Local elections in numbers: 677 new Reform councillors – whereas Labour will get no zero votes in some wards | EUROtoday

The mud has settled on this yr’s native elections, with Nigel Farage’s Reform get together seeing unprecedented success throughout the nation.

Some 1,650 native councillors have been elected in 23 councils, with an extra six mayoral races and one by-election in Runcorn and Helsby.

From the sudden scale of Reform’s success to Labour successful no votes in some areas, The Independent seems to be at crucial figures from the 2025 native elections.

See the leads to full right here

Hundreds of seats for Reform

Reform entered the native elections this yr with zero seats to defend and went on to win 677 council seats.

This simply exceeded expectations, with pollsters predicting round 400 to 450 seats for Mr Farage’s right-wing get together.

Both Labour and the Conservatives, alternatively, misplaced lots of of seats, amounting to two-thirds of their 2021 illustration on native councils, far worse for each events than anticipated.

The Conservatives had probably the most to lose, successful some 996 seats in 2021, when these councils final held elections.

Labour barely scraped forward of unbiased candidates and Greens, successful simply shy of 100 seats.

The third-party gamers – Reform and Lib Dems – each ousted Labour and the Conservatives to be the 2 main events within the native elections.

Though their success was considerably overshadowed by Reform UK, the Lib Dems practically doubled their council seats from 2021, prompting consultants to recommend the UK is shifting away from a two-party system to a four- or five-party one.

See the place Reform carried out finest right here.

Labour didn’t get any votes in dozens of wards

Overall, Labour and the Conservatives each misplaced lots of of native council seats.

But Labour faces an extra sting when particular person electoral wards, the place it didn’t simply lose the race, it bought no votes in any respect.

No single vote was recorded for Labour in 81 electoral wards, principally inside Cornwall and Wiltshire councils.

This is worse than another main get together, with even the Conservatives solely failing to win any votes in six wards.

Meanwhile, simply eight electoral wards held zero votes for Reform, most of which have been for Oxfordshire council.

Turnout

The variety of voters exhibiting up for native elections is constantly decrease than basic elections within the UK.

Voter turnout for this election remains to be being decided in some councils.

On common, the turnout has been round 35 per cent in accordance with preliminary estimates; a determine which is reasonably excessive for native elections.

The lowest reported turnout thus far is at simply 19.5 per cent in Ponteland North, Northumberland, through which the Tories gained the seat.

By comparability, the imply turnout in final yr’s native elections was at 30.2 per cent, whereas the equal races in 2021 noticed 34.1 per cent of voters solid ballots.

These figures are topic to alter.

Vote share

Initial estimates of the vote share present that Reform acquired practically a 3rd of the vote throughout all councils holding elections, with the Conservatives subsequent at 23 per cent.

With 17 per cent the Lib Dems acquired a decrease vote share total than the Tories however gained extra seats. They additionally overtook Labour in vote share with Sir Keir Starmer’s get together getting 14 per cent.

The mixed vote share of each essential events (Labour and the Conservatives) is now at simply 37 per cent; the bottom on current report, and not a majority of votes.

This is sort of half of the 67 per cent vote share gained by Labour and Conservatives mixed in 2021.

Changing form of council management

Control of native councils seems to be far totally different from its earlier kind in 2021.

In the 23 councils which held elections, 10 can have a neighborhood authorities with no total management, that means that no single get together has sufficient councillors to kind a majority.

This is a rise from the final elections, through which seven councils had no majority.

But the most important change to the electoral map got here for the Conservatives, who misplaced management of all 15 councils they gained in 2021.

This consists of Kent council, which had been run by a Tory majority since 1997.

Meanwhile Reform has secured majorities in 10 councils, with Labour dominating none in any respect.

The Lib Dems gained majorities on Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire councils, and took management of Shropshire from the Conservatives.

It stays to be seen how new Reform candidates, inexperienced in native management, will handle council budgets and day-to-day actions.

By-election misplaced by six votes

The by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, declared early into Friday morning, set the tone for Reform’s native election success.

The Labour constituency was up for grabs after former MP Mike Amesbury was suspended and jailed, following a bodily altercation with a constituent.

Just final yr, Labour had a majority of 14,000 votes within the constituency.

But this week’s by-election noticed Reform win by simply six votes after a recount.

Runcorn and Helsby’s new MP is Sarah Pochin, marking Reform’s fifth seat within the House of Commons after Rupert Lowe was suspended.

Labour candidate Karen Shore misplaced by simply 0.02 per cent of the vote.

This was a tighter race than any within the 2024 basic election, with the smallest margin in Hendon, the place Labour gained by 15 votes.

As the primary parliamentary by-election since Labour got here into energy, the result’s a blow for Sir Keir get together, who’re neck-in-neck with Reform in nationwide voting polls.