2023 United Kingdom local elections

2023 United Kingdom local elections

← 2022 4 May 2023 (England)
18 May 2023 (Northern Ireland)
2024 →

230 unitary, metropolitan and district councils in England
4 directly elected mayors in England
All 11 councils in Northern Ireland
Turnout32.0% (England)[1]
54.7% (Northern Ireland)[2]
  First party Second party
  Keir Starmer Rishi Sunak
Leader Keir Starmer Rishi Sunak
Party Labour Conservative
Leader since 4 April 2020 24 October 2022
Last election 2,131 3,365
Projected vote-share[n 1] 35% 26%
Swing[n 2] Steady Decrease4%
Councillors 2,675 2,296
Councillors ± Increase537 Decrease1,063
Councils 71 33
Councils ± Increase22 Decrease48

  Third party Fourth party
  Ed Davey Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay
Leader Ed Davey Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay
Party Liberal Democrats Green
Leader since 27 August 2020[n 3] 1 October 2021
Last election 1,223 239
Projected vote-share[n 1] 20%
Swing[n 2] Increase1%
Councillors 1,628 481
Councillors ± Increase407 Increase241
Councils 29 1
Councils ± Increase12 Increase1

Map showing party control of councils following the elections.
  •   No election
  • otherwise see analysis table
Local authorities with elections:
  •   Metropolitan borough
  •   Unitary authority
  •   District councils in England
  •   District councils in Northern Ireland
  •   No election
The largest party in each council

The 2023 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday, 4 May 2023 in England and on Thursday 18 May 2023 in Northern Ireland.[4] These included district councils, unitary authorities, and directly elected mayors in England, and included all local councils in Northern Ireland.[5][6] Notably, these elections were the first to be held under the Elections Act 2022, a new voter identification law that required voters to show photo ID when attending a polling station,[7] and was a cause for controversy.[8]

The elections in England saw significant losses for the governing Conservative Party, which lost over 1,000 council seats. The Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party of England and Wales all made gains, with Labour becoming the party with most members elected to local government for the first time since 2002. The Greens won majority control of Mid Suffolk District Council, the party's first ever council majority.[9]

In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party in local government for the first time. These elections were also the first since the creation of Northern Ireland in which nationalist candidates received more votes than unionists.

  1. ^ "Report on the May 2023 local elections in England". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Local Council Elections 18 May 2023". www.eoni.org.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  3. ^ Stewart, Heather (27 August 2020). "'Wake up and smell the coffee': Ed Davey elected Lib Dem leader". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Hughes, Brendan (21 December 2022). "NI council election date moved due to King Charles III coronation". BelfastLive. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Election timetable". Her Majesty's Government. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Local government elections". Local Government Association. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Local elections 2023: Voters express anger at ID rule changes". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Local elections 2023: Green Party makes record gains". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.


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