2025 United Kingdom local elections
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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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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]
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
[edit]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
[edit]County councils
[edit]There are 21 county councils in England. All of them hold whole-council elections on a four-year cycle that includes 2025.
| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Result | Applied 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
[edit]| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Result | |||||
| Doncaster | 55 | Labour | Details | |||
Unitary authorities
[edit]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.
| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Result | |||||
| 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
[edit]| Combined authority | Mayor before | Mayor after | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
[edit]| Local authority | Post | Type | Current mayor | Party | Established | Next election | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council | Mayor of Doncaster | Metropolitan borough | Ros Jones | Labour | 2002 | 2025 | 291,600 | |
| North Tyneside Council | Mayor of North Tyneside | Metropolitan borough | Norma Redfearn | Labour | 2002 | 2025 | 196,000 | |
City of London Corporation
[edit]| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Result | |||||
| City of London | 100 | Independent | Details | |||
Isles of Scilly
[edit]| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Result | |||||
| Isles of Scilly | 16 | Independent | Details | |||
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ 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]
- ^ Stewart, Heather (27 August 2020). "'Wake up and smell the coffee': Ed Davey elected Lib Dem leader". The Guardian.
- ^ a b "Election timetable in England". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Some local elections could be delayed by up to a year, says Angela Rayner". Sky News. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
- ^ Wardmote Book (PDF). City of London. 2022. pp. 2, 76. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Some local elections could be delayed by up to a year, says Angela Rayner". Sky News. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Counties given 'extraordinary' deadline to cancel elections". Local Government Chronicle. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Tory party accused of 'bottling' May elections as county councils seek delay". The Guardian. 10 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
- ^ Hughes, David (2025-01-02). "Labour councillors quit with broadside at Starmer". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Penna, Dominic (2025-01-02). "Twenty Labour councillors quit after Starmer 'abandons party values'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Twenty Broxtowe councillors quit Labour over Starmer's leadership". BBC News. 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Steerpike (2025-01-02). "Labour loses 20 councillors in Starmer protest". The Spectator. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Twenty Broxtowe Councillors leave Labour". Labour Hub. 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Which Labour councillors have resigned over Sir Keir Starmer's leadership and why?". The Standard. 2025-01-03. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Twenty councillors quit Labour accusing Starmer of abandoning party values". The Independent. 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-01-02/broxtowe-councillors-resign-from-labour-party-condemning-pms-leadership
- ^ "Broxtowe's ruling Labour group walk away to form new independent party. -". 2025-01-01. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Labour lose control of council as 20 councillors quit with attack on Sir Keir Starmer". Sky News. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Local government reorganisation: letter to two-tier areas". Gov.uk. 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
| Combined authority mayors | |
|---|---|
| Single authority mayors | |
| County councils | |
| Metropolitan boroughs | |
| Unitary authorities | |
| Other elections | |
