United Kingdom local elections, 2012

United Kingdom local elections, 2012

3 May 2012

131 councils in England all 32 councils in Scotland 21 of 22 councils in Wales   First party Second party Third party   Leader Ed Miliband David Cameron Nick Clegg Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Leader since 25 September 2010 6 December 2005 18 December 2007 Last election 37%[1] 35%[1] 15%[1] Popular vote 38% 31% 16% Swing 1% 4% 1% Councils 75 42 6 Councils +/– 32 12 1 Councillors 2,159 1,006 431 Councillors +/– 823 405 336

The 2012 United Kingdom local elections were held across England, Scotland and Wales on 3 May 2012.^[2] Elections were held in 131 English local authorities, all 32 Scottish local authorities and 21 of the 22 Welsh unitary authorities, alongside three mayoral elections including the London mayoralty and the London Assembly. Referendums were also held in 11 English cities to determine whether or not to introduce directly elected mayors.^[3]

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 3 May 2012 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were 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] although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections. It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.^[5]

The deadline to register to vote in the election was midnight on Wednesday 18 April 2012,^[6] though anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on Thursday 26 April 2012 to register.^[7]

The Government have timetabled the inaugural election of crime and police commissioners for November 2012.^[8][9][10]

Results

The Labour Party was seen as making strong progress across the country, by making gains in areas where the party had suffered losses at the General Election two years earlier. Their biggest prize was England's largest council, Birmingham, after ending eight years of Conservative-Liberal Democrat rule at City Hall. They also gained councils like Nuneaton & Bedworth, Southampton and Great Yarmouth from the Conservatives. Nuneaton & Bedworth had been seen as a sensational gain for the Conservatives in 2008 when Labour suffered nationally. Labour also won a clutch of seats from No Overall Control including Norwich and Chorley. In Wales and Scotland they were delighted to regain control of Cardiff and Glasgow, which are traditionally seen as heartlands for Labour.

The election was a bad showing for the Conservatives, who suffered their first major set of losses since coming to power in 2010. They suffered a backlash from voters after a badly received budget in March. Unlike 2011, their losses to Labour were not compensated by gains from their junior coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats. The party was unnerved to lose councils like Dudley to Labour, which was considered as natural middle-England territory necessary to winning a General Election. The Tories also suffered in their heartlands: in leafy West Oxfordshire they lost 4 seats to Labour, in Daventry 4 and in Peterborough they lost another 3. The only point of cheer for the party came when they gained Winchester from No Overall Control. In Wales they lost control of Monmouthshire and the Vale of Glamorgan, as well as dozens of seats in other councils.

The Liberal Democrats again suffered a huge setback across the country. They fell back heavily in northern cities where they had once made gains against Labour: in Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and their leader Nick Clegg's home city of Sheffield. Just a few years earlier, they ruled in three of the four cities. In intellectual Oxford and Cambridge, they lost yet more ground to Labour. In Cambridge they lost their majority, although narrowly remained the largest party. In Scotland they had been the largest party in the capital Edinburgh, where they held 16 seats prior to the election. Afterwards they were reduced a rump of just 3, and were now the smallest delegation at City Hall. Similarly in Wales, they handed victory to Labour in Cardiff after losing their comfortable majority in the capital by shedding more than half of the seats they were defending. By contrast they fared better in straight fights with the Conservatives than was the case in 2011. On the south coast in Portsmouth and Eastleigh, for example, they made small gains.

England

Map of the results following the elections in England. Black indicates a council in no overall control, whilst white indicates area where no elections took place.

Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 Metropolitan boroughs had one third of their seats up for election.

Unitary authorities

Whole council up for election

Two unitary authorities that would usually have had a third of their seats up for election, actually had elections for all their seats because of the implementation of boundary changes.

One third of council up for election

In 16 English unitary authorities, one third of the council was up for election.

District councils

Whole council up for election

Half of council up for election

7 district councils had half of their seats up for election.

One third of council up for election

In 63 district authorities, one third of the seats were up for election.

Mayoral elections

Three direct mayoral elections were held.

Mayoral referendums

Referendums were also held in 11 English cities to determine whether or not to introduce the position of a directly-elected mayor. These polls took place in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield.^[3] Of these 11 cities, only Bristol chose direct election (rather than council appointment) of a mayor. In addition, the citizens of Doncaster voted on the same day to continue electing their mayors directly.

Scotland

Map of the control of Scottish councils following the 2012 council elections. Black indicates no overall control, red indicates majority Scottish Labour control, and yellow indicates majority Scottish National Party control.

Map of the largest party on each Scottish council following the 2012 council elections. Red indicates Scottish Labour, yellow Scottish National Party, white Independents and blue Scottish Conservatives. Patterned areas indicate a council where two parties have the same number of seats.

All council seats were up for election in the 32 Scottish authorities.

Wales

Map showing the results of the elections in Wales
Key:

  Labour control

  Independent control

  No Overall Control

  No election held

In 21 out of 22 Welsh authorities, the whole council was up for election. On 17 January 2012, the Welsh Government announced that elections for Anglesey council have been postponed to May 2013.^[19]

See also

• Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom

References