2026 United Kingdom local elections
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The 2026 United Kingdom local elections will take place on Thursday 7 May 2026. These include elections for all London borough councils. Most seats in England were last up for election in 2022. On the same day, there will also be elections to the Scottish Parliament (129 seats) and Senedd (Welsh Parliament) (96 seats).
Some of these elections were postponed from the previous year while reorganisation takes place.[2] The government announced that elections to nine councils would not take place in 2025 to allow restructuring to take place, with elections to reformed or newly created replacement authorities taking place in 2026.[3]
Background
[edit]The 2025 local elections were described as a sweeping victory for Reform UK. The party placed first, winning the most seats and took control of a number of local authorities.[4] The governing Labour Party and opposition Conservative Party suffered historic losses. This was the first time that Labour finished fourth in a local election; it was the first elections under the premiership of Keir Starmer.[5] There were major gains for the Liberal Democrats who won new councils.[6]
Following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December 2024, which set out the Labour government's plans for local government reorganisation, some of the elections scheduled for May 2025 will be delayed by up to a year while reorganisation takes place.[2] County councils and unitary authorities had until 10 January 2025 to request to join the Government's Devolution Priority Programme and ask the Government to cancel or postpone their regularly scheduled elections.[7] At least 13 of the 21 county councils asked the government to delay their elections.[8]
On 5 February 2025, the government announced that elections to nine councils (seven county councils and two unitary authorities) would not take place in 2025 to allow restructuring to take place, with elections to reformed or newly created replacement authorities taking place in 2026.[3]
London boroughs
[edit]Elections for all councillors in all thirty-two London boroughs will be held in 2026 in line with their normal election schedule. The previous elections to London borough councils were held in 2022, which saw Labour win its second-best result in any London election and the Conservatives return their lowest-ever number of councillors in the capital.
Metropolitan boroughs
[edit]There are thirty-six metropolitan boroughs, which are single-tier local authorities. Thirty-two of them have an election in 2026 (Doncaster, Liverpool, Wirral and Rotherham do not). Of these, Birmingham City Council and St Helens Council hold their elections on a four-year cycle from 2022, so are due to hold an election in 2026. In 2025 Barnsley Council held a public consultation regarding the permanent adoption of the whole council election cycle, which has since been confirmed.[9] The council is going to hold their elections on a four-year cycle starting from 2026. The remaining twenty-nine councils generally elect a third of their councillors every year for three years with no election in each fourth year, on the same timetable which includes elections in 2026. Thirteen of these metropolitan borough councils have all of their councillors up for election in 2026 rather than the usual one-third, following ward boundary changes from their LGBCE electoral review. All thirteen will likely be reverting to thirds in 2027, 2028 and 2030.
Elections for all councillors
[edit]| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | New | ||||||
| Barnsley | 63 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Birmingham | 101 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Bradford | 90 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Calderdale | 51 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Coventry | 54 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Gateshead | 66 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Kirklees | 69 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 78 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Sandwell | 72 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Sefton | 66 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Solihull | 51 | Conservative | Details | ||||
| South Tyneside | 54 | Labour | Details | ||||
| St Helens | 48 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Sunderland | 75 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Wakefield | 63 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Walsall | 60 | Conservative | Details | ||||
| 16 councils | 1,061 | ||||||
Election for one third of councillors
[edit]By-elections or uncontested wards can cause the seats up for election to be above or below one third of the council.
| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up | of | Previous | New | ||||||
| Bury | 17 | 51 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Rochdale | 20 | 60 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Bolton | 20 | 60 | No overall control (Conservative minority) | Details | |||||
| Dudley | 24 | 72 | Conservative | Details | |||||
| Knowsley | 15 | 45 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Leeds | 33 | 99 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Manchester | 32 | 96 | Labour | Details | |||||
| North Tyneside | 20 | 60 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Oldham | 20 | 60 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Salford | 20 | 60 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Sheffield | 28 | 84 | No overall control (Labour minority) | Details | |||||
| Stockport | 21 | 63 | No overall control (Lib Dem minority) | Details | |||||
| Tameside | 19 | 57 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Trafford | 22 | 63 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Wigan | 25 | 75 | Labour | Details | |||||
| Wolverhampton | 20 | 60 | Labour | Details | |||||
| 17 councils | 356 | 1,065 | |||||||
Unitary authorities
[edit]New unitary authorities
[edit]New unitary authorities are scheduled to be formed in these regions, with the first elections to the authorities expected to be held in 2026. The election year has not yet been confirmed for all of them; some may hold their first election in 2027 instead of 2026.
Election of councillors by thirds
[edit]Swindon and Milton Keynes elect councillors by thirds, but have all seats up in 2026 due to new ward boundaries.
| Council | Seats | Party control | Details | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up | of | Previous | New | ||||
| Halton | 18 | 54 | Labour | Details | |||
| Hartlepool | 12 | 36 | Labour | Details | |||
| Hull | 19 | 57 | Liberal Democrats | Details | |||
| Milton Keynes | 60 | 60 | Labour | Details | |||
| Reading | 16 | 48 | Labour | Details | |||
| Peterborough | 20 | 60 | No overall control | Details | |||
| Swindon | 57 | Labour | Details | ||||
| Wokingham | 18 | 54 | Liberal Democrats | Details | |||
| 6 councils | 103 | 306 | |||||
Mayors
[edit]Combined authorities
[edit]All combined authority mayors up for election in 2026 are newly-established roles.[10]
| Combined authority | Mayor after | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Essex | Details | |
| Hampshire and the Solent | Details | |
| Norfolk and Suffolk | Details | |
| Sussex and Brighton | Details |
Local authorities
[edit]| Council | Mayor before | Elected mayor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croydon | Jason Perry (Con) | ||
| Hackney | Caroline Woodley (Labour Co-op) | ||
| Lewisham | Brenda Dacres (Labour Co-op) | ||
| Newham | Rokhsana Fiaz (Labour Co-op) | ||
| Tower Hamlets | Lutfur Rahman (Aspire) | ||
| Watford | Peter Taylor (Lib Dem) | ||
See also
[edit]- Next Scottish Parliament election, which must be held concurrently with these local elections, or before
- Next Senedd election, which must be held concurrently with these local elections, or before
Notes
[edit]- ^ Davey served as Acting Leader from 13 December 2019 to 27 August 2020 alongside the Party Presidents Baroness Sal Brinton and Mark Pack, following Jo Swinson's election defeat in the 2019 general election. Davey was elected Leader in August 2020.[1]
- ^ Swing figures are between the BBC national projected vote share extrapolation from 2021 local elections, and the BBC equivalent vote share projection from these local elections held in different areas.
References
[edit]- ^ Stewart, Heather (27 August 2020). "'Wake up and smell the coffee': Ed Davey elected Lib Dem leader". The Guardian.
- ^ a b "Some local elections could be delayed by up to a year, says Angela Rayner". Sky News. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ a b Whannel, Kate (5 February 2025). "Council shake-up sees elections delayed in nine areas". BBC News. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ "Sir John Curtice: Reform's sweeping election wins shake Tory and Labour dominance". BBC News. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
- ^ Dearden, Lizzie (2 May 2025). "Reform UK Surges as Conservatives Lose Seats: 4 Local Elections Takeaways". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
- ^ "Lib Dems take two councils after winning Conservative votes". BBC News. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
- ^ "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.
- ^ [1] Full Council Report - Change to Election Cycle - Barnsley Council
- ^ "Full steam ahead for Devolution Priority Programme". GOV.UK. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
