2025 United Kingdom local elections

Last updated
2025 United Kingdom local elections
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←  2024 1 May 20252026 →
At least 5 out of 21 county councils
10 unitary authorities
1 metropolitan borough
4 directly elected combined authority mayors
2 directly elected single authority mayors
Council of the Isles of Scilly
City of London Corporation (on 19–20 March)
  Official portrait of Kemi Badenoch MP crop 3, 2024 (cropped).jpg Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer Official Portrait (cropped).jpg Official portrait of Ed Davey MP crop 3, 2024.jpg
Leader Kemi Badenoch Keir Starmer Ed Davey
Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats
Leader since 2 November 2024 4 April 2020 27 August 2020 [n 1]
Last election1,448 seats365 seats293 seats
Current seats1,311350313
  Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay MP portraits merged.jpg Official portrait of Nigel Farage MP crop 2.jpg
Leader Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay Nigel Farage
Party Green Reform UK
Leader since 1 October 2021 3 June 2024
Last election59 seats2 seats
Current seats6412

The 2025 United Kingdom local elections will be held on 1 May 2025. [2] All seats on all 21 county councils in England and ten unitary authorities in England will be up for election. They are expected to be the first local elections following the 2024 general election. [3]

Contents

Two existing combined authority mayors and two existing single authority mayors will be up for election. In addition, the inaugural election for the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, who will chair Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, is expected to take place on 1 May 2025, along with the inaugural election for the mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire.

In addition, the Council of the Isles of Scilly will be elected. [2]

The City of London Corporation will hold elections on 19–20 March. [4]

Background

Following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December 2024, which set out the government's plans for local government reorganisation, some of the elections scheduled for May 2025 may be delayed by up to a year while reorganisation takes place. [5] County councils had until 10 January 2025 to decide to cancel or postpone the elections. [6] At least 13 of the 21 county councils have asked the government to delay their elections. [7]

On 2 January 2025, 20 Borough of Broxtowe councillors in Nottinghamshire resigned from the Labour party to form the Broxtowe Independents in protest against Keir Starmer. They criticised Labour national policy on the winter fuel payment, the WASPI women, bus fare increases, the two-child benefit cap, the war in Gaza, [8] and plans to reorganise local government, which could see district and borough councils scrapped. They said that 10 of their members were prevented from standing for Labour in the upcoming Nottinghamshire County Council election due to their criticism of government policy. The resignations resulted in Labour losing control of Broxtowe Borough Council, with the number of Labour councillors dropping from 26 to 6, with Broxtowe Independents saying they intended to run the council as a minority administration and run a full slate of candidates in the 2025 local elections. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

England

County councils

There are 21 county councils in England. All of them hold whole-council elections on a four-year cycle that includes 2025.

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResultApplied to Cancel elections [19]
Cambridgeshire 61 No overall control Details No
Derbyshire [a] 64 Conservative Details Yes
Devon 60 Conservative Details Yes
East Sussex 50 No overall control Details Yes
Essex [a] 78 Conservative Details Yes
Gloucestershire [a] 55 Conservative Details Yes
Hampshire 78 Conservative Details Yes
Hertfordshire 78 Conservative Details No
Kent 81 Conservative Details Yes
Lancashire 84 Conservative Details No
Leicestershire 55 Conservative Details Yes
Lincolnshire 70 Conservative Details Yes
Norfolk [a] 84 Conservative Details Yes
Nottinghamshire 66 Conservative Details No
Oxfordshire [a] 69 No overall control Details Yes
Staffordshire [a] 62 Conservative Details No
Suffolk [a] 70 Conservative Details Yes
Surrey [a] 81 Conservative Details Yes
Warwickshire 57 Conservative Details Yes
West Sussex 70 Conservative Details Yes
Worcestershire [a] 57 Conservative Details Yes

Metropolitan boroughs

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResult
Doncaster 55 Labour Details

Unitary authorities

There are 62 unitary authorities, which are single-tier local authorities. Ten of them hold whole-council elections on a four-year cycle that includes 2025. Due to boundary changes several authorities will see a significant reduction in the number of councillors they elect: Buckinghamshire reduces from 147 to 97, Durham goes from 126 to 98 and West Northamptonshire will elect 76 instead of 93.

