members are elected using the additional member system, which elects members using both constituencies and a London-wide electoral region.

    City of London Corporation

    The Court of Common Council is the main decision-making body of the City of London Corporation, which governs the City of London. The 100 councillors are elected across twenty-five wards. Elections were due on 18 March 2021, but as a result of the coronavirus pandemic were delayed to March 2022. [56]

    Council of the Isles of Scilly

    The Council of the Isles of Scilly is the local government authority for the Isles of Scilly. It has sixteen seats, which in the previous 2017 election were all won by independent candidates.

    Mayors

    Mayor of London

    The Mayor of London is normally elected for four years, although due to the rescheduling of the 2020 election, the election in 2021 will be for a three-year term. The incumbent mayor Sadiq Khan, won re-election with 40.0% of first preference votes, and 55.2% of second preference votes. He will serve until 2024.

    Combined authority mayors

    Seven combined authority mayors were up for election.

    Combined authorityOriginal yearPrevious mayorElected mayorDetails
    Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 2021 James Palmer (Con) Nik Johnson (Lab) Details
    Greater Manchester 2020 Andy Burnham (Lab) Andy Burnham (Lab) Details
    Liverpool City Region 2020 Steve Rotheram (Lab) Steve Rotheram (Lab) Details
    Tees Valley 2020 Ben Houchen (Con) Ben Houchen (Con) Details
    West Midlands 2020 Andy Street (Con) Andy Street (Con) Details
    West of England 2021 Tim Bowles (Con) Dan Norris (Lab) Details
    West Yorkshire 2021Role established Tracy Brabin (Lab) Details

    Single authority mayors

    Five single authority mayors were up for election.

    Local authorityOriginal yearPrevious MayorMayor-electDetails
    Bristol 2020 Marvin Rees (Lab) Marvin Rees (Lab) Details
    Doncaster 2021 Ros Jones (Lab) Ros Jones (Lab) Details
    Liverpool 2020 Joe Anderson [lower-alpha 3] (Lab) Joanne Anderson (Lab) Details
    North Tyneside 2021 Norma Redfearn (Lab) Norma Redfearn (Lab) Details
    Salford 2020 Paul Dennett (Lab) Paul Dennett (Lab) Details

    Police and crime commissioner elections

    Thirty-five police and crime commissioners in England were up for election, together with four police, fire and crime commissioners.

    Wales

    Senedd

    Elections took place to elect all 60 members of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh : Senedd Cymru), which changed its name from the National Assembly for Wales in 2020. [41] Voting rights were extended to foreign nationals that live in Wales, and residents aged 16 or over. [57] [41]

    Police and crime commissioner elections

    All four police and crime commissioners in Wales were up for election, to represent the four police force areas of Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales.

    Scotland

    Elections took place to elect all 129 members of the Scottish Parliament.

    UK Parliament by-elections

    A by-election for Hartlepool was held on the same day as these local elections. [58]

    A by-election for Airdrie and Shotts took place a week later on 13 May. [59]

    A by-election for Chesham and Amersham took place on 17 June 2021.

    A by-election for Batley and Spen took place on 1 July 2021.

    A by-election for Old Bexley and Sidcup took place on 2 December 2021.

    A by-election for North Shropshire took place on 16 December 2021.

    See also

    Notes

    1. 1 2 All vote shares in the infobox are projected national vote shares calculated by the BBC.
    2. 1 2 Swing figures are between the BBC national projected vote share extrapolation from 2019 local elections, and the BBC equivalent vote share projection from these local elections held in different areas.
    3. ↑ Davey served as Acting Leader from 13 December 2019 to 27 August 2020 alongside the Party Presidents Baroness Sal Brinton and Mark Pack, following Jo Swinson's election defeat in the 2019 general election. Davey was elected Leader in August 2020. [1]
    1. 1 2 3 New unitary authority
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 New election boundaries
    3. ↑ Joe Anderson stood aside as Mayor in December 2020 after being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation. He was replaced in an interim capacity by his deputy Wendy Simon, and later announced he would not seek re-election.

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">North Northamptonshire</span> District in England

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">West Northamptonshire</span> District in England

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 United Kingdom local elections</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 United Kingdom local elections</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 United Kingdom local elections</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 United Kingdom local elections</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 United Kingdom local elections</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 United Kingdom local elections</span> Elections to local councils and mayoralties

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Southampton City Council election</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 West Northamptonshire Council election</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 North Northamptonshire Council election</span>

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United Kingdom local elections</span> Elections to local councils and mayoralties

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    2. ↑ "2021 elections: A really simple guide". BBC News. 23 March 2021.
    3. ↑ "Directly elected mayors". www.local.gov.uk.
    4. ↑ "Electoral Commission | Police and Crime Commissioner elections". www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
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    6. ↑ "Local Elections 2021 in England". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
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    41. 1 2 3 "AMs back new bilingual name for Welsh Assembly". BBC News. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
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    45. ↑ "Additional Member System". Electoral Reform Society . Retrieved 14 March 2020.
    46. 1 2 "The Buckinghamshire (Structural Changes) Order 2019". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
    47. ↑ "Northamptonshire's bankrupt council given OK for 2% tax hike". The Guardian. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
    48. ↑ "The Northamptonshire (Structural Changes) Order 2020". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
    49. 1 2 "City Council by-election results – 6 May 2021". www.birmingham.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
    50. ↑ Jones, Claire (24 May 2019). "New Buckinghamshire Council moves a step closer". Wycombe Today. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
    51. ↑ "Northamptonshire County Council: No local elections for cash-crisis county". BBC News. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
    52. ↑ "Halton". Local Government Boundary Commission . Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
    53. ↑ "Hartlepool". Local Government Boundary Commission . Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
    54. 1 2 3 "Election Timetable" (PDF). GOV.UK . Retrieved 12 November 2020.
    55. ↑ "Electoral boundaries - Chorley Council". chorley.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.[ permanent dead link ]
    56. ↑ "Forthcoming elections". City of London. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    57. ↑ Mosalski, Ruth (15 January 2020). "Over 16s will vote in the next Assembly election as the Queen says yes". WalesOnline . Retrieved 13 March 2020.
    58. ↑ Drury, Colin (21 March 2021). "Labour fears of losing Hartlepool grow ahead of 'defining' red wall by-election". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
    59. ↑ Tonner, Judith (26 March 2021). "Two elections in one week for Airdrie & Shotts voters". Daily Record. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
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