About our UK Local Elections news
Latest news on local elections, covering 2026 UK council results, Reform UK gains, Labour losses, Conservative, Lib Dem and Green party performance.
Local elections across England were held on 7 May 2026, with more than 5,000 council seats contested across 136 local authorities, including all 32 London boroughs. The results delivered a historic realignment: Reform UK gained 1,453 councillors and took control of 14 councils, bringing its total English council tally to 24, while Labour lost 1,496 councillors and control of 38 councils. The Greens gained 411 seats and took four councils, and the Liberal Democrats added 155 seats and one council.
Reform UK's advance was most dramatic in traditional Labour heartlands. In Birmingham, the party's vote share surged into the mid-twenties, with Labour slumping by a similar margin. The Conservatives also fell back, losing more than 560 seats and six councils, though they performed better than in 2025 — retaining strongholds such as Bromley and Wandsworth. Polling analyst John Curtice said the results "confirmed the fragmentation of our politics", with no party commanding broad public confidence, and projected vote shares compressed into a narrow band between roughly 14% and 27%.
The Green Party posted arguably the most striking local story: winning their first ever directly elected mayors, in Hackney and Lewisham, and taking council control in Waltham Forest, Norwich, and Hastings — all from Labour. The elections coincided with Scottish Parliament and Senedd votes on the same day, amplifying the sense of a pivotal moment for multi-party politics across the UK. Some Labour MPs called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to stand aside following the scale of the losses.
Local elections have long served as a barometer of national political mood between general elections, with turnout typically between 30% and 40% of the electorate. The 2026 cycle was unusually large in scope: the government had attempted to delay polls in 30 areas undergoing local government reorganisation, but reversed course in February 2026 after a legal challenge by Reform UK and advice that the delay could be unlawful. The elections therefore went ahead in full, making them one of the most extensive local contests in recent English history.
Councillors sit at the frontline of democratic life, overseeing planning decisions, local budgets, and essential services from housing and social care to transport. The shift in council control across northern metropolitan areas and English counties carries practical consequences for residents — and, in areas with strategic combined authorities, affects the powers of regional mayors too.
Our NewsNow local elections feed brings together the latest results, analysis, and political reaction from across England, Scotland, and Wales, tracking seat changes, council shifts, and the ongoing implications for national politics. With the next round of English local elections scheduled for May 2027, and local government reorganisation continuing to reshape the landscape in the meantime, the feed is updated continuously as the story develops.