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResult
Buckinghamshire [a] 97 Conservative Details
Cornwall 87 Conservative Details
County Durham [a] 98 No overall control Details
Isle of Wight 39 No overall control Details
North Northamptonshire [a] 68 Conservative Details
Northumberland [a] 69 Conservative Details
Shropshire [a] 74 Conservative Details
Thurrock [a] 49 Labour Details
West Northamptonshire [a] 76 Conservative Details
Wiltshire 98 Conservative Details

Combined authority mayors

Combined authorityMayor beforeMayor afterDetails
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Nik Johnson (Lab) Details
West of England Dan Norris (Lab) Details
Greater Lincolnshire Did not exist Details
Hull and East Yorkshire Did not exist Details

Mayoralties covering a single local authority

Local authorityPostTypeCurrent mayorPartyEstablishedNext electionPopulation
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Mayor of Doncaster Metropolitan borough Ros Jones Labour 20022025291,600
North Tyneside Council Mayor of North Tyneside Metropolitan borough Norma Redfearn Labour 20022025196,000

City of London Corporation

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResult
City of London 100 Independent Details

Isles of Scilly

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResult
Isles of Scilly 16 Independent Details

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 New electoral boundaries

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References

  1. ↑ Davey served as Acting Leader from 13 December 2019 to 27 August 2020 alongside the Party Presidents Baroness Brinton and Mark Pack, following Jo Swinson's election defeat in the 2019 general election. Davey was elected Leader in August 2020. [1]
  1. ↑ Stewart, Heather (27 August 2020). "'Wake up and smell the coffee': Ed Davey elected Lib Dem leader". The Guardian.
  2. 1 2 "Election timetable in England". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  3. ↑ "Some local elections could be delayed by up to a year, says Angela Rayner". Sky News. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  4. ↑ Wardmote Book (PDF). City of London. 2022. pp. 2, 76. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  5. ↑ "Some local elections could be delayed by up to a year, says Angela Rayner". Sky News . 16 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  6. ↑ "Counties given 'extraordinary' deadline to cancel elections". Local Government Chronicle . 17 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  7. ↑ "Tory party accused of 'bottling' May elections as county councils seek delay". The Guardian . 10 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  8. ↑ Hughes, David (2025-01-02). "Labour councillors quit with broadside at Starmer". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  9. ↑ Locker, Joe (2025-01-02). "Beeston: 20 councillors quit Labour Party in protest against Keir Starmer's leadership | West Bridgford Wire" . Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  10. ↑ Penna, Dominic (2025-01-02). "Twenty Labour councillors quit after Starmer 'abandons party values'". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  11. ↑ "Twenty Broxtowe councillors quit Labour over Starmer's leadership". BBC News. 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  12. ↑ Steerpike (2025-01-02). "Labour loses 20 councillors in Starmer protest". The Spectator. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  13. ↑ "Twenty Broxtowe Councillors leave Labour". Labour Hub. 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  14. ↑ "Which Labour councillors have resigned over Sir Keir Starmer's leadership and why?". The Standard. 2025-01-03. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  15. ↑ "Twenty councillors quit Labour accusing Starmer of abandoning party values". The Independent. 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  16. ↑ https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-01-02/broxtowe-councillors-resign-from-labour-party-condemning-pms-leadership
  17. ↑ "Broxtowe's ruling Labour group walk away to form new independent party. -". 2025-01-01. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  18. ↑ "Labour lose control of council as 20 councillors quit with attack on Sir Keir Starmer". Sky News. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  19. ↑ "Local government reorganisation: letter to two-tier areas". Gov.uk. 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
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