The 2021 Gloucestershire County Council election took place on 6 May 2021 alongside other local elections. All 53 seats to Gloucestershire County Council were up for election. The Conservatives retained their majority, albeit a smaller one than in 2017.
Background and election campaign
In the 2017 Gloucestershire County Council election, the Conservatives won overall control of the council.
At the 2019 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party lost their only parliamentary seat in Gloucestershire.
Before the election, the council consisted of 28 Conservatives, 13 Liberal Democrats, 5 Labour (4 being Labour Co-op), 2 Green, 1 People Against Bureaucracy, 3 Independents and 1 vacant seat.
There was some controversy over alleged delivery of election material and campaigning due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. One candidate in the election was reported to the Gloucestershire Constabulary for allegedly breaching lockdown regulations but she denied this and claimed that the leaflets were not election related. The Liberal Democrats in the county claimed that it was a politically motivated attack on their campaign by the Conservative Party.
Council composition
After 2017 election Before 2021 election After 2021 election Party Seats Party Seats Party Seats 31 28 28 14 13 16 3 4 4 2 3 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 Vacant 1
Summary
Election result
Results by Division
Cheltenham
+Cheltenham district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Liberal Democrats 7 1 16,071 42.1 –7.3Conservative 5 2 15,128 39.6 +4.5Green 0 4,757 12.5 +8.0Labour 0 2,250 5.9 ±0.0PAB 0 1 N/A N/A –4.4Total1238,206
Division results
Cotswold
+Cotswold district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 4 1 14,512 47.1 –3.0Liberal Democrats 4 1 11,302 36.7 –3.2Green 0 2,472 8.0 +2.6Labour 0 1,974 6.4 +5.1Reform UK 0 436 1.4 N/ALiberal 0 77 0.2 N/ATUSC 0 33 0.1 N/ATotal830,806
Division results
Forest of Dean
+Forest of Dean district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 4 3 10,506 41.7 –1.4Green 2 2 5,192 20.6 +10.8Labour 1 4,341 17.2 –4.9Liberal Democrats 1 1 2,084 8.3 –1.0Independent 0 2,894 11.5 +6.7UKIP 0 91 0.4 –10.4TUSC 0 85 0.3 N/ATotal825,193
Division results
Gloucester
+Gloucester district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 8 1 16,432 48.3 +0.1Liberal Democrats 2 8,083 23.7 +0.5Labour 0 1 6,787 19.9 –2.2Independent 0 1,327 3.9 N/AGreen 0 1,255 3.7 +1.7Libertarian 0 101 0.3 N/ATUSC 0 30 0.1 N/AFreedom Alliance 0 29 0.1 N/ATotal1034,044
Division results
Stroud
+Stroud district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 4 18,176 41.1 –1.1Labour 4 1 12,548 28.4 +3.5Green 1 1 9,175 20.7 +2.9Liberal Democrats 1 3,548 8.0 –6.1Independent 0 415 0.9 +0.7Freedom Alliance 0 221 0.5 N/AHeritage 0 68 0.2 N/ALibertarian 0 68 0.2 N/ATUSC 0 31 0.1 –0.7Total1044,250
Division results
Tewkesbury
+Tewkesbury district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 4 2 13,079 47.4 –10.1Liberal Democrats 2 1 8,440 30.6 +7.4Green 1 1 3,065 11.1 +7.0Labour 0 2,932 10.6 +2.2Freedom Alliance 0 65 0.2 N/ATotal727,581
Division results
Changes 2021–2025 Alistair Chambers, elected as a Conservative, became an independent in February 2022. Sue Williams, elected as a Conservative, joined the Green Party in May 2024. As a result of this change, the Conservatives lost their majority and the council went under no overall control.
References