2013 United Kingdom local elections

2013 United Kingdom local elections

← 2012 2 May 2013 2014 →
All 27 county councils, 7 out of 55 unitary authorities, 1 out of 22 Welsh principal councils, 1 sui generis authority, and 2 directly elected mayors
First party Second party   Leader David Cameron Ed Miliband Party Conservative Labour Leader since 6 December 2005 25 September 2010 Popular vote 25%[a] 29% Swing 6% 9% Councils 18 3 Councils +/– 10 2 Councillors 1,136 538 Councillors +/– 335 291   Third party Fourth party   Leader Nick Clegg Nigel Farage Party Liberal Democrats UKIP Leader since 18 December 2007 5 November 2010 Popular vote 14% 22% Swing 2% Not given Councils 0 0 Councils +/– Councillors 352 147 Councillors +/– 124 139
Map showing council control (left) and largest party by ward or division (right) following the election.   Conservative      Labour      Liberal Democrats      UKIP   Green Party      Plaid Cymru      Independent      No overall control      No election

The 2013 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2013.^[1] Elections were held in 35 English councils: all 27 non-metropolitan county councils and eight unitary authorities, and in one Welsh unitary authority. Direct mayoral elections took place in Doncaster and North Tyneside. These elections last took place on the 4 June 2009 at the same time as the 2009 European Parliament Elections, except for County Durham, Northumberland and the Anglesey where elections last took place in 2008.

The BBC's projected national vote share (PNV) put Labour on 29%, the Conservatives on 25%, UKIP on 23% and the Liberal Democrats on 14%.^[2] Elections analysts Rallings and Thrasher estimated 29% for Labour, 26% for the Conservatives, 22% for UKIP and 13% for the Liberal Democrats.^[3]

On the same day a parliamentary by-election took place in the North East constituency of South Shields following the departure of David Miliband, with the Labour Party retaining the seat.

Criteria to vote

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections,^[4] as were those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors.^[5][6]

Record choice

The UK Independence Party and the Green Party stood record numbers of candidates.^[7]

Results

Party		Councils		Councillors
		Number	Change	Number	Change
	Conservative	18	10	1,116	335
	Labour	3	3	538	291
	Liberal Democrats	0		352	124
	UKIP	0		147	139
	Green	0		22	5
	Plaid Cymru	0		12	6
	Residents	0		12	2
	Mebyon Kernow	0		4	1
	Liberal	0		3	1
	Health Concern	0		2
	BNP	0		0	3
	Independent/Other	0		166	24
	No overall control	14	9	—	—

Labour and UKIP made substantial gains, but the Conservatives won the most councillors and retained control of most councils. The BBC published projected national vote shares, adjusting for which regions are holding local elections and extrapolating to the national situation. These were Labour 29%, Conservatives 25%, UKIP 23% and the Liberal Democrats 14%. This is the lowest figure for the Conservatives since 1982 and the lowest ever figure for the Liberal Democrats. It is also the first time that none of the three main parties in the Commons has scored 30% or more.^[8] Rallings & Thrasher separately calculated a projected national vote share of Labour 29%, Conservatives 26%, UKIP 22% and the Liberal Democrats 13%.^[9]

The actual votes received were Conservative 34.3%, Labour 21.1%, UKIP 19.9%, Lib Dem 13.8% and Green 3.5%.^[10]

Overall, in England, the Conservatives saw 1116 councillors elected (down 335), Labour 538 (up 291), the Liberal Democrats 352 (down 124), independents 165 (up 24), UKIP 147 (up 139), the Greens 22 (up 5), Residents Associations 12 (up 2),

All 27 county councils for areas with a two-tier structure of local governance had all of their seats up for election. These were first-past-the-post elections in a mixture of single-member and multi-member electoral divisions.

†The Conservatives won control of the council in the 2009 elections but lost their majority during its term.

Unitary authorities

Seven single-tier unitary authorities held elections. Seven of these had all of their seats up for election, whilst one, Bristol, elected a third of its seats. These are first-past-the-post elections in a mixture of single-member and multi-member wards.

Isles of Scilly

The Council of the Isles of Scilly was created by the Local Government Act 1888, meaning they lie outside the classifications of authorities used in the rest of England.

Mayoral elections

Two elections for