United Kingdom local elections, 2007

United Kingdom local elections, 2007
United Kingdom
3 May 2007

312 English district councils and all Scottish councils

  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader David Cameron Menzies Campbell Tony Blair
Party Conservative Liberal Democrat Labour
Leader since 6 December 2005 2 March 2006 21 July 1994
Last election 39% 25% 26%
Percentage 40% 26% 27%
Councils 165 23 34
Councils +/- Increase39 Decrease4 Decrease8
Councillors 5315 2171 1877
Councillors +/- Increase911 Decrease246 Decrease504

Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
Entrance to a polling station in the market town of Haverhill, Suffolk on 3 May 2007. The posters on the left are lists of the candidates in wards contested (St Edmundsbury BC and Haverhill TC) and information about rules and laws about voting.
A polling station in a temporary cabin in position for the UK council elections on 3 May 2007.

The 2007 UK local government elections were held on 3 May 2007. These elections took place in most of England and all of Scotland. There were no local government elections in Wales though the Welsh Assembly had a general election on the same day. There were no local government elections in Northern Ireland. Just over half of English councils and almost all the Scottish councils began the counts on Friday, rather than Thursday night, because of more complex arrangements regarding postal votes.

These elections were a landmark in the United Kingdom as it was the first time that 18- to 20-year-olds could stand as candidates for council seats. The change was due to an alteration of the Electoral Administration Act. At least fourteen 18- to 20-year-olds are known to have stood as candidates for council seats[1] and as a result William Lloyd became the youngest person to be elected to official office in Britain. There were also a number of councils which used new voting methods such as internet and telephone voting in addition to the traditional methods of polling stations and postal votes.

These were the final elections to be overseen by Labour leader and prime minister Tony Blair, who resigned the following month after a decade as prime minister to be succeeded by chancellor Gordon Brown. His party only finished in second place with a narrow lead over the third-placed Liberal Democrats, whose leader Menzies Campbell would also resign later in the year, while it was a strong showing for the Conservatives under David Cameron. The results confirmed that the Conservatives were well on their way to winning the next general election, making a very substantial 911 gains, the largest gains made by the party in over 20 years, although there was still the challenge of winning parliamentary by-elections and ultimately winning enough seats in the next general election to be considered.

Summary of results in England

There was a suggestion in February 2006 that many of the 2007 local elections in England would be cancelled due to a reform of local government.[2] However, since then possible reforms are still in the consultation stage and no decisions have yet been made.

312 English district councils, nearly all districts in England held some form of election – either thirds or full – on Thursday, 3 May 2007.

The final results are summarised below; firstly, with a table ranked by the party with the greatest number of councillors elected.

Party Councils Councillors
Gain Loss Change Total Gain Loss Change Total
Conservative 47 8 +39 165 +911 5315
Liberal Democrat 5 9 -4 23 -246 2171
Labour 3 10 -8 34 −504 1877
Residents 0 0 0 1 -19 67
Green 0 0 0 0 +17 62
BNP 0 0 0 0 +1 10
Liberal 0 0 0 0 -1 9
Mebyon Kernow 0 0 0 0 2 1 +1 7
UKIP 0 0 0 0 -1 5
Health Concern 0 0 0 0 2 1 +1 4
Respect 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 3
Socialist Alternative 0 0 0 0 0 1 -1 0
Other 0 4 -162 949
No overall control -27 85

Source BBC

Metropolitan boroughs

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Barnsley Labour Labour hold Details
Birmingham No overall control No overall control hold
Bolton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Bradford No overall control No overall control hold
Bury No overall control No overall control hold
Calderdale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Coventry Conservative Conservative hold Details
Doncaster No overall control No overall control hold
Dudley Conservative Conservative hold
Gateshead Labour Labour hold Details
Kirklees No overall control No overall control hold
Knowsley Labour Labour hold Details
Leeds No overall control No overall control hold
Liverpool Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
North Tyneside No overall control No overall control hold Details
Oldham Labour No overall control
Rochdale No overall control Liberal Democrat gain Details
Rotherham Labour Labour hold
Salford Labour Labour hold Details
Sandwell Labour Labour hold Details
Sefton No overall control No overall control hold
Sheffield Labour No overall control gain Details
Solihull Conservative No overall control gain Details
South Tyneside Labour Labour hold
St Helens No overall control No overall control hold Details
Stockport Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
Sunderland Labour Labour hold Details
Tameside Labour Labour hold Details
Trafford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold Details
Walsall Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wigan Labour Labour hold
Wirral No overall control No overall control hold
Wolverhampton Labour Labour hold Details

