UK local election results show the Reform Party winning the wheel while Labour is experiencing bad days. Local elections also took place for more than 1,600 councillors in 23 councils across England. Nigel Farage’s Reform party won 677 seats, which meant 10 of the 23 councils were up for grabs.
While Labour won 411 MPs in July last year, they don’t stand to make massive gains in the locals. Their popular support hasn’t changed much relative to 2021. Their unpopularity partly improved but worsened since July last year, and Reform now looks set to make gains.
UK Local Election Results: What Local Elections Are
People choose who will run their villages, towns, or cities in local elections. There are different types of local authorities, often known as councils. However, they oversee many regional areas, including schools, traffic, and bin collections. Usually, all the main UK political parties have representatives in the local elections, along with smaller parties and independent candidates. Local elections differ from a general election, where people around the UK vote for a nationwide government.
These elections mark the first test since the general election for the new Conservative Leader, Kemi Badenoch, and the new Labour government. Nigel Farage wants to show that Reform UK is on the rise and poised for a bigger breakthrough. The Conservatives will suffer widespread losses, significantly influencing their electoral soul-searching about rebuilding support. These local elections will, in the main, be ‘catching up’ with what happened in the general election in July last year.
UK Local Election Results: The Statistics
Local elections also took place for more than 1,600 councillors in 23 councils across England. Nigel Farage’s Reform party won 677 seats, which means 10 of the 23 councils were up for grabs. They now control councils in Derbyshire, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Doncaster, North Northamptonshire, Durham, and West Northamptonshire.
UK local election results charts show Runcorn and Helsby by-election with vote share for candidates with more than 1% of the vote: Reform UK 38.7%, up 20.6 points, Labour 38.7%, down 14.2 points, and Conservative 7.2%, down 8.8 points. Others are Lib Dem 2.9%, down 2.2 points, Liberal 1.4%, up 0.3 points, and Independent 1.1%, up 1.1 points.
UK Local Election Results: The Labour
While Labour won 411 MPs in July last year, they don’t stand to make massive gains in the locals. Their popular support hasn’t changed much relative to 2021. Their popularity has partly improved but worsened since July last year, and Reform now looks set to make gains. So, the absence of gains for Labour, rather than losses, should cause the governing party the most concern.
As of 2024, only 5% of Labour voters (according to our British Election Study data) saw Reform as a second choice. In addition, their support is substantially lower among women. And even if they won in Runcorn, translating that in a general election would be much harder. Furthermore, Reform trying to compete everywhere is a ‘one step forward, one step backwards’ problem for reducing Labour’s majority—Reform is now either second place or a close third place in 86 of those seats. However, in 96 of the 182, Labour won in July last year from the Conservatives, and Reform is a more distant third.
UK Local Election Results: The Reform Won
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party suffered a major upset. They narrowly lost a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, northwest England. Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, won the contest with just six votes in one of the closest parliamentary elections in history. It was a big night for Reform party leader Nigel Farage, Runcorn, and Helsby’s new MP, Sarah Pochin.
In the 2024 general election, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won in Runcorn and Helsby by thousands of votes. This time, Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, overturned Labour’s significant majority and won the seat by just six votes. Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted the election result had been “disappointing.” He believed that they needed to go further and go faster on the change that people wanted to see. Moreover, he added that they are losing to everyone, everywhere. It’s a despairing message from a new Labour MP, elected in last year’s general election landslide.
UK Local Election Results: The Votes for Reform, Labour and Conservatives
Reform UK swept to victory across England with 31% of the vote, gaining a majority in 10 areas. The party took Doncaster from Labour and eight councils from the Conservatives: Derbyshire, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire. In Durham, there had been no party majority.
Reform UK won its first Parliamentary by-election, taking Runcorn and Helsby from Labour by just six votes after a recount. Reform candidate Sarah Pochin got 38.7% of the vote. The Conservatives came a distant third, with the Green Party fourth. Reform won its first mayoral contest, with former Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns getting 42% of the vote in Greater Lincolnshire – a long way ahead of the Conservative candidate on 26%
UK Local Election Results: The Seats for Reform, Labour and Conservatives
UK local election results bar chart showing councillors elected by the party after 1,637 of 1,637 seats were declared. Reform UK 677 councillors, change since 2021 +677, Liberal Democrat 370 councillors, change since 2021 +163. Moreover, 319 Conservative councillors changed from 2021 to 674, and 98 Labour councillors changed from 2021 to 187.
Reform UK has made significant gains in council seats across England and has picked up more than 650 seats.
The Conservatives have lost more than 650 seats, and Labour—which was defending fewer seats—is down by more than 180. For the first time, Reform UK has won control of councils. However, they are now in charge in Derbyshire, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire. All except Durham were taken from the Conservatives.
UK local election results: Disappointment for Liberal Democrats and Conservatives
The Liberal Democrats have boosted their overall number of seats by more than 150 so far. They made gains in Devon, Cornwall, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire. They have also taken control of Shropshire from the Conservatives, Oxfordshire, and Cambridgeshire, which were previously under no overall control.
The Conservatives are facing one of their worst local election results in 40 years, with striking Labour gains across England and Wales in key battlegrounds. The spread of the Conservative losses led one former minister to claim there was “no such thing really as a safe Tory seat anymore.” However, the prime minister appeared committed to clinging on, with rebels in his party lacking the support to oust him.
