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A Recap of the 2026 UK Local Elections

  • Sarah Stook

    • 05/07/2024. London, United Kingdom. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive at Number 10 Downing Street upon his appointment. Picture by Kirsty O'Connor/ No 10 Downing Street

    The U.K. Local Elections were held on the 7th May 2026 in conjunction with Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd elections. Over 5,000 councillors were elected across certain parts of the country, as well as six mayors, 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament and 96 Welsh Senedd Members.

    There were attempts to delay the elections due to what Labour said were due to costs and reorganisation, but they were struck down. 

    Major Parties

    Labour

    The party in power. Traditionally, the governing party does poorly in local elections. Labour came in swinging in the 2024 General Election with a landslide majority, giving Keir Starmer the keys to Downing Street. Labour have pointed to decreased waiting times and removing the two-child cap as some of their best work. Unfortunately, problems such as scrapping some Winter Fuel Allowance, giving away the Chagos Islands and early release of prisoners haven’t helped. Though this doesn’t exactly pertain to local elections, people still surely had that in mind when they voted. They were defending the two by-election seats of this Parliament, losing one to Reform and one to Green. Starmer is deeply unpopular at the moment, which doesn’t help. 

    Conservatives

    The Opposition after fourteen years in power between 2010 and 2024. They’ve somewhat struggled in their wilderness years, coming in fourth at the Gorton and Denton by-election with fewer than eight-hundred seats. Kemi Badenoch is not everyone’s favourite leader but nobody really seems to hate her either. The party seems to be struggling to retain the right-wing vote and fourteen years of rule have not made them popular. 

    Greens

    The Green Party has become somewhat more successful in the last few years. Originally somewhat of an outsider party focused on the environment, they’ve rebranded with a focus on the very left of politics and foreign policy. Their stringent pro-Palestine views have seen them win over a number of new voters, particularly Muslims. They’ve also done well with left-wing voters who are disenchanted by Labour. New leader Zack Polanski is both admired and criticised, as is the party themselves. They did well in the Gorton and Denton by-election, pushing the defending Labour Party into third place, albeit with a decreased majority. Critics say they’re pandering to Islamists and forgetting their environmental agenda. Supporters say they’re standing up for Palestine and are the true leftist party.

    Reform

    The newest major party on the block, Reform is to the right as to what Green is to the left. Led by political maverick Nigel Farage, Reform was founded in 2018. In 2019, it got its first MP when Lee Anderson defected. It won five seats in 2024, and a mix of defections to and from the party have it on eight MPs at the time of writing. They’ve been slowly building up by-election wins, including Runcorn and Helby (by a tight six votes). Supporters love their rebellious approach, right-wing politics and populism. Critics call them racist, amateur and liars. 

    Liberal Democrats

    The Liberal Democrats have had an odd few years. They went from eleven seats in 2019 to seventy-two in 2024, but came fifth in the Runcorn and Helsby and Gorton and Denton by-elections. Council by-elections have seen more success. Still, they seem rather rudderless. Leader Sir Ed Davey is known for his reckless stunts to draw attention to the party, such as riding a jet ski and bungee jumping.

    Strengths and weaknesses: The shires and Remainers vs. working class and Brexiteers.

    Rivals: Labour among the soft left and Conservatives among centrists.

    Prediction before the election: They’re expected to gain seats, but not as much as Green or Reform, or at least hold onto a few.

    Other minor national parties running including : 

    Scottish National Party

    The SNP have dominated Scotland for several years, replacing Labour, despite rejection of Scottish Independence during the 2015 referendum. They are a left-wing party with, as you imagine, a focus on independence. 2019 saw them win forty-eight seats but 2024 saw that drop to nine. 

    Strengths and weaknesses: City and independence areas v. rural and Unionist seats

    Rivals: Greens and the Lib Dems across the left 

    Prediction before the election: The SNP might see a shocking loss, and might not even be the majority party. 

    Plaid Cymru 

    Plaid Cymru have been jostling to gain dominance in Wales, especially as the region has been historically Labour. The desire for Welsh independence is not quite as strong as it is for Scottish, but the movement is growing. They won four seats in 2019 and the same in 2024.

    Analysis of Results

    England

    What a day! Reform are surely cheering at taking such an astronomical number of seats, whilst Labour are surely bereft. A number of safe red seats fell to other parties in places that would historically vote for a panda if it had a red rosette. 

    Meanwhile, Liberal Democrats and Greens are surely pleased with their own results. In Richmond, the Liberal Democrats control the entire council- that’s right, not a single other party is represented. The Conservatives are also likely not thrilled- they didn’t lose as many seats as the reigning Labour Party, it’s not great either. 

    Still, the party system has been shaken up, with party loyalty by the wayside. One only has to look at Birmingham (previously a Labour stronghold) to see the fractured state of British politics, especially with the rise in Muslim independent candidates:

    Mayoral Elections

    Hackney and Newham are historically very red, so Labour probably aren’t particularly thrilled.

    Labour have lost a number of historically red district councils including:

    The same was true for several Conservative councils, but not quite as many. These county councils included:

    My own council

    My council is now NOM (No Overall Majority), with Reform as the largest party.  

    Scotland

    The SNP have managed to cling on as the largest party, albeit having lost six seats, though one must remember they were one short of a majority anyway. This is their fifth victory on the trot.

    Labour may be hoping second at seventeen seats, but this is actually their worst Scottish result ever. They’re tied with the newbie Reform party and just two ahead of the Greens. Reform and Green will surely be pleased with their result, as will the Liberal Democrats.

    The Conservatives don’t have a strong history in Scotland but will no doubt be displeased that they lost nineteen seats and have been pushed down to fourth, only two seats ahead of the Lib Dems. 

    It’s likely that the SNPs will work with Labour and the Greens. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has invited former PM Gordon Brown back into the fold as Special Envoy on Global Finance and Cooperation. Brown is Scottish, represented Scottish seats in Parliament and famously strongly spoke out against independence. Is Starmer hoping this will help? 

    Wales

    Labour controlled Wales for a century. Past tense. This election had pushed them not into second, but third, behind Plaid Cymru and Reform. 

    Labour’s Welsh Leader and First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan lost her seat and thus resigned her role. Labour voters seemed to switch to either Plaid Cymru or Reform, with other parties getting their scraps. A loss of thirty-five seats is a massive one for Labour in Wales, since it has dominated the region for years, and is their worst result. Meanwhile, the Conservatives lost twenty-two seats, but they don’t have the same history in the area as Labour do. 

    It was also a good start for the Greens and Lib Dems, though not on the same level as England. Overall, however, Plaid Cymru and Reform have the most to shout about. Plaid have always played second fiddle to Labour whilst Reform are new to Wales. 

    That being said, Plaid are the largest party but they don’t have a majority. They’ll probably work out a deal with Labour. 

    State of the Parties

    Overall, one must remember this is only part of 136 councils. This covers only a third of most and doesn’t include so many others. It’s the same for the mayoralties. Labour was expected to do badly, as any ruling party does, but it was not great. Still, people broadly vote the same at council and at national elections, even if immigration and Gaza doesn’t factor in as bin collections and potholes do. The GE isn’t scheduled for another three years and even if it happens earlier, we might not see the same result. 

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