Unitary authorities

Whole council

In 25 English unitary authorities the whole council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Bath and North East Somerset No overall control No overall control hold Details
Blackpool Labour Conservative gain Details
Bournemouth Liberal Democrat Conservative gain
Bracknell Forest Conservative Conservative hold
Brighton & Hove No overall control No overall control hold Details
Darlington Labour Labour hold
East Riding of Yorkshire No overall control Conservative gain Details
Herefordshire No overall control Conservative gain
Leicester No overall control Labour gain
Luton No overall control Labour gain
Medway Conservative Conservative hold
Middlesbrough Labour Labour hold
North Lincolnshire Conservative Labour gain Details
North Somerset No overall control Conservative gain Details
Nottingham Labour Labour hold Details
Poole Conservative Conservative hold
Redcar and Cleveland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Rutland Conservative Conservative hold
South Gloucestershire No overall control No overall control hold
Stockton-on-Tees No overall control No overall control hold
Telford and Wrekin No overall control No overall control hold
Torbay Liberal Democrat Conservative gain
West Berkshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Windsor and Maidenhead Liberal Democrat Conservative gain Details
York Liberal Democrat No overall control gain Details

Third of council

In 20 English unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Blackburn with Darwen Labour No overall control gain Details
Bristol No overall control No overall control hold
Derby No overall control No overall control hold Details
Halton Labour Labour hold Details
Hartlepool Labour Labour hold
Kingston upon Hull No overall control Liberal Democrat gain Details
Milton Keynes No overall control No overall control hold
North East Lincolnshire No overall control No overall control hold
Peterborough Conservative Conservative hold Details
Plymouth No overall control Conservative gain
Portsmouth No overall control No overall control hold Details
Reading Labour Labour hold
Slough No overall control No overall control hold Details
Southampton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Southend-on-Sea Conservative Conservative hold Details
Stoke-on-Trent No overall control No overall control hold
Swindon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Thurrock Conservative No overall control Details
Warrington No overall control No overall control hold
Wokingham Conservative Conservative hold Details

