Talk:2025 United Kingdom local elections

Infobox

I have amended the Infobox to show the parties in the order of seats won in the 2021 county elections (plus the unitary authorities up for election):

Con 1,531
Lab 380
LD 320
Grn 56
Others 199

The infobox is ordered by seats won in previous contested election, not the seats won in 2024 or projected vote share. FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 11:32, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

New reporting style

I have developed a new table of results for British local elections which I think gives the reader a better idea of how they work. Most are unaware that only a minority of seats are up for election at any given time, and the overall total seat tallies tend to get ignored. I think this format explains it better:

Party		Councillors			Councils
		Won	After	+/-	Won	After	+/-
	Labour	1,158	6,504	186	51	107	8
	Conservative	515	5,057	474	6	66	10
	Liberal Democrats	522	3,086	104	12	37	2
	Green	181	846	74	0	1
	SNP	—	426		0	1
	Plaid Cymru	—	204		0	4
	Reform UK	2	14	2	0	0
	Independent	278	2,757	110	1	12	1
	No overall control	—			37	141	1

I propose we use this for the 2025 elections (and for the infobox). It is based on local council elections which elect in thirds / halves - the total seats won in that election are reported, but the overall totals are reported too. For some reason this is not done in national local elections even though it is important information. It is not original research because these numbers have been tallied by an external source, this table merely shows the two totals side-by-side. FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 20:38, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Against! Let’s not start changing things just because you don’t like the results and wish to play them down. 188.214.9.74 (talk) 20:35, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Title

I know WP:Consistency is important but 2025 United Kingdom local elections feels misleading as a title. These aren't really United Kingdom local elections but rather England local elections as no other elections are scheduled in Scotland, Northern Ireland, nor Wales. Consider that 2022 Scottish local elections is a spun-off article of 2022 United Kingdom local elections – could the same standard be applied to this article to turn it into 2025 England local elections? Opinions welcome DimensionalFusion (talk · she/her) 08:51, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

This is a fair point, actually. 1934 Catalan local elections is territorially limited in scope as these were only held throughout Catalonia. However, as local elections are held yearly in the UK and comprise different areas, I also think that WP:CONSISTENCY is an important element to consider. I think that any change would have to cover all local elections in the UK (probably through a RfC or a RM), with an in-depth analysis on what articles to re-name and why, because if an election includes at least one council from a non-English area these would then be "UK local elections", and the end result (with yearly elections being named differently) may be chaotic. Impru20^talk 09:11, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

I was thinking about this and I thought that in years where it is England-only, for example 2025 United Kingdom local elections would redirect to 2025 England local elections (allowing for articles to remain consistent) and in other years, such as 2022 United Kingdom local elections would provide an overview of all the elections, or perhaps be used as a disambiguation page which lists all the articles DimensionalFusion (talk · she/her) 10:17, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

I think for consistencies sake, call it United Kingdom. While in practice, these are only within England, UK wide local elections are to be held on this date, it just happens that in this year, they're all in England. Kirky03 (talk) 09:59, 25 April 2025 (UTC)

Main issues section

the main issues section should be restored, it is important to archive the issues currently faced and expand upon it. It may be obvious to a british person, but foreigners may have little or no understanding of the current situation. ToadGuy101 (talk) 15:37, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Infobox Order

Sorry but why is the infobox ordered by seats gained? Would it not be more transparent to order it based on seat count after, considering Reform hasn't run in any prior local elections and therefore will naturally gain far more seats than other parties that have held more seats than Reform have gained? Breadm0nster (talk) 16:59, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Infobox ordered is based on what happened in this election, not the overall number of councils and councillors. It always has been that way. Let’s not start changing the rules when we don’t like the result hey 188.214.9.74 (talk) 20:34, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Who says I don't like the result? Anyway thanks for the clarification. Breadm0nster (talk) 20:35, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

English local elections or United Kingdom local elections

Out of touch American here, I'm not sure what the rules are for these articles, but wouldn't it make more sense if the title was 2025 English local elections' instead of 2025 United Kingdom local elections since the only councils and mayors up for election are within England? If not can someone tell me why we use United Kingdom for these article titles? Scuba 20:52, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Basically, because WP:TITLECON.

There are local elections in the UK every year, but not everywhere in the country holds elections every year. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each hold all of their respective local elections at the same time and on a regular four-year cadence. However, English local government has a hodgepodge of councils that elect all of their councillors at once every 4 years, councils that elect half of their councillors every two years and councils that elect a third of their councillors three years out of every four (and occasionally the councils in the latter two groups will elect all of their councillors at once due to boundary changes). And we have overlapping district and county councils in some areas of England. Then we have elections for positions like Police and Crime Commissioners which happen in both England and Wales (but not Scotland or Northern Ireland, and also not everywhere in England!), again on their own timetable. This basically guarantees that every year there will be some English councils that have elections, but there may also be elections in the other nations too. All of this has changed over time, as well, especially following devolution.

