Local elections 2024: full council results for England

On 2 May, 107 English councils held elections with more than 2,000 seats being contested. Some were for metropolitan boroughs such as Manchester city council and others for unitary authorities such as Bristol or Dorset. Both structures are single-tier authorities with responsibility for the whole range of council services, including education, social care, rubbish collection and parks.

There were elections for 58 district councils, lower-tier authorities whose responsibilities are more limited, but include planning, housing and recycling. District councils typically elect a third of their seats each year on a four-yearly cycle, and elect the upper tier council — usually the county council — in the fourth year.

There were elections in London for the London assembly as well as 11 mayors including those of London, greater Manchester and Liverpool. These were subject to changes in their voting system since the last time they were up for election. They are now elected on a first past the post basis. Police and crime commissioners were also up for election.

Councils of interest

These are some of the councils that show the key trends in the elections. The charts show the percentage of seats held in each council, by party.

Hartlepool

Lab gain from NOC

Labour lost a Westminster byelection here in 2021; winning control of the council offers encouragement that it can win back “red wall” areas.Previous2024MajorityLab66.7%Ind 16.7%Con 1

Hyndburn

Lab gain from NOC

Hyndburn, in east Lancashire, is a “red wall” battleground. Labour’s gains took the council out of no overall control and into its hands.Previous2024MajorityLab62.9%Con 31.4%

North East Lincolnshire

Con loses to NOC

The Conservatives lost two third of the seats they were defending here. This council, which includes Grimsby, was traditionally Labour but was held by the Conservatives in recent years.Previous2024MajorityCon45.2%Lab 35.7%

Nuneaton & Bedworth

Lab gain from Con

Nuneaton is traditionally a bellwether constituency in general elections, so Labour’s gains here will give them confidence in the general election.Previous2024MajorityLab52.6%Con 42.1%

Oldham

Lab loses to NOC

Labour has lost its small majority here. The area has a large Muslim population, and local Labour leaders concede the party’s stance on Gaza may have been a factor.Previous2024MajorityLab45%Ind 26.7%Lib Dem 15%

Redditch

Lab gain from Con

This town between Birmingham and Stratford had been identified as a Labour target, but the scale of the Tory losses was perhaps unexpected.Previous2024MajorityLab77.8%Con 18.5%

Rushmoor

Lab gain from Con

This area, covering Farnborough and Aldershot in Hampshire, is a Conservative heartland, so losing to Labour will set off alarm bells at Tory HQ.Previous2024MajorityLab53.8%Con 38.5%

Welwyn Hatfield

NOC, as before

The Conservatives faced a dismal result here in Hertfordshire, losing 10 seats. Labour was the biggest beneficiary and now has the most seats on the council.Previous2024MajorityLab41.7%Lib Dem 33.3%Con 25%

Where parties gained councillors

Regions in white are up for election. The size of the circle indicates gained seats as a percentage of the number of seats up for election.50%25%

Labour

Strong gains in Hartlepool, Rushmoor, Hyndburn, Milton Keynes, Tamworth and Adur were positive for Labour. They also gained 15 seats in the traditional bellwether council of Nuneaton and Bedworth, which will please Labour strategists.

Conservative

The Conservatives hardly made any gains, instead losing scores of council seats across the country including in some key general election seats. Despite this, the fact that Tory majorities held in Harlow and Fareham will present some relief.

Lib Dem

Gains in Watford, west Oxfordshire, Tunbridge Wells and Winchester gave the centrist party reasons to be hopeful. They also enjoyed increases in councillors in the wider south-west, previously a Lib Dem stronghold.

Green

Greens became the largest political group in Hastings, where they gained eight seats. They also gained ground in other seats across England, including Norwich, Bristol and south Tyneside.

Independents

Independent candidates made significant gains in the election. The most notable examples of this were Oldham and Kirkless, where independent candidates picked up seats and pushed the councils out of Labour control.

Reform

Reform has won only two seats, both in Havant, although it is important to note that it only stood 316 candidates across the country, which is a comparatively low number.

Councillor change

The large number in bold represents the change in councillors in this election. The smaller number shows the total council seats won.

Conservative

-371

468

Labour

+204

1,026

Lib Dem

+92

500

Green

+58

158

Other

-5

265ConLabLib DemGreenOther