Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom

This article documents the strengths of political parties in the 317 local authorities of England,^[1] 32 local authorities of Scotland,^[2] 22 principal councils of Wales^[3] and 11 local councils of Northern Ireland.^[4]

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.^[1]

This article does not cover the

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.^[1] Councils in England^[1] and Northern Ireland^[8] run on four year cycles, while councils in Scotland^[9] and, from 2022, in Wales^[10] run on five year cycles. An English local authority's councillors may be elected all at once, by halves or by thirds.^[1] 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: 6 May 2023^{[11][12][13][14][15][16]}

Party		Total[a]	[b]	[c]	[d]	[e]
	Labour	6,361 / 18,646	5,609	526	282
	Conservative	5,534 / 19,228	5,395	111	213	0
	Liberal Democrats	2,987 / 18,646	2,804	68	87
	Green (E&W)	744 / 17,546	757	9
	SNP	427 / 1,227			453
	Plaid Cymru	205 / 1,231		200
	Sinn Féin	144 / 462				144
	DUP	122 / 462				122
	Alliance	67 / 462				67
	Ashfield Independents	57 / 135	57
	Ulster Unionist	54 / 462				54
	SDLP	39 / 462				39
	Scottish Greens	36 / 1,227			36
	Canvey Island Independents	34 / 116	34
	Aspire	24 / 45	24
	Havering Residents Association	23 / 55	23
	Mebyon Kernow	12 / 111	12
	Reform UK	10 / 18,646	10	0	0
	TUV	10 / 462				10
	Green (NI)	5 / 462				5
	Liberal	5 / 18,646	5	0	0
	Chislehurst Matters	3 / 3	3
	Yorkshire	3 / 1,139	3
	Merton Park Residents Association	2 / 57	2
	People Before Profit	2 / 462				2
	SDP	2 / 18,646	2	0	0
Other parties and independents		2,316 / 19,228	1638	318	188	58
Vacancies		55	45	4	3	3
Total		19,228	16,249	1,236	1,226	462

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 (LB) as well as the 2 sui generis entities: the City of London (CL) and the Isles of Scilly (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.

England: London borough councils

Last full update: 22 June 2022

England: metropolitan district councils

Last full update: 22 June 2022

England: two-tier county and district councils

County councils

Last full update: 14 May 2023