Brstjjy

United Kingdom local elections, 2012

← 2011 3 May 2012 2013 →
131 councils in England all 32 councils in Scotland 21 of 22 councils in Wales
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ed Miliband David Cameron Nick Clegg Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Leader since 25 September 2010 6 December 2005 18 December 2007 Popular vote 38% 31% 16% Swing 1% 4% 1% Councils 75 42 6 Councils +/– 32 12 1 Councillors 2,158 1,005 431 Councillors +/– 823 405 336   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Alex Salmond Leanne Wood Party SNP Plaid Cymru Leader since 3 September 2004 16 March 2012 Councils 2 0 Councils +/– 2 1 Councillors 424 158 Councillors +/– 57 41
Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.

The 2012 United Kingdom local elections were held across England, Scotland and Wales on 3 May 2012.^[1] Elections were held in 128 English local authorities,^[2] all 32 Scottish local authorities and 21 of the 22 Welsh unitary authorities, alongside three mayoral elections including the London mayoralty and the London Assembly. Referendums were also held in 11 English cities to determine whether or not to introduce directly elected mayors.^[3]

The BBC's projected national vote share put Labour on 38%, the Conservatives on 31%, the Liberal Democrats on 16% and others on 15%.^[4]Rallings and Thrasher of Plymouth University estimated 39% for Labour, 33% for the Conservatives, 15% for the Liberal Democrats, and 13% for others.^[5]

The inaugural election of police and crime commissioners for 41 of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales took place separately, in November 2012.

Electoral process

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 3 May 2012 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections,^[6] although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections. It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.^[7]

The deadline to register to vote in the election was midnight on Wednesday 18 April 2012,^[8] though anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on Thursday 26 April 2012 to register.^[9]

Results

Overall Results - Great Britain

Party		Councils[10]		Councillors
		Number	Change	Number	Change
	Labour	75	32	2,158	823
	Conservative	32	12	1,005	405
	Liberal Democrat	6	1	431	336
	SNP	2	2	424	57
	Plaid Cymru	0	1	158	41
	Green	0		26	5
	Residents	0		21	5
	Scottish Green	0		14	6
	UKIP	0		9
	Health Concern	0		5	3
	Respect	0		5	5
	Liberal	0		4	6
	Others	5	2	596	151
	No overall control	51	18	n/a	n/a

England

Map of the results following the elections in England. Black indicates a council in no overall control, whilst white indicates area where no elections took place.

The local authorities having elections in 2012 (excluding mayoral elections) covered about 40% of the total English electorate, with 15.9 million electors entitled to vote. Turnout overall was 31.0%.^[2]

In summary, the accumulated local authority vote and seats won by political party was:

Note the equivalent of these figures may not be commonly available for other election years.
They represent the actual numbers of votes cast and should not be falsely compared to the more
commonly available figures based on the projections for the whole of Great Britain.

Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 Metropolitan boroughs had one third of their seats up for election.

Unitary authorities

Whole council up for election

Two unitary authorities that would usually have had a third of their seats up for election, actually had elections for all their seats because of the implementation of boundary changes.

One third of council up for election

In 16 English unitary authorities, one third of the council was up for election.

District councils

Whole council up for election

Four district councils that would usually have had one-third of their seats due for election, actually had full council elections as a result of the implementation of new ward boundaries.

Half of council up for election

7 district councils had half of their seats up for election.

One third of council up for election

In 63 district authorities, one third of the seats were up for election.

Mayoral elections

Three direct mayoral elections were held.

Mayoral referendums

Referendums were also held in 11 English cities to determine whether or not to introduce the position of a directly elected mayor. These polls took place in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield.^[3] Of these 11 cities, only Bristol chose direct election (rather than council appointment) of a mayor. In addition, the citizens of Doncaster voted on the same day to continue electing their mayors directly.

Scotland

Map of the control of Scottish councils following the 2012 council elections. Black indicates no overall control, red indicates majority Scottish Labour control, and yellow indicates majority Scottish National Party control.

Map of the largest party on each Scottish council following the 2012 council elections. Red indicates Scottish Labour, yellow Scottish National Party, white Independents and blue Scottish Conservatives. Patterned areas indicate a council where two parties have the same number of seats.

All council seats were up for election in the 32 Scottish authorities.

Wales

Map showing the results of the elections in Wales
Key:

  Labour control

  Independent control

  No Overall Control

  No election held

Party		Votes[19]	%	+/-	Councils	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Labour	304,296	36.0%	9.4%	10	8	577	237
	Plaid Cymru	133,961	15.8%	1.1%	0		158	39
	Conservative	108,365	12.8%	2.8%	0	2	105	67
	Liberal Democrat	68,619	8.1%	4.8%	0		72	92
	Independent/Others	231,026	27.3%	0.7%	2	1	329	40
	No overall control	n/a	n/a	n/a	9	5	n/a	n/a

In 21 out of 22 Welsh authorities, the whole council was up for election. On 17 January 2012, the Welsh Government announced that elections for Anglesey council have been postponed to May 2013.^[20]

See also

• Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom

References