District councils

Whole council

In 153 English district authorities the whole council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Allerdale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Alnwick No overall control No overall control hold Details
Arun Conservative Conservative hold Details
Ashfield Labour No overall control Details
Ashford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Aylesbury Vale Conservative Conservative hold Details
Babergh No overall control No overall control hold Details
Berwick-upon-Tweed No overall control No overall control hold
Blaby Conservative Conservative hold
Blyth Valley Labour Labour hold
Bolsover Labour Labour hold Details
Boston No overall control Boston Bypass Independents gain Details
Braintree No overall control Conservative gain
Breckland Conservative Conservative hold
Bridgnorth No overall control No overall control hold
Broadland Conservative Conservative hold
Bromsgrove Conservative Conservative hold
Broxtowe No overall control No overall control hold
Canterbury No overall control Conservative gain
Caradon No overall control Liberal Democrat gain
Carrick Liberal Democrat No overall control
Castle Morpeth No overall control No overall control hold
Charnwood No overall control Conservative gain
Chelmsford Conservative Conservative hold
Chester-le-Street Labour Labour hold
Chesterfield Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
Chichester Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chiltern Conservative Conservative hold
Christchurch Conservative Conservative hold Details
Copeland Labour Labour hold Details
Corby Labour Labour hold Details
Cotswold Conservative Conservative hold
Dacorum Conservative Conservative hold Details
Dartford No overall control Conservative gain Details
Derbyshire Dales Conservative Conservative hold Details
Derwentside Labour Labour hold
Dover No overall control Conservative gain
Durham Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
Easington Labour Labour hold
Eastbourne Conservative Liberal Democrat gain Details
East Cambridgeshire No overall control Conservative gain
East Devon Conservative Conservative hold
East Dorset Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Hampshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold
East Lindsey No overall control No overall control hold
East Northamptonshire Conservative Conservative hold
East Staffordshire Conservative Conservative hold
Eden Independent No overall control
Epsom and Ewell Residents Association Residents Association hold
Erewash No overall control Conservative gain
Fenland Conservative Conservative hold Details
Forest Heath Conservative Conservative hold
Forest of Dean No overall control Conservative gain
Fylde Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gedling No overall control Conservative gain Details
Gravesham Labour Conservative gain Details
Guildford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hambleton Conservative Conservative hold
Harborough No overall control Conservative gain
High Peak No overall control Conservative gain Details
Hinckley and Bosworth Conservative Liberal Democrat gain
Horsham Conservative Conservative hold
Kennet Conservative Conservative hold
Kerrier Independent No overall control
Kettering Conservative Conservative hold Details
King's Lynn and West Norfolk Conservative Conservative hold
Lancaster No overall control No overall control hold Details
Lewes Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
Lichfield Conservative Conservative hold
Lincoln Labour Conservative gain
Maldon Conservative Conservative hold
Malvern Hills No overall control Conservative gain
Mansfield Independent Independent hold
Melton Conservative Conservative hold
Mendip Conservative Conservative hold
Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold
Mid Devon No overall control No overall control hold
Mid Suffolk No overall control Conservative gain
Mid Sussex No overall control Conservative gain
New Forest Conservative Conservative hold
Newark and Sherwood No overall control Conservative gain
North Cornwall No overall control No overall control hold
North Devon Liberal Democrat Conservative gain Details
North Dorset No overall control Conservative gain
North East Derbyshire Labour Labour hold
North Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold
North Kesteven No overall control Conservative gain
North Norfolk Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
North Shropshire No overall control Conservative gain
North Warwickshire No overall control Conservative gain
North West Leicestershire Labour Conservative gain Details
North Wiltshire No overall control Conservative gain
Northampton No overall control Liberal Democrat gain Details
Oadby and Wigston Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
Oswestry No overall control Conservative gain
Restormel No overall control No overall control hold
Ribble Valley Conservative Conservative hold
Richmondshire Independent No overall control
Rother Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rushcliffe Conservative Conservative hold
Ryedale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Salisbury Conservative No overall control
Scarborough Conservative No overall control Details
Sedgefield Labour Labour hold Details
Sedgemoor Conservative Conservative hold
Selby Conservative Conservative hold
Sevenoaks Conservative Conservative hold
Shepway No overall control Conservative gain Details
South Bucks Conservative Conservative hold
South Derbyshire Labour Conservative gain
South Hams Conservative Conservative hold
South Holland Conservative Conservative hold
South Kesteven Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Norfolk Liberal Democrat Conservative gain
South Northamptonshire Conservative Conservative hold
South Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold
South Ribble No overall control Conservative gain Details
South Shropshire No overall control Conservative gain
South Somerset Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
South Staffordshire Conservative Conservative hold
Spelthorne Conservative Conservative hold
St Edmundsbury Conservative Conservative hold
Stafford Conservative Conservative hold
Staffordshire Moorlands No overall control Conservative gain
Suffolk Coastal Conservative Conservative hold
Surrey Heath Conservative Conservative hold Details
Taunton Deane Conservative No overall control
Teesdale Independent Independent hold
Teignbridge No overall control No overall control hold
Tendring No overall control No overall control hold
Test Valley Conservative Conservative hold
Tewkesbury No overall control No overall control hold
Thanet Conservative Conservative hold
Tonbridge and Malling Conservative Conservative hold Details
Torridge Independent No overall control Details
Tynedale Conservative Conservative hold Details
Uttlesford Liberal Democrat Conservative gain
Vale of White Horse Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
Vale Royal No overall control No overall control hold
Wansbeck Labour Labour hold
Warwick No overall control Conservative gain Details
Waverley No overall control Conservative gain
Wealden Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wear Valley Labour No overall control
Wellingborough Conservative Conservative hold
West Devon No overall control No overall control hold
West Dorset Conservative Conservative hold
West Somerset Conservative Independent gain Details
West Wiltshire No overall control Conservative gain Details
Wychavon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wycombe Conservative Conservative hold
Wyre Conservative Conservative hold

