Local and mayoral elections 2025

Where are elections taking place?    

Scheduled elections are being held in 24 of England’s 317 councils on Thursday 1 May 2025.

All seats will be contested in: 

• 14 county councils
• 8 unitary authorities
• 1 metropolitan district
• The Isles of Scilly, which has a unique governance structure.

Elections in the City of London, which also has a unique governance structure, will be held in March 2025.

In addition, metro mayor elections will be taking place in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and – for the first time – in Hull and East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire. 

Where are elections being postponed?

All 21 county councils were due to hold elections in May 2025. However, in December 2024, the government told councils they could request to postpone their elections “where this will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe”. ²⁵ MHCLG, correspondence: Letter from Jim McMahon Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, 16 December 2024, retrieved 16 January 2024, www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas  This included councils wishing to join the government’s devolution priority programme to have their first mayoral elections in May 2026, or “who need reorganisation to unlock devolution”. ²⁶ MHCLG, correspondence: Letter from Jim McMahon Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, 16 December 2024, retrieved 16 January 2024, www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas

16 county councils and two unitary authorities requested their elections be postponed. ²⁷ MHCLG, ‘Local government reorganisation: letter to two-tier areas’, 15 January 2025, retrieved 5 February 2025, www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas  On 5 February, the government announced that elections would be postponed to May 2026 in nine areas (Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Thurrock, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight). ²⁸ McMahon J, ‘Statement: English Devolution and Local Government’, Written Statements, UK Parliament, 5 February 2025, https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-02-05/hcws418

Who controls the councils up for election? 

Of the 25 councils holding elections, 17 have a single-party majority:

• 1 has a Labour majority
• 16 have a Conservative majority

The Isles of Scilly and the City of London are both led by independents.

The remaining six are under no overall control. In these cases either a minority administration or a coalition of several parties runs the council. 

Of these six councils:

• 3 have Conservative leaders
• 3 have Liberal Democrat leaders

In one case – County Durham – Labour is the party with the most seats but does not lead the council.   

What is the current state of the parties at local government level?

After the May 2024 local elections, the Labour Party held 36% of all council seats in England, up 1% from 2023. The Conservative Party fell to 30%, down 3% from the previous year and the Liberal Democrats held 18%, unchanged from the previous year. 

Following those elections, the Labour Party controlled 107 councils (34%), up eight from the 99 they controlled in 2023. The Conservative Party controlled 60 of the councils (19%) and the Liberal Democrats 39 (12%). Councillors from other parties and independents controlled five councils. The remaining 102 councils were under no overall control.  Following the defection of six Labour councillors in Newcastle, that council fell into no overall control in November 2024. ³⁰ Holland D, ‘Six councillors, including ex-leader, quit Labour’, BBC News, 5 November 2024, retrieved 4 February 2025, www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c937l37k5gvo  

Why do these elections matter? 

Many frontline public services are delivered by local councils. In England, county councils are responsible for functions such as transport, social care and education. District councils in two-tier local government areas provide local services such as planning, housing, leisure and recycling services.

Unitary councils and metropolitan boroughs provide the functions of both county and district councils.   

In England, local authorities spent £59.4bn (net current expenditure) on public services in 2022/23. ³⁶ This excludes spending on education and police and fire and rescue services which is technically spent by local authorities but is not directly controlled by them.  The largest spending areas were adult social care (£20.5bn) and children’s social care (£12.8bn). ³⁷ DLUHC, Revenue outturn service expenditure summary (RSX) 2022 to 2023, 14 February 2024, retrieved 12 April 2024, www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2022-to-2023-individual-local-authority-data-outturn   

Many local authorities face financial pressures due to a decade of funding cuts, recent high inflation and increasing demand for services. These challenges have led several councils to file section 114 notices – effectively declaring bankruptcy – with others also at risk. 

In some parts of England, directly-elected metro mayors lead combined authorities with devolved functions and budgets. Their powers vary but typically include aspects of transport, skills, housing and economic development. 

Who can vote in local council elections? 

In England all adults aged 18 and over can vote in local elections if they are British citizens, EU citizens, or ‘qualifying Commonwealth citizens’ ³⁸ Gov.uk, ‘Types of election, referendums, and who can vote: Local government’, (no date) retrieved 12 April 2024, www.gov.uk/elections-in-the-uk/local-government  (citizens of Commonwealth countries who have leave to enter or remain in the UK, or who do not require that leave). ³⁹ The Electoral Commission, ‘Register to vote’, (no date) retrieved 12 April 2024, www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/register-vote-and-update-your-details#commonwealth  

Following the passage of the Elections Act 2022, the local elections on 1 May will take place with mandatory voter identification (ID). Voters will need to show an acceptable form of photographic ID, as listed on the Electoral Commission website. Voters without photo ID can apply for a voter identification certificate until 24 April 2024 to enable them to vote. ⁴⁰ The Electoral Commission, ‘Applying for a Voter Authority Certificate’, (no date) retrieved 12 April 2024, www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/voter-id/applying-a-voter-authority-certificate  

Voter ID requirements only apply to votes cast at polling stations; postal votes use different, pre-existing, signature verification. 

How many people vote in local elections?

Fewer people vote in local elections than in general elections. Local turnout tends to be between 30-40% of the electorate. By contrast, turnout for elections to the UK parliament over the past five elections has averaged 66%. When local elections take place at the same time as parliamentary elections, as last happened in England in 2015, turnout is comparable to that of national elections.