Confusing? Yes, but that's the nature of English local government and asymmetric devolution :D. So for consistency's sake we have an XXXX United Kingdom local elections article for each year and just include details of all elections happening in the UK in that year and may or may not have separate articles for NI/S/W-specific articles (but not England, because there is never an election for all local authorities in England).  M2Ys4U ^(talk) 01:45, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

My way of thinking about it is that these are UK-wide elections, they just happen to only fall in England this year. If they happened to only fall in the south of England, you wouldn't call them the South of England Local Elections. Kirky03 (talk) 09:41, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

Turnout data

I do not see any data for turnout nor sadly can I supply the statistics to fill the gap.

Please can someone add this data from a reputable source? 46.126.111.250 (talk) 06:59, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Create 2026 article?

Currently, I can’t find a source that shows what local elections are being held in 2026. Will this article be created soon? 188.214.9.74 (talk) 09:22, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

There is a timetable on gov.uk for elections to English local authorities that you can use in the mean time.  M2Ys4U ^(talk) 16:36, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Apples and pears

The figures in the infobox are unreferenced and misleading. There is a note stating that they are based on the BBC but no ref. I have found what I assume to be the source at [1]. This shows that the change in councillors compares with 2021 and the change in vote share with 2024. The different bases of comparison are not explained and make the comparisons invalid. The change in councillors and in vote share should be on the same basis. Dudley Miles (talk) 17:21, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

it's less an apples to pears comparison than two seperate comparisons: one apples to apples, the other pears to pears. councillor change only makes sense comparing to the last cycle these seats were up (so 2021) and projected national vote share only makes intuitive sense with the last set of local elections (so 2024). frankly i think including the projected national vote share is probably a bad idea but whatever - there appears to be a consensus for its inclusion and it's not a hill im going to die on. CR (how's my driving? call 0865 88318) 18:35, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

If an infobox gives figures for changes in councillors and votes, the reader will naturally assume that the figures are on the same basis, and is misled. The choice of 2024 local elections is misleading as Reform put up very few candidates so their percentage was artificially low. A comparison with the General Election would arguably be more valid in showing the growth in their support and the changes in the other parties' votes. The bottom line is that all figures should be referenced and labelled inline what they relate to. Neither of these are done at present. Dudley Miles (talk) 19:10, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

A comparison with the general election would be truly alarmingly and egregiously invalid. They're two very different types of election with evidently very different patterns of voting behaviour. CR (how's my driving? call 0865 88318) 19:40, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

A fair point. But having comparisons to different dates in one infobox without explanation to the reader is grossly misleading. I had to track down the source in order to understand the figures. Dudley Miles (talk) 22:06, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Surely vote share should be changed to be the vote share within the local elections rather than a nationwide projection?

How has this typically been done historically? Kirky03 (talk) 09:39, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

Every previous article shows changes from the previous local elections (calendar year) and this is how the BBC presented them. We should follow reliable sources, and the BBC presented changes from 2024, so that is what we should do. The BBC presented seat changes from 2021, so that is what we should also do. You are free to hold your own opinions on how changes should be shown, but Wikipedia bases its presentation of data on what reliable sources say. FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 10:56, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

I don't have much of an opinion (I'm too new for that) which is why I was asking how it has been done historically. Kirky03 (talk) 17:56, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

The BBC does not only present vote changes compared with 2024. It presents several years and Wikipedia editors select the one they decide to use in the article. Which ever year is selected the presentation is based on what reliable sources say. My main point stands, which is that the presentation is far below Wikipedia standards in not stating which year is being compared to and not providing references. Dudley Miles (talk) 20:35, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

"The BBC does not only present vote changes compared with 2024." What is this then my man? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62gy310ry2o FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 09:49, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Map showing party control of councils following the elections

Can somebody make a Map showing party control of councils following the elections.Muaza Husni (talk) 09:48, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

make it yourself 🥔 92.20.141.27 (talk) 22:29, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Draft new infobox

The current infobox is very unsatisfactory as much of it is unreferenced and the bases of figures and comparisons are in many cases not explained. I have drafted a revised infobox accepting that the consensus is for comparing local figures with 2021 and national figures with 2024. I have tried to ensure that all figures are referenced and their bases clearly explained. This has meant deleting some national figures as I was unable to validate them, but they can be added back if anyone can find a reliable source. I have also added mayoral elections and a column for 'Other'. The basis of the BBC national figures is not entirely clear as the heading says that they are national and the sub-heading GB, which implies excluding Northern Ireland. I have assumed that they are GB only. Comments please.

