The 2026 Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council election was held on Thursday 7 May 2026 to elect all 44 councillors who serve on Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. It was held alongside council elections across England.

Prior to the election, the council was under Conservative majority control. Reform UK, which had held no seats on the council immediately before the election, won 27 seats, giving them an overall majority. The Conservatives won 15 seats and Labour won 2 seats. Reform chose Jonathan Gullis to be its new group leader after the election. He was formally appointed as the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 20 May 2026.

Background Simon Tagg had served as Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council since December 2017. In the 2025 Staffordshire County Council election, Newcastle-under-Lyme experienced a significant political shift towards Reform, which secured eight of the nine available seats in the area and 44.7% of the total vote. Labour failed to win any seats, while the Conservatives retained only one.

Reform gained its first seat on the council earlier in May 2025 through a by-election victory in Knutton. Lynn Dean, the elected councillor for Knutton, had the whip suspended by Reform UK in late March 2026 following allegations of racist comments made on social media, uncovered by the anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate; Dean said she had already decided to leave the party. She resigned as councillor for Knutton on 1 April 2026, weeks before she would have faced re-election, remaining a Staffordshire county councillor for May Bank and Wolstanton; the Knutton seat was left vacant until the 2026 borough election.

Following his defection from the Conservative Party in December 2025, Jonathan Gullis, the former MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, announced his candidacy for the Kidsgrove and Ravenscliffe ward representing Reform UK. Additionally, the former MP for Stafford, Jeremy Lefroy announced he was standing for candidacy for the Maer and Whitmore ward representing the Conservatives. Both were elected.

A major topic of local concern was the proposed reorganisation of local government, with widespread opposition to the government's plans to potentially merge Staffordshire Moorlands, Stoke-on-Trent, and Newcastle-under-Lyme councils. A large number of residents had signed a petition protesting these proposals due to the prospect of inheriting the large debt accrued by Stoke-on-Trent. Despite these efforts, the merger was confirmed in July 2026. The council is set to be abolished in April 2028.

Election result

Ward results Audley

Bradwell

Rebekah Lewis was an incumbent for the Audley ward.

Clayton

Crackley & Red Street

Cross Heath

Holditch & Chesterton

Keele

Kidsgrove & Ravenscliffe

Knutton

Loggerheads

Madeley & Betley

Robert Bettley-Smith is an incumbent for the Thistleberry ward.

Neill Walker was the Reform UK candidate for the Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency at the 2024 General Election.

Maer & Whitmore

May Bank

Newchapel & Mow Cop

Silverdale

Talke & Butt Lane

Thistleberry

Town

Westbury Park & Northwood

Westlands

Wolstanton

Post-election changes

Town by-election

A by-election was called for the Town ward following the resignation of Reform UK councillor Christine Duffy, whose resignation letter was dated 20 August 2026 and received by the council on 21 August 2026. The ward's other councillor, Sheelagh Casey-Hulme, was unaffected. A date for the by-election had not yet been confirmed as of early September 2026.

References