2012 United Kingdom local elections

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]

2012 United Kingdom local elections

← 2011 3 May 2012 2013 →

All 36 metropolitan boroughs, 18 out of 55 unitary authorities,
74 out of 201 district councils, all 32 Scottish council areas,
21 out of 22 Welsh principal councils, and 3 directly elected mayors
  First party Second party Third party
  Ed Miliband David Cameron Nick Clegg
Leader Ed Miliband David Cameron Nick Clegg
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader since 25 September 2010 6 December 2005 18 December 2007
Swing Increase1% Decrease4% Increase1%
Projected vote-share 38% 31% 16%
Councils 75 42 6
Councils +/– Increase32 Decrease12 Decrease1
Councillors 2,158 1,005 431
Councillors +/– Increase823 Decrease405 Decrease336

  Fourth party Fifth party
  Alex Salmond
Leader Alex Salmond Leanne Wood
Party SNP Plaid Cymru
Leader since 3 September 2004 16 March 2012
Projected vote-share 2 0
Councils Increase2 Decrease1
Councils +/– 424 158
Councillors Increase57 Decrease41

Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.

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

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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

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Overall results - Great Britain

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Party Councils[10] Councillors
Number Change Number Change
Labour 75  32 2,158  823
Conservative 32  12 1,005  405
Liberal Democrats 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

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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:

English National vote and seat share[2]
Party Vote Seats
Labour 43.1% 49.4%
Conservative 27.5% 32.5%
Liberal Democrats 14.0% 11.9%
Green 4.2% 1.1%
Independent 3.2% 2.8%
Other 8.0% 2.3%

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

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Barnsley Labour Labour hold Details
Birmingham No overall control Labour gain Details
Bolton Labour Labour hold Details
Bradford No overall control No overall control hold (Labour Minority with Green support) Details
Bury Labour Labour hold Details
Calderdale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Coventry Labour Labour hold Details
Doncaster Labour Labour hold Details
Dudley Conservative Labour gain Details
Gateshead Labour Labour hold Details
Kirklees No overall control No overall control hold Details
Knowsley Labour Labour hold Details
Leeds Labour Labour hold Details
Liverpool Labour Labour hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Labour Labour hold Details
North Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
Oldham Labour Labour hold Details
Rochdale Labour Labour hold Details
Rotherham Labour Labour hold Details
St Helens Labour Labour hold Details
Salford Labour Labour hold Details
Sandwell Labour Labour hold Details
Sefton No overall control Labour gain Details
Sheffield Labour Labour hold Details
Solihull Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
Stockport No overall control No overall control hold (Lib Dem Minority) Details
Sunderland Labour Labour hold Details
Tameside Labour Labour hold Details
Trafford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold Details
Walsall No overall control No overall control hold (Conservative Minority with Lib Dem Support) Details
Wigan Labour Labour hold Details
Wirral No overall control Labour gain Details
Wolverhampton Labour Labour hold Details

Unitary authorities

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Whole council up for election

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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.

Council Previous control Result Details
Hartlepool[11] Labour Labour hold Details
Swindon[12] Conservative Conservative hold Details

One third of council up for election

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Blackburn with Darwen Labour Labour hold Details
Derby No overall control Labour gain Details
Halton Labour Labour hold Details
Kingston upon Hull Labour Labour hold Details
Milton Keynes No overall control No overall control hold Details
North East Lincolnshire No overall control Labour gain Details
Peterborough Conservative Conservative hold Details
Plymouth Conservative Labour gain Details
Portsmouth Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Reading No overall control Labour gain Details
Slough Labour Labour hold Details
Southampton Conservative Labour gain Details
Southend-on-Sea Conservative No overall control gain Details
Thurrock No overall control Labour gain Details
Warrington Labour Labour hold Details
Wokingham Conservative Conservative hold Details

District councils

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Whole council up for election

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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.

Council Previous control Result Details
Broxbourne[13] Conservative Conservative hold Details
Daventry[14] Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rugby[15] Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rushmoor[16] Conservative Conservative hold Details

Half of council up for election

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Adur Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cheltenham Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Fareham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gosport Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hastings Labour Labour hold Details
Nuneaton and Bedworth No overall control Labour gain Details
Oxford Labour Labour hold Details

One third of council up for election

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

Council Previous control Result Details
Amber Valley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Basildon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Basingstoke and Deane Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bassetlaw Labour Labour hold Details
Brentwood Conservative Conservative hold Details
Burnley No overall control Labour gain Details
Cambridge Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold (casting vote of the Mayor) Details
Cannock Chase No overall control Labour gain Details
Carlisle No overall control Labour gain Details
Castle Point Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cherwell Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chorley No overall control Labour gain Details
Colchester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Craven Conservative Conservative hold Details
Crawley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Eastleigh Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Elmbridge Conservative Conservative hold Details
Epping Forest Conservative Conservative hold Details
Exeter No overall control Labour gain Details
Gloucester Conservative No overall control gain Details
Great Yarmouth Conservative Labour gain Details
Harlow Conservative Labour gain Details
Harrogate Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hart Conservative No overall control gain Details
Havant Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hertsmere Conservative Conservative hold Details
Huntingdonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hyndburn Labour Labour hold Details
Ipswich Labour Labour hold Details
Lincoln Labour Labour hold Details
Maidstone Conservative Conservative hold Details
Mole Valley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Newcastle-under-Lyme No overall control Labour gain Details
North Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Norwich No overall control Labour gain Details
Pendle No overall control No overall control hold Details
Preston Labour Labour hold Details
Purbeck No overall control No overall control hold Details
Redditch Conservative Labour gain Details
Reigate and Banstead Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rochford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rossendale No overall control Labour gain Details
Runnymede Conservative Conservative hold Details
St Albans No overall control No overall control hold Details
South Cambridgeshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Lakeland Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Stevenage Labour Labour hold Details
Stratford-on-Avon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Stroud No overall control No overall control hold Details
Tamworth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tandridge Conservative Conservative hold Details
Three Rivers Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Tunbridge Wells Conservative Conservative hold Details
Watford Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Welwyn Hatfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
West Lancashire Conservative Conservative hold Details
West Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Weymouth and Portland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Winchester No overall control Conservative gain Details
Woking Conservative Conservative hold Details
Worcester Conservative No overall control gain Details
Worthing Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wyre Forest Conservative No overall control gain Details

