This article documents the strengths of political parties in the 317 local authorities of England, 32 local authorities of Scotland, 22 principal councils of Wales and 11 local councils of Northern Ireland. England's 317 local authorities are made up of: 32 London borough councils, 21 county councils and 164 district councils (two tiers of local government which share responsibility for the same physical area), 36 metropolitan district councils, 62 unitary authorities, and 2 ''sui generis'' authorities, the City of London Corporation and Council of the Isles of Scilly. This article does not cover the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...

or the 15 combined authorities of England (and their respective mayors). It also doesn't cover the 35 police and crime commissioners or the four police, fire and crime commissioners in England and Wales. And it also doesn't include the thousands of parish/local councils of England, community councils of Scotland and community councils of Wales. English local authorities have a choice of executive arrangements out of a mayor and cabinet executive, a leader and cabinet executive, a committee system or alternative arrangements approved by the Secretary of State. Councils in England and Northern Ireland run on four year cycles, while councils in Scotland and, from 2022, in Wales run on five year cycles. An English local authority's councillors may be elected all at once, by halves or by thirds. Because of this disparate system, various local elections take place every year, but changes in party representation arise frequently regardless due to resignations, deaths, by-elections, co-options and changes of affiliation.

Summary

Total number of councillors by political party

''Last full update: 2 May 2024''

Political control of local government in England

The table below shows who has political control of each of the 21 non-metropolitan county councils (NMC), the 62 unitary authorities (UA), the 36 metropolitan districts (MD), the 32

London boroughs The London boroughs are the current 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs wer ...

(LB) as well as the 2

sui generis ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind" or "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". It denotes an exclusion to the larger system an object is in relation to. Several disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. ...

entities: the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

(CL) and the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

(IS). In total, 153 local government councils. The table differentiates between councils fully controlled by one party and others where a certain party leads a coalition that governs the council. All parties apart from the Conservatives (CON), Labour (LAB) and Liberal Democrats (LDM); as well as independents, are grouped in the category: OTHER. Captura de pantalla 2022-09-20 a les 9

England: London borough councils

''Last full update: 22 June 2022''

England: metropolitan district councils

''Last full update: 5 May 2024''

England: two-tier county and district councils

County councils

''Last full update: 3 May 2025''

District councils

''Last full update: 11 June 2022''

England: unitary authorities

''Last full update: 4 May 2025''

England: ''sui generis'' councils

''Last full update: 22 June 2022''

Scotland

All 32 Scottish Councils had all their seats up for election by

Single Transferable Vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

in May 2022. Elections are on a five-year cycle and are next due in May 2027. Only two mainland councils are controlled by majority administrations: Dundee and West Dumbartonshire, which are controlled by

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...

and the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

, respectively. The three island councils (Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles) are each controlled by local independents. Political control may be held by minority governments (min), coalitions (co), joint leadership arrangements (j.l.) or partnership working arrangements (p.w.). ''Last update 5 December 2024''

Wales

All 22 Welsh unitary authorities had all of their seats up for election in May 2022, and the next elections are expected in May 2027. ''Last update 9 June 2022.''

Northern Ireland

Elections were most recently held for 11 councils in Northern Ireland in May 2023. They are held every four years, with the next elections due in May 2027. All seats are filled at once by Single Transferable vote within district electoral areas of 5 to 7 wards. The councils have ceremonial mayors elected by council members. Uniquely in the UK, vacancies are filled by co-option by whichever party won the seat at the previous election. ''Last update 21 May 2024.'' Key to abbreviations below * NOC = No Overall Control, i.e. no single party has more than half the seats Unionists: * DUP = Democratic Unionist Party * UUP = Ulster Unionist Party * TUV = Traditional Unionist Voice * PUP = Progressive Unionist Party Nationalists: * SF =

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

( Irish republicans) * SDLP =

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

Others: * APNI = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland * GP = Green Party Northern Ireland * PBP = People Before Profit * Ind. = Independent Control: All councils use a committee system.

References

Notes

External links

Open Council Data UK
{{United Kingdom elections Local government in the United Kingdom United Kingdom politics-related lists