Third of council

In 78 English district authorities one third of the council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Amber Valley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Barrow-in-Furness No overall control No overall control hold Details
Basildon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Basingstoke and Deane Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bassetlaw Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bedford No overall control No overall control hold
Brentwood Conservative Conservative hold Details
Broxbourne Conservative Conservative hold Details
Burnley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Cambridge Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold
Cannock Chase No overall control No overall control hold
Carlisle No overall control No overall control hold Details
Castle Point Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cherwell Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chester No overall control Conservative gain
Chorley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Colchester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Congleton Conservative Conservative hold
Craven No overall control No overall control hold Details
Crawley Conservative Conservative hold
Crewe and Nantwich No overall control No overall control hold
Daventry Conservative Conservative hold Details
Eastleigh Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
Ellesmere Port and Neston Labour Labour hold Details
Elmbridge No overall control No overall control hold
Epping Forest Conservative Conservative hold Details
Exeter No overall control No overall control hold
Gloucester No overall control No overall control hold
Great Yarmouth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Harlow No overall control No overall control hold Details
Harrogate No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hart No overall control No overall control hold Details
Havant Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hertsmere Conservative Conservative hold Details
Huntingdonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hyndburn Conservative Conservative hold Details
Ipswich No overall control No overall control hold Details
Macclesfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Maidstone No overall control No overall control hold Details
Mole Valley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Newcastle-under-Lyme No overall control No overall control hold Details
Norwich No overall control No overall control hold Details
Pendle Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
Penwith No overall control No overall control hold Details
Preston No overall control No overall control hold Details
Purbeck Conservative Conservative hold Details
Redditch No overall control No overall control hold Details
Reigate and Banstead Conservative Conservative hold
Rochford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rossendale Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rugby No overall control Conservative gain
Runnymede Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rushmoor Conservative Conservative hold Details
Shrewsbury and Atcham Conservative Conservative hold
South Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold
South Cambridgeshire No overall control Conservative gain Details
South Lakeland Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
St Albans Liberal Democrat No overall control Details
Stevenage Labour Labour hold Details
Stratford-on-Avon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Stroud Conservative Conservative hold Details
Swale Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tamworth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tandridge Conservative Conservative hold Details
Three Rivers Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
Tunbridge Wells Conservative Conservative hold Details
Watford Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
Waveney Conservative Conservative hold
Welwyn Hatfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
West Lancashire Conservative Conservative hold Details
West Lindsey Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat hold Details
West Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Weymouth and Portland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Winchester Conservative Conservative hold Details
Woking No overall control Conservative gain Details
Worcester Conservative Conservative hold Details
Worthing Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wyre Forest No overall control No overall control hold Details

Mayoral elections

Council Independent Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat Green Elected Result
Bedford 15,967 10,710 4,757 10,551 1,538 Frank Branston Independent hold
Mansfield 13,756 2,770 8,774 1,944 1,489 Tony Egginton Independent hold
Middlesbrough 17,455 1,733 3,539 7,026 no candidate Ray Mallon Independent hold

Scotland

All 32 Scottish councils had all their seats up for election - all Scottish councils are unitary authorities. These local elections were held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament general election. They were the first election for local government in mainland Great Britain to use the Single Transferable Vote (the system is used in Northern Ireland), as implemented by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.[3]

Summary of results

Party Councils - majority Councils - in coalition/minority Councillors
SNP 0 11 363
Labour 2 11 348
Liberal Democrats 0 12 166
Conservative 0 8 143
Scottish Green 0 0 8
Scottish Socialist Party 0 0 1
Solidarity 0 0 1
Other 3 9 193
No overall control 27 - -