Mayoral elections

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Three direct mayoral elections were held.

Local Authority Previous Mayor Mayor-elect Details
London Boris Johnson (Conservative) Boris Johnson (Conservative) Details
Salford[17] none Ian Stewart (Labour) Details
Liverpool[18] none Joe Anderson (Labour) Details

Mayoral referendums

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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

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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.

Council Previous control Result Details
Aberdeen City No overall control No overall control hold Details
Aberdeenshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Angus No overall control SNP gain Details
Argyll and Bute No overall control No overall control hold Details
Clackmannanshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Dumfries and Galloway No overall control No overall control hold Details
Dundee City No overall control SNP gain Details
East Ayrshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
East Dunbartonshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
East Lothian No overall control No overall control hold Details
East Renfrewshire No overall control No overall control Details
City of Edinburgh No overall control No overall control hold Details
Falkirk No overall control No overall control hold Details
Fife No overall control No overall control hold Details
Glasgow City Labour Labour hold Details
Highland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Inverclyde No overall control No overall control hold Details
Midlothian Labour No overall control gain Details
Moray No overall control No overall control Details
Na h-Eileanan Siar Independent Independent hold Details
North Ayrshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
North Lanarkshire Labour Labour hold Details
Orkney Independent Independent hold Details
Perth and Kinross No overall control No overall control hold Details
Renfrewshire No overall control Labour gain Details
Scottish Borders No overall control No overall control hold Details
Shetland Independent Independent hold Details
South Ayrshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
South Lanarkshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Stirling No overall control No overall control hold Details
West Dunbartonshire No overall control Labour gain Details
West Lothian No overall control No overall control hold Details

Wales

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Map showing the results of the elections in Wales
Key:
  Labour control
  Independent 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 Democrats 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]

Council 2008 Result 2012 Result Details
Blaenau Gwent No overall control Labour gain Details
Bridgend No overall control Labour gain Details
Caerphilly No overall control Labour gain Details
Cardiff No overall control Labour gain Details
Carmarthenshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Ceredigion No overall control No overall control hold Details
Conwy No overall control No overall control hold Details
Denbighshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Flintshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Gwynedd No overall control No overall control hold Details
Merthyr Tydfil Independent Labour gain Details
Monmouthshire Conservative No overall control gain Details
Neath Port Talbot Labour Labour hold Details
Newport No overall control Labour gain Details
Pembrokeshire Independent Independent hold Details
Powys Independent Independent hold Details
Rhondda Cynon Taff Labour Labour hold Details
Swansea No overall control Labour gain Details
Torfaen No overall control Labour gain Details
Vale of Glamorgan Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wrexham No overall control No overall control hold Details

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Local Elections 2012". Conservative Councillors Association. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Colin Rallings and Michael Thrashe (August 2012). Local Elections in England 2012 (PDF) (Report). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Greg Clark: Date set for elected city mayors". Department of Communities and Local Government. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  4. ^ "At-a-glance: Elections 2012". BBC News. 4 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Local elections 2016" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  6. ^ "The Representation of the People (Form of Canvass) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006, Schedule Part 1". Legislation.gov.uk. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  7. ^ "I have two homes. Can I register at both addresses?". The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 November 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  8. ^ The deadline for the receipt of electoral registration applications is the eleventh working day before election day.
  9. ^ The deadline for the receipt and determination of anonymous electoral registration applications was the same as the publication date of the notice of alteration to the Electoral Register (i.e. the fifth working day before election day).
  10. ^ "BBC News - Vote 2012". BBC News. 8 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Hartlepool electoral review". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  12. ^ "Forthcoming Elections - Swindon Borough Council". Swindon Borough Council. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  13. ^ "Broxbourne electoral review". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Daventry electoral review". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  15. ^ "Rugby electoral review". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  16. ^ "Election News Summer 2011 - Rushmoor Borough Council" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011.
  17. ^ "Salford referendum votes for directly elected mayor". BBC News. 27 January 2012.
  18. ^ Bradbury, Sean (7 February 2012). "Liverpool Council passes motion to adopt elected mayor system". Liverpool Daily Post.
  19. ^ Excludes Anglesey in vote and seat data. See individual detailed articles below for the breakdown; this is a summary of the overall result.
  20. ^ "Anglesey council election postponed for year to 2013". BBC News. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012. Local government elections on Anglesey have been delayed for a year. It will mean people on the island will elect their new council in May 2013, 12 months later than in the rest of Wales.