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.
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). Scheduled elections for Penwith in Cornwall, Shrewsbury and 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 by vote share, trailing the Conservatives by 20%, the largest such margin ever between the two main parties. Aside from the strong showing for David Cameron's Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems each made net gains of over 30 seats and the BNP made 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 2008 financial crisis and economic fears which were affecting Britain at the time.
Results Party Councillors Councils Number Change Number Change 3,1552576512 2,365334189 1,80433121 2053101 4750 43110 37100 2020 100 830 410 20 Others71640 n/an/a643
England
Metropolitan boroughs All 36 English metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Barnsley holdDetails Birmingham holdDetails Bolton holdDetails Bradford holdDetails Bury gainDetails Calderdale holdDetails Coventry gainDetails Doncaster holdDetails Dudley holdDetails Gateshead holdDetails Kirklees holdDetails Knowsley holdDetails Leeds holdDetails Liverpool holdDetails Manchester holdDetails Newcastle upon Tyne holdDetails North Tyneside gainDetails Oldham gainDetails Rochdale holdDetails Rotherham holdDetails Salford holdDetails Sandwell holdDetails Sefton holdDetails Sheffield gainDetails Solihull gainDetails South Tyneside holdDetails St Helens holdDetails Stockport holdDetails Sunderland holdDetails Tameside holdDetails Trafford holdDetails Wakefield holdDetails Walsall holdDetails Wigan holdDetails Wirral holdDetails Wolverhampton gainDetails
Unitary authorities
Existing councils In 19 English unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Blackburn with Darwen holdDetails Derby holdDetails Halton holdDetails Hartlepool gainDetails Kingston upon Hull gainDetails Milton Keynes holdDetails North East Lincolnshire holdDetails Peterborough holdDetails Plymouth holdDetails Portsmouth holdDetails Reading gainDetails Slough gainDetails Southampton gainDetails Southend-on-Sea holdDetails Stoke-on-Trent holdDetails Swindon holdDetails Thurrock holdDetails Warrington holdDetails Wokingham holdDetails
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.
Council Result Details Cheshire East Details Cheshire West and Chester Details Durham Details Northumberland Details
District councils
Whole council In 4 English district authorities the whole council was up for election following ward boundary changes.
Council Previous control Result Details Barrow-in-Furness holdDetails Basingstoke and Deane gainDetails South Lakeland holdDetails Welwyn Hatfield holdDetails
Half of council In 7 English district authorities, half of the council was up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Adur holdDetails Cheltenham holdDetails Fareham holdDetails Gosport holdDetails Hastings holdDetails Nuneaton and Bedworth gainDetails Oxford holdDetails
Third of council In 67 English district authorities, a third of the council was up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Amber Valley holdDetails Basildon holdDetails Bassetlaw holdDetails Brentwood holdDetails Broxbourne holdDetails Burnley gainDetails Cambridge holdDetails Cannock Chase holdDetails Carlisle holdDetails Castle Point holdDetails Cherwell holdDetails Chorley holdDetails Colchester gainDetails Craven holdDetails Crawley holdDetails Daventry holdDetails Eastleigh holdDetails Elmbridge gainDetails Epping Forest holdDetails Exeter holdDetails Gloucester holdDetails Great Yarmouth holdDetails Harlow gainDetails Harrogate holdDetails Hart holdDetails Havant holdDetails Hertsmere holdDetails Huntingdonshire holdDetails Hyndburn holdDetails Ipswich holdDetails Lincoln holdDetails Maidstone gainDetails Mole Valley holdDetails Newcastle-under-Lyme holdDetails North Hertfordshire holdDetails Norwich holdDetails Pendle gainDetails Preston holdDetails Purbeck holdDetails Redditch gainDetails Reigate and Banstead holdDetails Rochford holdDetails Rossendale gainDetails Rugby holdDetails Runnymede holdDetails Rushmoor holdDetails South Cambridgeshire holdDetails St Albans gainDetails Stevenage holdDetails Stratford-on-Avon holdDetails Stroud holdDetails Swale holdDetails Tamworth holdDetails Tandridge holdDetails Three Rivers holdDetails Tunbridge Wells holdDetails Watford holdDetails Waveney holdDetails West Lancashire holdDetails West Lindsey gainDetails West Oxfordshire holdDetails Weymouth and Portland holdDetails Winchester holdDetails Woking holdDetails Worcester holdDetails Worthing holdDetails Wyre Forest gainDetails
Mayoral elections
Local Authority Previous Mayor Mayor-elect DetailsLondon Ken Livingstone (Labour) Boris Johnson (Conservative) gainDetails
Wales
In all 22 Welsh councils the whole of the council was up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Blaenau Gwent gainDetails Bridgend holdDetails Caerphilly gainDetails Cardiff holdDetails Carmarthenshire holdDetails Ceredigion holdDetails Conwy holdDetails Denbighshire holdDetails Flintshire gainDetails Gwynedd gainDetails Isle of Anglesey holdDetails Merthyr Tydfil gainDetails Monmouthshire holdDetails Neath Port Talbot holdDetails Newport gainDetails Pembrokeshire holdDetails Powys holdDetails Rhondda Cynon Taff holdDetails Swansea holdDetails Torfaen gainDetails Vale of Glamorgan gainDetails Wrexham holdDetails
See also 2008 London mayoral election 2008 London Assembly election
References