Election Name: | 2008 United Kingdom local elections |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Type: | parliamentary |
Previous Election: | 2007 United Kingdom local elections |
Previous Year: | 2007 |
Next Election: | 2009 United Kingdom local elections |
Next Year: | 2009 |
Seats For Election: | All 36 metropolitan boroughs, 23 out of 50 unitary authorities, 78 out of 238 English districts, all 22 Welsh principal councils, and 1 directly elected mayor |
Election Date: | 1 May 2008 |
1Blank: | Councils |
2Blank: | Councils +/– |
3Blank: | Councillors |
4Blank: | Councillors +/– |
Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
Percentage1: | 44% |
Swing1: | 4% |
1Data1: | 65 |
2Data1: | 12 |
3Data1: | 3,154 |
4Data1: | 256 |
Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
Percentage2: | 24% |
Swing2: | 3% |
1Data2: | 18 |
2Data2: | 9 |
3Data2: | 2,368 |
4Data2: | 331 |
Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
Percentage3: | 25% |
Swing3: | 1% |
1Data3: | 12 |
2Data3: | 1 |
3Data3: | 1,805 |
4Data3: | 34 |
Map Size: | 300px |
The 2008 United Kingdom local elections were held on 1 May 2008. These elections took place in 137 English Local Authorities and all Welsh Councils.[1]
There were also extraordinary elections held for four of the new unitary authorities being created, in Northumberland, County Durham and Cheshire (two councils – Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester).[2] Scheduled elections for Penwith in Cornwall, Shrewsbury and Atcham in Shropshire, Bedford and South Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire and five district councils in Cheshire were cancelled, due to the up-coming unitary authorities being established in those counties.
The Labour Party finished in 3rd place by vote share, trailing the Conservatives by 20%, the largest such margin ever between the two main parties. Aside from the strong showing for David Cameron's Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems each made net gains of over 30 seats and the BNP made 10 net gains to finish with over 30 seats.
The strong showing for the Conservatives and the disappointing showing by Labour reflected the change in the political mood of Britain at the time, where the Labour government, now led by prime minister Gordon Brown, had suffered a slump in popularity due to the financial crisis and economic fears which were affecting Britain at the time.
Party | Councillors | Councils | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | Change | Number | Change | ||
3,155 | 257 | 65 | 12 | ||
2,365 | 334 | 18 | 9 | ||
1,804 | 33 | 12 | 1 | ||
205 | 31 | 0 | 1 | ||
47 | 5 | 0 | |||
43 | 11 | 0 | |||
37 | 10 | 0 | |||
20 | 2 | 0 | |||
10 | 0 | ||||
8 | 3 | 0 | |||
4 | 1 | 0 | |||
2 | 0 | ||||
Others | 716 | 4 | 0 | ||
n/a | n/a | 64 | 3 |
All 36 English metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barnsley | hold | Details | |||
Birmingham | hold | Details | |||
Bolton | hold | Details | |||
Bradford | hold | Details | |||
Bury | gain | Details | |||
Calderdale | hold | Details | |||
Coventry | gain | Details | |||
Doncaster | hold | Details | |||
Dudley | hold | Details | |||
Gateshead | hold | Details | |||
Kirklees | hold | Details | |||
Knowsley | hold | Details | |||
Leeds | hold | Details | |||
Liverpool | hold | Details | |||
Manchester | hold | Details | |||
Newcastle upon Tyne | hold | Details | |||
North Tyneside | gain | Details | |||
Oldham | gain | Details | |||
Rochdale | hold | Details | |||
Rotherham | hold | Details | |||
Salford | hold | Details | |||
Sandwell | hold | Details | |||
Sefton | hold | Details | |||
Sheffield | gain | Details | |||
Solihull | gain | Details | |||
South Tyneside | hold | Details | |||
St Helens | hold | Details | |||
Stockport | hold | Details | |||
Sunderland | hold | Details | |||
Tameside | hold | Details | |||
Trafford | hold | Details | |||
Wakefield | hold | Details | |||
Walsall | hold | Details | |||
Wigan | hold | Details | |||
Wirral | hold | Details | |||
Wolverhampton | gain | Details |
In 19 English unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.
Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blackburn with Darwen | hold | Details | |||
Derby | hold | Details | |||
Halton | hold | Details | |||
Hartlepool | gain | ||||
Kingston upon Hull | gain | Details | |||
Milton Keynes | hold | Details | |||
North East Lincolnshire | hold | ||||
Peterborough | hold | Details | |||
Plymouth | hold | ||||
Portsmouth | hold | Details | |||
Reading | gain | ||||
Slough | gain | Details | |||
Southampton | gain | Details | |||
Southend-on-Sea | hold | Details | |||
Stoke-on-Trent | hold | Details | |||
Swindon | hold | Details | |||
Thurrock | hold | Details | |||
Warrington | hold | ||||
Wokingham | hold | Details |
Elections were held in three of the current non-metropolitan counties of Cheshire, County Durham and Northumberland for four new unitary authorities which were established in 2009. These councils were "shadow councils" until then.
Council | Result | Details | |
---|---|---|---|
Cheshire East | Details | ||
Cheshire West and Chester | Details | ||
Durham | Details | ||
Northumberland |
In 4 English district authorities the whole council was up for election following ward boundary changes.
Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barrow-in-Furness | hold | Details | |||
Basingstoke and Deane | gain | Details | |||
South Lakeland | hold | Details | |||
Welwyn Hatfield | hold | Details |
In 7 English district authorities, half of the council was up for election.
Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adur | hold | Details | |||
Cheltenham | hold | Details | |||
Fareham | hold | Details | |||
Gosport | hold | Details | |||
Hastings | hold | Details | |||
Nuneaton and Bedworth | gain | Details | |||
Oxford | hold | Details |
In 67 English district authorities, a third of the council was up for election.
See main article: 2008 Welsh local elections.
In all 22 Welsh councils the whole of the council was up for election.
Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blaenau Gwent | gain | Details | |||
Bridgend | hold | Details | |||
Caerphilly | gain | Details | |||
Cardiff | hold | Details | |||
Carmarthenshire | hold | Details | |||
Ceredigion | hold | Details | |||
Conwy | hold | Details | |||
Denbighshire | hold | Details | |||
Flintshire | gain | Details | |||
Gwynedd | gain | Details | |||
Isle of Anglesey | hold | DetailsI | |||
Merthyr Tydfil | gain | Details | |||
Monmouthshire | hold | Details | |||
Neath Port Talbot | hold | Details | |||
Newport | gain | Details | |||
Pembrokeshire | hold | Details | |||
Powys | hold | Details | |||
Rhondda Cynon Taff | hold | Details | |||
Swansea | hold | Details | |||
Torfaen | gain | Details | |||
Vale of Glamorgan | gain | Details | |||
Wrexham | hold | Details |