Councils

The notional results in the following table are based on a document that John Curtice and Stephen Herbert (Professors at the University of Strathclyde) produced on 3 June 2005, calculating the effect of the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote on the 2003 Scottish Local Elections.[4]

Council 2003 result
(control before May 2007, if different)
Notional control
(based on 2003 results)
2007 result Details
Aberdeen City No overall control (LD + Con) NOC No overall control (LD + SNP) Details
Aberdeenshire No overall control (LD + Ind) NOC No overall control (LD + Con) Details
Angus SNP NOC No overall control (Ind + Con + LD + Lab) Details
Argyll and Bute Independent Independent No overall control (Ind + SNP) Details
Clackmannanshire Labour NOC No overall control (Lab minority) Details
Dumfries and Galloway No overall control (Lab[5]) NOC No overall control (Con + LD) Details
Dundee City No overall control (Lab + LD+ Con) NOC No overall control (Lab + LD) Details
East Ayrshire Labour Labour No overall control (SNP minority) Details
East Dunbartonshire No overall control (LD[6]) NOC No overall control (Lab + Con) Details
East Lothian Labour NOC No overall control (SNP + LD) Details
East Renfrewshire No overall control (Lab + LD) NOC No overall control (Lab + LD + Ind + Con) Details
City of Edinburgh Labour (NOC: Lab[7]) NOC No overall control (LD + SNP) Details
Falkirk No overall control (SNP + Ind + Con) NOC No overall control (Lab + Ind + Con) Details
Fife No overall control (Lab[8]) NOC No overall control (LD + SNP) Details
Glasgow City Labour Labour Labour Details
Highland Independent Independent No overall control (Ind + SNP) Details
Inverclyde Liberal Democrats NOC No overall control (Lab minority) Details
Midlothian Labour NOC No overall control (Lab minority) Details
Moray Independent Independent No overall control (Ind + Con) Details
Na h-Eileanan Siar Independent Independent Independent Details
North Ayrshire Labour Labour No overall control (Lab minority) Details
North Lanarkshire Labour Labour Labour Details
Orkney Independent Independent Independent Details
Perth and Kinross No overall control (SNP + LD + Ind) NOC No overall control (SNP + LD) Details
Renfrewshire Labour NOC No overall control (SNP + LD) Details
Scottish Borders No overall control (Ind + Con) NOC No overall control (Ind + Con + LD) Details
Shetland Independent Independent Independent Details
South Ayrshire No overall control (Con[9]) NOC No overall control (Con minority) Details
South Lanarkshire Labour Labour No overall control (Lab minority) Details
Stirling Labour (NOC: Lab[10]) NOC No overall control (Lab minority) Details
West Dunbartonshire Labour Labour No overall control (SNP + Ind) Details
West Lothian Labour NOC No overall control (SNP + Ind) Details

Pre-election predictions

A Newsnight poll by the analysts Rallings and Thrasher some days before the election predicted the following results for the English council elections:

Con 38% (Conservatives gaining 330 seats and losing 2% of the vote on 2006)

Lab 24% (Labour losing 500 seats and losing 2% of the vote on 2006)

LD 29% (Liberal Democrats gaining 110 seats and gaing 2% of the vote on 2006)

However, these predictions, as in 2006, were largely inaccurate, underestimating Conservative support and grossly overestimating the Lib Dems' performance. However, it did accurately predict the number of seats Labour would lose.

Notes and references

  1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6527015.stm
  2. BBC NEWS | Politics | Council polls could be scrapped
  3. Elections to the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  5. Labour minority control. The council was previously run by a coalition of Scottish Liberal Democrats, Independents and the SNP.
  6. Liberal Democrats lack a majority (LD: 12 councillors; opposition: 12 councillors)
  7. Labour lack a majority, after by election loss to Scottish National Party (Lab: 29 councillors; opposition: 29 councillors)
  8. Labour minority administration
  9. Conservative and Unionist control, on a cut of the cards (Con: 15 councillors; opposition: 15 councillors)
  10. Labour lack a majority, after by election loss to Scottish National Party (Lab: 11 councillors; opposition: 11 councillors)
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