In the context oflocal authorities in theUnited Kingdomno overall control (NOC;Welsh:dim rheolaeth gyffredinol)^[1] is a situation in which no singlepolitical group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to ahung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for election in the2019 local elections, 73 (over a quarter) resulted in a NOC administration. In the2021 local elections, 14 resulted in no overall control. Outside of the UK, the term may be applied to other local authorities, such as thelocal councils of Malta and theGeneral Assembly of Budapest inHungary.

Typically, if no party achieves overall control of a council, the largest grouping will form alliances to create anad hoc governingcoalition. Often local authorities have larger proportions of smaller party andindependent members than theHouse of Commons, and when there is no overall control this often results in minor groups having more influence than their numbers alone would suggest.

In a result of no overall control, the largest party may attempt to govern as a minority administration. Parties may also work together to create a formal deal, which can range from aconfidence and supply deal^[a] to full coalition. Deals, especially the looser kind, can occur between parties which are not traditionally aligned on a national level. For example, a minorityConservative administration was formed in 2019 inBolton supported by theLiberal Democrats and UKIP,^[2] whilst a Labour-UKIP formal coalition existed inBasildon.^[3] Following the2017 Aberdeen City Council election, all nine Labour councillors were expelled from the party for entering into a coalition with the Conservatives.^[4]

It is possible for a council to be under no overall control even when there appears to be an overall majority, in particular in the case of a majority of independents, who commonly have no collective policies when elected. This can also arise when the council members divide on other than party lines. For instance, the2004 elections to theIsle of Anglesey County Council returned more independents than all others put together, but onlyPlaid Cymru maintained a party group within the council, and not all of its elected members joined the group. The remainder of the council, including some members of other political parties, formed four non-partisan groups, none of which held a majority. The2008 elections resulted in a group called theOriginal Independents gaining an overall majority.^[5]

No overall control is more common inNorthern Ireland andScotland, in part due to their usage ofsingle transferable vote as opposed to theplurality block voting system used inEngland andWales. Following the2022 Scottish local elections, twenty-seven of the thirty-two councils were under no overall control, with a further three having a majority ofindependents.^[6] Following the2023 Northern Ireland local elections, all eleven councils were under no overall control.

• Coalition
• Hung parliament

• No Overall Control? - Hansard weighs up a hung parliament Guy Aitchison, Our Kingdom

• Local government in the United Kingdom
• Political terminology in the United Kingdom

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