The 2025 Leicestershire County Council election took place on 1 May 2025 to elect members to Leicestershire County Council in Leicestershire, England. All 55 seats were up for election. This was on the same day as other local elections. Prior to the election the council was under Conservative majority control. The election saw the council go under no overall control, with Reform UK the largest party, winning 25 of the 55 seats, leaving them three seats short of a majority. They subsequently formed a minority administration to run the council.

Background Prior to the election, the council was under Conservative majority control. The leader of the council was Nick Rushton, although he had temporarily stood back from active leadership in July 2024 whilst undergoing medical treatment, and the deputy leader, Deborah Taylor, was serving as acting leader immediately prior to the election.

In the 2021 election, the Conservatives won 42 seats, giving them a majority and control of the council. The Liberal Democrats were the second biggest party with 9 seats, followed by Labour with 4 seats.

Two by-elections took place between the 2021 and 2025 elections:

+By-electionsDivisionDateIncumbentWinnerCauseBlaby and Glen Parva21 December 2023Geoff WelshSue JordanRetirementBurbage2 May 2024Amanda WrightBarry WalkerResignation

In the 2024 general election, the Conservative Party retained four of their Leicestershire seats (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, Hinckley and Bosworth, Rutland and Stamford, and South Leicestershire), and won the newly created seats of Mid Leicestershire and Melton and Syston. The Conservative Party also won Leicester East from the Labour Party. Labour retained Leicester West, and won Loughborough and North West Leicestershire from the Conservatives, though they lost Leicester South to independent Shockat Adam. After the general election, councillor Amanda Hack of Braunstone became MP for North West Leicestershire. In February 2025, councillor Dan Harrison of Ibstock and Appleby left the Conservative Party and joined Reform UK, citing frustration with changes in leadership and the way the County Council was run.

Previous council composition After 2021 election Before 2025 election Party Seats Party Seats 42 40 9 10 4 4 0 1

Changes 2021–2025 November 2023: Geoff Welsh (Liberal Democrats) resigns – by-election held December 2023 December 2023: Sue Jordan (Liberal Democrats) wins by-election March 2024: Amanda Wright (Conservative) resigns – by-election held May 2024 May 2024: Barry Walker (Liberal Democrats) gains by-election from Conservatives February 2025: Dan Harrison (Conservatives) leaves party and subsequently joined Reform UK.

Summary Overview At the election, the Conservatives suffered an electoral collapse in line with their poor national performance, dropping from 42 seats to 15, and losing their majority on the council for the first time since 1997. Overall, the Conservatives lost 45% of their vote from the 2021 election. Nick Rushton, the Conservative leader of the council, lost his seat to Reform UK candidate Michael Squires.

Reform UK was the main beneficiary of the Conservative collapse, winning the popular vote, and gaining 25 seats across the county to emerge as the largest party on the council - although three seats short of an overall majority. Reform UK chose Dan Harrison to be their group leader after the election. He had been a Conservative councillor until he left the Conservatives to join Reform UK in February 2025. He was formally appointed as the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 14 May 2025. Reform UK formed a minority administration, taking all the seats on the council's cabinet. The Conservatives chose Deborah Taylor, who had been acting leader prior to the election, to be their new group leader in opposition.

Despite losses in overall vote share, and losing several seats to Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats increased their seat count to 11. Labour lost 2 seats, finishing the night with 2, and saw a significant decline in their vote share. The Greens won a seat on the council for the first time in their history, and a single independent - former Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Charlesworth - was elected in the East Wigston division.

Election result

Division results by district Blaby

+Blaby district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 6 6 10,409 35.8 N/AConservative 1 5 8,314 28.6 –27.5Liberal Democrats 1 3,885 13.4 –0.4Green 0 3,555 12.2 +0.8Labour 0 1 2,860 9.8 –8.3Independent 0 56 0.2 –0.5Total829,07930.2Registered electors78,961–

Division results

Charnwood

+Charnwood district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 6 5 13,330 30.4 –21.4Reform UK 5 5 14,158 32.3 +31.5Labour 2 1 8,441 19.3 –10.0Green 1 1 5,792 13.2 +1.6Liberal Democrats 0 2,115 4.8 –1.6Total1443,83632.6Registered electors134,520–

Division results

Harborough

+Harborough district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 3 3 8,650 31.7 –19.2Reform UK 2 2 7,749 28.4 N/ALiberal Democrats 2 1 5,971 21.9 –4.9Green 0 2,624 9.6 +0.7Labour 0 2,221 8.2 –5.2Communist 0 31 0.1 N/ATotal727,24635.4Registered electors76,916–

Division results

Hinckley & Bosworth

+Hinckley & Bosworth district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Liberal Democrats 5 2 8,948 31.5 –1.1Reform UK 2 2 9,218 32.5 +32.0Conservative 2 4 7,340 25.9 –25.4Labour 0 1,512 5.3 –7.5Green 0 1,183 4.2 +1.5Independent 0 172 0.6 N/AADF 0 14 <0.1 N/ATotal928,387Registered electors–

Division results

Melton

+Melton district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 2 2 4,419 33.7 –26.8Reform UK 2 2 4,105 31.3 +30.8Labour 0 1,542 11.7 –6.1Independent 0 1,440 11.0 +3.7Green 0 995 7.6 –0.2Liberal Democrats 0 589 4.5 –1.5ADF 0 34 0.3 N/ATotal413,12428.3Registered electors42,798–

Division results

North West Leicestershire

+North West Leicestershire district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 7 7 11,434 41.2 +40.5Conservative 1 7 6,982 25.2 –25.3Labour 0 4,153 15.0 –13.6Liberal Democrats 0 2,354 8.5 –0.6Green 0 1,935 7.0 –0.7Independent 0 790 2.8 +0.8Animal Welfare 0 76 0.3 N/ATotal827,72433.0Registered electors83,943–

Division results

Oadby & Wigston

+Oadby & Wigston district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Liberal Democrats 3 1 6,916 35.3 –6.4Reform UK 1 1 4,241 21.6 N/AIndependent 1 1 1,099 5.6 N/AConservative 0 1 4,708 24.0 –12.6Labour 0 1,410 7.2 –8.6Green 0 1,235 6.3 +0.5Total514,039Total ballots, not total votes.31.8Registered electors44,126–

Division results

Subsequent by-elections

References

See also Leicestershire County Council elections