Local elections: What happened and what did we learn?

The results are in, and Nigel Farage’s new political party Reform has done well. They are now in charge of ten UK councils, with a majority in Durham, Derbyshire, Kent, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Lancashire, and Lincolnshire.^¹/² 

Reform stole Runcorn and Helsby from Labour by just six votes. They won two mayoral contests in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire, winning 42% and 36% of the vote respectively. Reform now holds over 650 council seats, while the Conservative party lost about 650 seats.¹

The Liberal Democrats also did well, winning 150 seats in Devon, Wiltshire, Cornwall, Hertfordshire, and taking charge of Shropshire, Oxfordshire, and Cambridgeshire. The Lib Dems won more seats than the Conservative Party, pushing them into third place.¹

What have we learned from the 2025 UK local elections? 

It was a disappointing result for Labour, with their recent decisions over the winter fuel and personal independence allowances seeming to come back to bite them. Those close to the Prime Minister argue that the economic situation Labour inherited made cuts, any of which were bound to be unpopular, inevitable and necessary.² The silver lining for Labour is that they have up to four years to turn things around. They have time to sway public opinion back in their favour - if they can. 

The Conservative Party, which was reduced to their lowest number of MPs ever in the 2024 election, seems to have lost the vote of those frustrated with Labour to Reform. The Conservatives had been the leading party in Staffordshire County Council for sixteen years, enjoying a majority of 56 out of 62. They have ten left. Reform isn’t the only party enjoying the Tories' losses. The Lib Dems surpassed them during this election, pushing the Conservatives into third place.²

What seems clear is that the public wants change. Labour won the last election under the promise of change, and some of Reform’s candidates have taken up that mantle. It’s now Labour’s job to convince people that they are still the party of change, even as their policies are scrutinised in real life, while the other parties need to convince people that they, rather than Labour, can make things better. 

Is this the end of two-party politics? 

The close result in Runcorn and Helsby may signal a move towards unpredictable, close election results where every vote really does count. We’ve seen this before, however, in the Liberal Democrats' 2010 election victory, where the Conservative and Labour parties only achieved 65% of the total vote.²

It didn’t last. By 2017, Labour and the Conservatives were dominating British politics again with 82% of the vote.² It’s hard to predict British politics with any certainty. It is possible Nigel Farage could be the next prime minister, and it’s also possible that Reform could follow the Lib Dems' 2010 footsteps. Nobody knows what’s going to happen. 

Sources

1. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k410w11r3o

2. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8jdr6ylzjo

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May 2025