2019 United Kingdom local elections

← 2018 2 May 2019 2021 →
248 of 395 councils inEngland All 11 Northern Irish councils 6 directly elected mayors
Turnout	32.8%
First party Second party   Leader Theresa May Jeremy Corbyn Party Conservative Labour Leader since 11 July 2016 12 September 2015 Seats before 9,112 seats[1] 188 councils 6,499 seats 104 councils Projected vote share[a] 28% 7% 28% 7% Seats won (2019) 3,564 93 councils 2,021 60 councils Councillors (after) 7,533 144 councils[2] 6,366 98 councils Net change (notional) 1,330 44 councils 84 6 councils   Third party Fourth party   Leader Vince Cable Jonathan Bartley andSiân Berry Party Liberal Democrats Green Leader since 20 July 2017 4 September 2018 Seats before 1,899 seats 13 councils 198 seats 0 councils Projected vote share[a] 19% 3% n/a Seats won (2019) 1,351 18 councils 265 0 councils Councillors (after) 2,535 23 councils 377 0 councils Net change (notional) 704 10 councils 194 0 councils
Control (England) / largest parties (Northern Ireland). Party with the most votes by ward.

The2019 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2019, with 248English local councils, sixdirectly elected mayors in England, andall 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 onDundee 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 the2015 local elections, on the same day as thegeneral election of that year. The seats in Northern Ireland were last regularly contested in2014.

The biggest winners were theLiberal Democrats, who gained 704 seats to make a total of 1,351 councillors. The biggest losers were theConservative Party down 1,333 from their previous total to 3,561 seats.Labour also lost seats, down by 84 to 2,021 seats. TheGreen 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 andEuropean 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) couldregister 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 the2018 local elections saw the collapse of theUK Independence Party's vote, largely to the benefit of theConservatives.^[13] TheLiberal 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, thePut 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 underArticle 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 inParliament 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 UKparticipated within elections to theEuropean Parliament in order to avoid ano-deal scenario on 1 June.^[21]

In April,protests in London aroundParliament Square andWestminster organised by the environmental pressure groupExtinction 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 newleadership 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 newleadership election.^[25]

The Conservatives stood candidates in 96% of the available seats, Labour contested 77%, the Liberal Democrats 53%, theGreen Party of England and Wales 30% and UKIP 16%.^[26]

According to theElectoral Reform Society, there were 148 councillors who were elected unopposed, largely Conservatives.^[27] New parties theBrexit Party andChange 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 theausterity 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] Theshadow chancellor, John McDonnell, commented that the economic policies ofPreston 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 thepublic 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 secretaryGavin 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 inSheffield.^[42] Homes with Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green signs were damaged inLewes,^[43] and a Liberal Democrat candidate's car was attacked and painted with swastikas in Faversham.^[44]

Party		Councillors			Councils
		Won	After[2]	+/-[b]	Won	After	+/-
	Conservative	3,564	7,533	1,330	93	144	44
	Labour	2,021	6,366	84	60	98	6
	Liberal Democrats	1,351	2,535	704	18	23	10
	SNP	—[c]	432		0	0
	Green	265	377	194	0	0
	Plaid Cymru	—[d]	204		0	1
	UKIP	31	62	148	0	0
	Independent	1,179	2,123	662	4	11	3
	No overall control	—			73	118	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]

The turnout for the elections was 32.5%.^[54]

Leading up to the election, journalists had noted the Conservatives' had performed well when these council seats had last been elected in the2015 local elections due to those elections coinciding with the2015 general election, where the party made gains.^[12][11] Defending those gains was predicted to be difficult, and when combined withTheresa May's struggle to deliver onBrexit, various sources predicted a loss of between 500 and 1000 seats for the Conservatives.^[55][56] Conservative peerLord Robert Hayward projected that his party would lose at least 800 seats, with 500 to go to the Liberal Democrats and 300 to Labour.^[57]

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%.^[58]

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.^[59]

Some argued that the Conservatives had set their expectations so low so that the perceived significance of their losses was reduced.^[60] 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 1]}

Will Jennings, a professor at theUniversity 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 the2016 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.^[61]

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.^[62]

Martin Baxter, the creator of the political analytics websiteElectoral Calculus, suggested that the election data indicated thatthe next general election could produce a Labour-Scottish Nationalist coalition government.^[63]

InEngland, council elections were held in 33metropolitan boroughs, 168 of thesecond-tier districts, and 47 of theunitary 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 32London 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 Englishparish 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 inBirmingham,Doncaster orRotherham.

Elections took place in 47 of the 55 unitary authorities. No elections took place inBristol,Cornwall, theIsle of Wight,Shropshire,Warrington orWiltshire.

By-elections took place inDurham (2 seats) andNorthumberland, 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 ofDorset 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 newward boundaries.

*New council (2)
‡New ward boundaries following an authority area boundary review (9)

In 17 English unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.

Elections took place in 168 non-metropolitan districts.

The new districts ofSomerset West and Taunton,East Suffolk andWest Suffolk held their first elections in 2019. They replaceTaunton Deane,West Somerset,Waveney,Suffolk Coastal,Forest Heath, andSt Edmundsbury.

Aylesbury Vale,Chiltern,Corby,Daventry,East Northamptonshire,Kettering,Northampton,South Bucks,South Northamptonshire,Wellingborough andWycombe originally had elections scheduled for 2019, but the elections were postponed in law following a decision tomerge these councils into unitary authorities covering Northamptonshire^[76] and Buckinghamshire.^[77]

Additionally, there were no elections inAdur,Cheltenham,Fareham,Gloucester,Gosport,Harrogate,Hastings,Huntingdonshire,Nuneaton and Bedworth,Oxford,South Cambridgeshire orStroud.

A by-election was held inNewcastle-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 andWyre Forest switched from thirds to whole council elections.

*New council (3)
†Minor ward boundary changes due to parish boundary changes (4)
‡New ward boundaries following a district boundary review (42)
!Returns to electing by thirds next year (6)
•Previously elected by thirds (2)

In 47 English district authorities, one-third of the council was 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.

Sixdirect mayoral elections were held. Five are for local authorities (theMayoralty of Torbay is abolished this year):

One election was held for a regional mayor: this newly establishedcombined 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.

In Northern Ireland,local elections were last held in 2014. No party held aworking majority on any council (proportional representation makes this less likely) before the 2019 election, although theDemocratic Unionist Party came close on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, with half of the seats.

TheElectoral Office for Northern Ireland publishedlists and total numbers of candidatesArchived 14 April 2019 at theWayback Machine, showing that a total of 819 persons were nominated to stand. Elections are bysingle transferable vote in 5- to 7-member district electoral areas.

The council by-election in Scotland (seat previously Labour) was won by theScottish National Party, resulting in the party taking control ofDundee City Council.^[145]

Footnotes

Citations

• Trailer - Local Elections May 2019Archived 29 June 2019 at theWayback Machine

Local Elections Handbook 2019Archived 29 June 2019 at theWayback Machine

• Local election news articles at the BBC

• 2019 United Kingdom local elections
• 2019 elections in the United Kingdom
• May 2019 in the United Kingdom
• Premiership of Theresa May
• Jeremy Corbyn

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