United Kingdom local elections, 2008

United Kingdom local elections, 2008

1 May 2008

137 English Local Authorities and all Welsh Councils   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader David Cameron Gordon Brown Nick Clegg Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat Leader since 6 December 2005 24 June 2007 18 December 2007 Last election 40% 27% 26% Percentage 44% 24% 25% Swing 4 3 1 Councils 65 18 12 Councils +/– 12 9 1 Councillors 3,154 2,368 1,805 Councillors +/– 256 331 34

The 2008 United Kingdom local elections were held on 1 May 2008. These elections took place in 137 English Local Authorities and all Welsh Councils.^[1]

There were also extraordinary elections held for four of the new unitary authorities being created, in Northumberland, County Durham and Cheshire (two councils - Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester).^[2] Scheduled elections for Penwith in Cornwall, Shrewsbury & Atcham in Shropshire, Bedford and South Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire and five district councils in Cheshire were cancelled, due to the up-coming unitary authorities being established in those counties.

The Labour Party finished in 3rd place, trailing the Tories by 20%, the largest such margin ever between the two main parties. Aside from the strong showing for David Cameron's Tories, the BNP also made substantial gains, making 10 net gains to finish with over 30 seats.

The strong showing for the Conservatives and the disappointing showing by Labour reflected the change in the political mood of Britain at the time, where the Labour government, now led by prime minister Gordon Brown, had suffered a slump in popularity due to the financial crisis and economic fears which were affecting Britain at the time.

Summary of results

Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 English metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

Unitary authorities

Existing councils

In 19 English unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.

New councils

Elections were held in three of the current non-metropolitan counties of Cheshire, County Durham and Northumberland for four new unitary authorities which were established in 2009. These councils were "shadow councils" until then.

District councils

Whole council

In 4 English district authorities the whole council was up for election following ward boundary changes.

Half of council

In 7 English district authorities, half of the council was up for election.

Third of council

In 67 English district authorities, a third of the council was up for election.

Welsh councils

Map showing the results of the elections in Wales
Key:

  Labour control

  Conservative control

  No Overall Control

In all 22 Welsh councils the whole of the council was up for election.

See also

• London Mayoral election, 2008
• London Assembly election, 2008

References

Elections and referendums in the United Kingdom General elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2020 Local elections 1889 1892 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 European elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 Referendums 1975 2011 Elections and referendums in England (1264–1705) Great Britain (1708–1796) Ireland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

(2007 ←)   United Kingdom local elections, 2008   (→ 2009) Metropolitan borough elections Barnsley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton Unitary authorities Blackburn with Darwen Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester Derby Durham Halton Hartlepool Kingston upon Hull Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire Northumberland Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Slough Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Thurrock Warrington Wokingham District councils Adur Amber Valley Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Brentwood Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Carlisle Castle Point Cheltenham Cherwell Chorley Colchester Craven Crawley Daventry Eastleigh Elmbridge Epping Forest Exeter Fareham Gloucester Gosport Great Yarmouth Harlow Harrogate Hart Hastings Havant Hertsmere Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Lincoln Maidstone Newcastle-under-Lyme North Hertfordshire Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oxford Pendle Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor South Cambridgeshire South Lakeland St Albans Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Three Rivers Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wyre Forest Welsh councils Blaenau Gwent Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Gwynedd Isle of Anglesey Merthyr Tydfil Monmouthshire Neath Port Talbot Newport Pembrokeshire Powys Rhondda Cynon Taff Swansea Torfaen Vale of Glamorgan Wrexham Mayoral elections London Regional assembly elections London Assembly