2025 United Kingdom local elections

1 May 2025
1,641 council seats 23 county, unitary, and metropolitan councils 6 directly elected mayors Turnout 35%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Nigel Farage Ed Davey Kemi Badenoch Party Reform UK Liberal Democrats Conservative Leader since 3 June 2024 27 August 2020 2 November 2024 After 2021 elections 0 councillors 0 councils 0 mayors 207 councillors 0 councils 0 mayors 993 councillors 16 councils 0 mayors After 2025 elections 677 councillors 10 councils 2 mayors 370 councillors 3 councils 0 mayors 319 councillors 0 councils 1 mayor Net change from 2021 677 councillors 10 councils 2 mayors 163 councillors 3 councils 674 councillors 16 councils 1 mayor GB totals 2025 777 councillors 3,189 councillors 4,445 councillors Projected GB vote 30% 17% 15% GB change 2024/2025 28% 10%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Keir Starmer Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay Party Labour Green Others Leader since 4 April 2020 1 October 2021 After 2021 elections 285 councillors 1 council 4 mayors 35 councillors 0 councils 0 mayors 117 councillors 0 councils 0 mayors After 2025 elections 98 councillors 0 councils 3 mayors 79 councillors 0 councils 0 mayors 94 councillors 0 councils 0 mayors Net change from 2021 187 councillors 1 council 1 mayor 44 councillors councils mayors 23 councils mayors GB totals 2025 6,136 councillors 855 councillors N/Av Projected GB vote 20% 11% 7% GB change 2024/2025 14% 2% 2%
Reform UK   Liberal Democrats   Labour Party   Conservative Party   No overall control

Sorry but this is way too crowded and does not provide an accessible summary of the results, which is the purpose of the infobox. I have to disagree, I don't think any change is needed FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 17:04, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

You think that an infobox which is mostly unreferenced, sometimes inaccurate, and does not explain what the figures represent, is better? Dudley Miles (talk) 17:53, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Agreed. Far too bulky. CR (how's my driving? call 0865 88318) 18:13, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

The current infobox has 13 lines and my draft 15. Deleting the mayors would reduce it to 12.

Blimey this is very confrontational, I do not see the need to so aggressively attack the work of other people who are seeking to create an informative and educational page. The suggestion of adding more references is quite reasonable and can be incorporated without creating a crowded infobox that has too much information in it. FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 18:28, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

The only additional lines are the mayors which I added for completeness. I am happy for them to be cut. My intention as I have commented is to provide an infobox which is referenced and explains the basis of the figures. If anyone has a better proposal for an infobox which meets those objectives then that is fine with me. Dudley Miles (talk) 18:57, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

We can just add citations to the current box, I'll do that. FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 19:31, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Trying to fit data bout councillors, councils and mayoralties in to the standard election infobox is perhaps stretching its usefulness a bit too much. Even just the data about councillors and councils is cluttering it up (which I'm guessing why <small> is being used for the council figures, despite the hit to readability). I've had a go at redesigning the infobox, moving away from the three-column structure usually used. Somebody with a better understanding of MediaWiki's more arcane template system would be needed to formalise it a little, though as I've hacked it together with tables somewhat. -- M2Ys4U ^(talk) 21:18, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

2025 United Kingdom local elections

1 May 2025

1,641 council seats 23 county, unitary, and metropolitan councils 6 directly elected mayors 2 sui generis authorities

​ Reform UK — Nigel Farage PNS 30% 28pp Council seats won 677 Councillors 128 → 805 677 Councils won 10 Councils controlled 0 → 10 10 Mayoralties won 2 Mayors 0 → 2 2 ​ Liberal Democrats — Ed Davey PNS 17% Council seats won 370 Councillors 3,009 → 3,179 163 Councils won 3 Councils controlled 37 → 40 3 Mayoralties won 0 Mayors 1 → 1 ​ Conservative — Kemi Badenoch PNS 15% 10pp Council seats won 317 Councillors 5,034 → 4,358 676 Councils won 0 Councils controlled 49 → 33 16 Mayoralties won 1 Mayors 3 → 4 1 ​ Labour — Kier Starmer PNS 20% 14pp Council seats won 98 Councillors 6,322 → 6,132 186 Councils won 0 Councils controlled 108 → 107 1 Mayoralties won 3 Mayors 20 → 19 1 ​ Green — Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay PNS 11% 2pp Council seats won 80 Councillors 850 → 895 45 Councils won 0 Councils controlled 1 → 1 Mayoralties won 0 Mayors 0 → 0

Reform UK   Liberal Democrats   No overall control   Labour Party   Reform UK   Conservative Party

Tangentially related, I think having only five parties in a format that allows for six is not aesthetically pleasing. The options to fill it out are to either include Independents before Greens, or to include Mebyon Kernow as the sixth party. Alternatively, we could use the alternative format someone has already suggested, but I feel this has its own problems. Of course, I may be making a fuss over nothing and it may be fine to leave as is. What are people's thoughts? Mozartnut (talk) 21:12, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

My draft does have a sixth column which groups independents and all other parties as others. I would on reflection delete the last two rows on projected national votes as too speculative. Dudley Miles (talk) 21:39, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

No, I think leaving the PNS numbers in is fine. It's relevant and every other infobox since 1982 (with the bizarre exception of 1997) has it, enabling comparison across elections. Mozartnut (talk) 23:16, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

A fair point. Dudley Miles (talk) 07:43, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

I think we just leave it as it is, especially with regards to the broad format. UK elections all use the same infobox style so unilaterally changing it just for locals is overstepping the bounds of this article IMO. FriendlyDataNerdV2 (talk) 15:46, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

References

Dudley Miles (talk) 16:58, 5 May 2025 (UTC)