While Labour was losing seats – and its majority in the House of Commons – at the general election, the party was picking up seats – and councils – in the local elections held in England at the same time. It was the Labour Party’s best set of council election results since 1996.
Voters went to the polls on May 6 to elect 164 local authorities – including 32 London boroughs, 36 metropolitan authorities, 20 unitary authorities and 76 district councils – with 15,785 candidates fighting 4,222 seats. There were also mayoral contests in Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Watford.
Labour won control of 15 councils, with a net gain of 412 seats. The Conservatives lost control of eight councils and 119 seats, while the Liberal Democrats lost three councils and 129 seats. It was particularly pleasing for activists as at the last local elections, held in June last year, Labour suffered heavy losses across the country, losing key seats to the Conservatives.
This time Labour won control of Ealing, Enfield and Harrow from the Tories and became the majority party in the previously hung councils of Brent, Camden, Hounslow, Islington, Lewisham, Southwark and Waltham Forest.
Labour also won Liverpool back from the Lib Dems and took control of Coventry, Doncaster, Hartlepool, Hastings, Oxford and St Helens.
The Lib Dems lost Richmond-upon-Thames to the Tories but won Winchester from the Conservatives. The Lib Dems also lost control of Rochdale and Sheffield but took control of Cheltenham.
The Tories lost overall control of Bury, Hyndburn, Lincoln, Mole Valley, North Tyneside, Nuneaton & Bedworth and Solihull but gained Craven, Gosport and Hart.
Sir Robin Wales, Labour’s candidate in Newham, the London borough which will host the Olympic Games in 2012, was re-elected mayor for a third term. Steve Bullock was re-elected in Lewisham and Jules Pipe was re-elected mayor in Hackney.
The far-right British National Party, which had hoped to take control of Barking & Dagenham, lost the 12 seats it held there. Labour swept the board in the borough, winning all 51 seats. The BNP lost 27 council seats across the country, including two of the seven it held in Stoke-on-Trent.
