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7 May 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 44 seats to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council 23 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2026 Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council election is set to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026 to elect all 44 councillors who serve on Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. It will be held alongside council elections across England.
Simon Tagg has served as Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council since December 2017. In the 2025 Staffordshire County Council election, Newcastle-under-Lyme experienced a significant political shift towards Reform, [1] which secured eight of the nine available seats in the area and 44.7% of the total vote. Labour failed to win any seats, while the Conservatives retained only one.
Reform gained its first seat on the council earlier in May 2025 through a by-election victory in Knutton. [2]
A major topic of local concern is the proposed reorganisation of local government, with widespread opposition to the government's plans to potentially merge Staffordshire Moorlands, Stoke-on-Trent, and Newcastle-under-Lyme councils, or alternatively divide Staffordshire along east–west lines. [3] A large number of residents have signed a petition protesting these proposals. [4]
Other key local issues include the development of solar farms, and the housing of asylum seekers in local hotels, [5] among other community concerns.
| After 2022 election | Before 2026 election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Party | Seats | ||
| Conservative | 25 | Conservative | 26 | ||
| Labour | 19 | Labour | 17 | ||
| Reform | 0 | Reform | 1 | ||
Changes 2022–2026:
