The 2011 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday, 5 May. In England, direct elections were held in all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 194 second-tier district authorities, 49 unitary authorities and various mayoral posts, meaning local elections took place within all parts of England with the exceptions of seven unitary authorities (Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Isles of Scilly, Shropshire, the Isle of Wight and Wiltshire), and seven districts and boroughs (Adur, Cheltenham, Fareham, Gosport, Hastings, Nuneaton and Bedworth and Oxford). For the majority of English districts and the 25 unitary authorities who were "all-up" for election at the end of their four-year terms, these were the first elections since 2007. In Northern Ireland, there were elections to all 26 local councils. Elections also took place to elect members of most English parish councils.
On the same day, elections to the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly of Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly were held. A UK-wide referendum on whether to adopt the Alternative Vote electoral system for elections to the House of Commons and the Leicester South by-election was also held.
Labour, contesting its first elections under the leadership of Ed Miliband, finished narrowly ahead of the Conservatives. The BBC's projected national vote share put Labour on 37%, the Conservatives on 35% and the Liberal Democrats on 15%. Rallings and Thrasher of Plymouth University put Labour narrowly behind on 37% of the national vote, compared to 38% for the Conservatives and 16% for the Liberal Democrats.
Background Elections were due to be held to Scottish councils, but these had been postponed until 2012 to avoid clashing with the elections to the Scottish Parliament, which in 2007 had caused confusion among voters.
British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens living in the UK who were 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote in the local council and devolved legislatures elections. The deadline for voters in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to register to vote in the 5 May elections was midnight on Thursday 14 April 2011, whilst voters in Scotland had until midnight on Friday 15 April 2011 to register. Anyone in the United Kingdom who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on Tuesday 26 April 2011 to register.The deadline for the receipt and determination of anonymous electoral registration applications is the same as the publication date of the notice of alteration to the Electoral Register (i.e. the fifth working day before election day).
Results The Labour Party was described as obtaining "mixed results". Their support recovered following a string of poor local election results during Gordon Brown's tenure and they gained over 800 council seats, mostly off the Liberal Democrats. Labour's gains were overshadowed by the coinciding Scottish Parliament election where they were routed by the Scottish National Party. The Conservatives narrowly obtained more votes than Labour and gained a small number of seats. They were helped by the gaining additional seats from the Liberal Democrats in the south west, south, south east and East Anglia.
The election was a disaster for the Liberal Democrats, who lost 40% of the council seats they were defending (mostly to Labour) and lost majorities in 9 of the 19 councils they controlled, including strongholds in Sheffield and Hull. There were some surprising gains for the Conservatives against the Liberal Democrats, with councils previously considered strongholds for the latter, like North Norfolk, Vale of White Horse and Lewes changing hands. This led to some calls for Nick Clegg to resign. The losses coincided with the landslide rejection of the Alternative Vote referendum which had been supported by the Liberal Democrats and some members of the Labour Party.
UK-wide results
PartyCouncillorsCouncils Number ChangeNumber Change 5,109861574 2,4598575726 1,098748109 175302 138911 99160 87140 79140 4831 44140 810 820 660 30 2110 20 Others6672010 No overall controln/an/a7917
Source: and Vote 2011: Northern Ireland Council Elections
Summary of English result PartyCouncillorsCouncils Number ChangeNumber Change 5,109861574 2,4598575726 1,098748109 79140 4831 820 700 2110 Others6402070 No overall controln/an/a5419
Source:
England
Metropolitan boroughs All 36 English Metropolitan borough councils one third of their seats were up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Barnsley holdDetails Birmingham holdDetails Bolton gainDetails Bradford holdDetails Bury gainDetails Calderdale holdDetails Coventry holdDetails Doncaster holdDetails Dudley holdDetails Gateshead holdDetails Kirklees holdDetails Knowsley holdDetails Leeds gainDetails Liverpool holdDetails Manchester holdDetails Newcastle upon Tyne gainDetails North Tyneside gainDetails Oldham gainDetails Rochdale holdDetails Rotherham holdDetails St Helens holdDetails Salford holdDetails Sandwell holdDetails Sefton holdDetails Sheffield gainDetails Solihull gainDetails South Tyneside holdDetails Stockport gainDetails Sunderland holdDetails Tameside holdDetails Trafford holdDetails Wakefield holdDetails Walsall gainDetails Wigan holdDetails Wirral holdDetails Wolverhampton gainDetails
Unitary authorities
Whole council In 30 English Unitary authorities the whole council were up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Bath and North East Somerset holdDetails Bedford holdDetails Blackpool gainDetails Bournemouth holdDetails Bracknell Forest holdDetails Brighton and Hove holdDetails Central Bedfordshire holdDetails Cheshire East holdDetails Cheshire West and Chester holdDetails Darlington holdDetails East Riding of Yorkshire holdDetails Herefordshire holdDetails Leicester holdDetails Luton holdDetails Medway holdDetails Middlesbrough holdDetails North Lincolnshire gainDetails North Somerset holdDetails Nottingham holdDetails Poole gainDetails Redcar and Cleveland gainDetails Rutland holdDetails South Gloucestershire holdDetails Stockton-on-Tees holdDetails Stoke-on-Trent gainDetails Telford and Wrekin gainDetails Torbay holdDetails West Berkshire holdDetails Windsor and Maidenhead holdDetails York gainDetails
Third of council In 19 English Unitary authorities one third of the council were up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Blackburn with Darwen gainDetails Bristol gainDetails Derby holdDetails Halton holdDetails Hartlepool holdDetails Kingston upon Hull gainDetails Milton Keynes holdDetails North East Lincolnshire holdDetails Peterborough holdDetails Plymouth holdDetails Portsmouth holdDetails Reading holdDetails Slough holdDetails Southampton holdDetails Southend-on-Sea holdDetails Swindon holdDetails Thurrock holdDetails Warrington gainDetails Wokingham holdDetails
Non-metropolitan districts
Whole council In 127 English district authorities the whole council were up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Allerdale holdDetails Arun hold Details Ashfield gainDetails Ashford holdDetails Aylesbury Vale holdDetails Babergh holdDetails Barrow-in-Furness gainDetails Blaby holdDetails Bolsover holdDetails Boston gainDetails Braintree holdDetails Breckland holdDetails Broadland holdDetails Bromsgrove holdDetails Broxtowe holdDetails Canterbury holdDetails Charnwood holdDetails Chelmsford holdDetails Chesterfield gainDetails Chichester holdDetails Chiltern holdDetails Christchurch holdDetails Copeland holdDetails Corby holdDetails Cotswold holdDetails Dacorum holdDetails Dartford holdDetails Derbyshire Dales holdDetails Dover holdDetails Eastbourne holdDetails East Cambridgeshire holdDetails East Devon holdDetails East Dorset holdDetails East Hampshire holdDetails East Hertfordshire holdDetails East Lindsey holdDetails East Northamptonshire holdDetails East Staffordshire holdDetailsEden Details Epsom and Ewell holdDetails Erewash holdDetails Fenland holdDetails Forest Heath holdDetails Forest of Dean gainDetails Fylde holdDetails Gedling gainDetails Gravesham gainDetails Guildford holdDetails Hambleton holdDetails Harborough holdDetails High Peak gainDetails Hinckley and Bosworth holdDetails Horsham holdDetails Kettering holdDetails King's Lynn and West Norfolk holdDetails Lancaster holdDetails Lewes gainDetails Lichfield holdDetails Maldon holdDetails Malvern Hills holdDetailsMansfield gainDetails Melton holdDetails Mendip gainDetails Mid Devon gainDetails Mid Suffolk holdDetails Mid Sussex holdDetails New Forest holdDetails Newark and Sherwood gainDetails North Devon gainDetails North Dorset holdDetails North East Derbyshire gainDetails North Kesteven holdDetails North Norfolk gainDetails North Warwickshire gainDetails North West Leicestershire holdDetails Northampton gainDetails Oadby and Wigston holdDetails Ribble Valley holdDetailsRichmondshire holdDetails Rother holdDetails Rushcliffe holdDetails Ryedale gainDetails Scarborough holdDetails Sedgemoor holdDetails Selby holdDetails Sevenoaks holdDetails Shepway holdDetails South Bucks holdDetails South Derbyshire holdDetails South Hams holdDetails South Holland holdDetails South Kesteven holdDetails South Norfolk holdDetails South Northamptonshire holdDetails South Oxfordshire holdDetails South Ribble holdDetails South Somerset holdDetails South Staffordshire holdDetails Spelthorne holdDetails St Edmundsbury holdDetails Stafford holdDetails Staffordshire Moorlands gainDetails Suffolk Coastal holdDetails Surrey Heath holdDetails Swale holdDetails Taunton Deane holdDetails Teignbridge gainDetails Tendring gainDetails Test Valley holdDetails Tewkesbury gainDetails Thanet gainDetails Tonbridge and Malling holdDetailsTorridge holdDetails Uttlesford holdDetails Vale of White Horse gainDetails Warwick holdDetails Waveney gainDetails Waverley holdDetails Wealden holdDetails Wellingborough holdDetails West Devon gainDetails West Dorset holdDetails West Lindsey holdDetails West Somerset gainDetails Wychavon holdDetails Wycombe holdDetails Wyre holdDetails
Third of council In 67 English district authorities one third of the council were up for election.
Council Previous control Result Details Amber Valley holdDetails Basildon holdDetails Basingstoke and Deane holdDetails Bassetlaw gainDetails Brentwood holdDetails Broxbourne holdDetails Burnley holdDetails Cambridge holdDetails Cannock Chase holdDetails Carlisle holdDetails Castle Point holdDetails Cherwell holdDetails Chorley gainDetails Colchester holdDetails Craven holdDetails Crawley holdDetails Daventry holdDetails Eastleigh holdDetails Elmbridge holdDetails Epping Forest holdDetails Exeter holdDetails Gloucester gainDetails Great Yarmouth holdDetails Harlow holdDetails Harrogate holdDetails Hart holdDetails Havant holdDetails Hertsmere holdDetails Huntingdonshire holdDetails Hyndburn gainDetails Ipswich gainDetails Lincoln gainDetails Maidstone holdDetails Mole Valley holdDetails Newcastle-under-Lyme holdDetails North Hertfordshire holdDetails Norwich holdDetails Pendle holdDetails Preston gainDetails Purbeck holdDetails Redditch holdDetails Reigate and Banstead holdDetails Rochford holdDetails Rossendale gainDetails Rugby holdDetails Runnymede holdDetails Rushmoor holdDetails St Albans gainDetails South Cambridgeshire holdDetails South Lakeland holdDetails Stevenage holdDetails Stratford-on-Avon holdDetails Stroud gainDetails Tamworth holdDetails Tandridge holdDetails Three Rivers holdDetails Tunbridge Wells holdDetails Watford holdDetails Welwyn Hatfield holdDetails West Lancashire holdDetails West Oxfordshire holdDetails Weymouth and Portland holdDetails Winchester gainDetails Woking gainDetails Worcester gainDetails Worthing holdDetails Wyre Forest holdDetails
Mayoral elections Five direct mayoral elections were held.