United Kingdom local elections, 2007

The 2007 UK local government

Local government in the United Kingdom

The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved...

elections

Elections in the United Kingdom

There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom: United Kingdom general elections, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday...

were held on 3 May 2007. These elections took place in most of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

and all of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. There were no local government elections in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

though the Welsh Assembly had a general election

National Assembly for Wales election, 2007

The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, and the Scottish Parliament election took place...

on the same day. There were no local government elections in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. Just over half of English councils and almost all the Scottish councils began the counts on Friday, rather than Thursday night, because of more complex arrangements regarding postal votes.

These elections were a landmark in the United Kingdom as it was the first time that 18-20 year olds could stand as candidates for council seats. The change is due to an alteration of the Electoral Administration Act

Electoral Administration Act 2006

The Electoral Administration Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed on 11 July 2006. The Bill was amended during its passage through the House of Lords to require political parties to declare large loans; this followed the "Cash for Peerages" scandal...

. At least fourteen 18-20 year olds are known to have stood as candidates for council seats and as a result William Lloyd

William Lloyd (councillor)

William Albert Lloyd is the Conservative Party Councillor for Warley in Brentwood, Essex.He was elected in May 2007 to represent the Conservatives...

became the youngest person to be elected to official office in Britain. There were also a number of councils which used new voting methods such as internet and telephone voting in addition to the traditional methods of polling stations and postal votes.

English council elections

There was a suggestion in February 2006 that many of the 2007 local elections in England would be cancelled due to a reform of local government. However since then possible reforms are still in the consultation stage and no decisions have yet been made.

Summary of results

312 English district councils, nearly all districts in England held some form of election – either thirds or full – on Thursday, 3 May 2007.

The final results are summarised below; firstly, with a table ranked by the party with the greatest number of councillors elected.
> > > > > > > > > > >

Party		Councils				Councillors
Party		Gain	Loss	Change	Total	Gain	Loss	Change	Total
47	8	+39	165			+911	5315
5	9	-4	23			-246	2171
3	10	-8	34			−504	1877
	Residents Associations	0	0	0	1			-19	67
0	0	0	0			+17	62
0	0	0	0			+1	10
0	0	0	0			-1	9
0	0	0	0	2	1	+1	7
0	0	0	0			-1	5
0	0	0	0	2	1	+1	4
0	0	0	0	2	2	0	3
0	0	0	0	0	1	-1	0
	Other			0	4			-162	949
	No overall control			-27	85	–	–	–	–

English mayoral elections

Council	Independent	Conservative	Labour	Liberal Democrat	Green	Elected	Result
Bedford Bedford Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...	15,967	10,710	4,757	10,551	1,538	Frank Branston Frank Branston Frank Branston was a journalist, novelist and newspaper proprietor, and the first directly elected mayor of the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England.-Early life and career:...	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... hold
Mansfield Mansfield Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....	13,756	2,770	8,774	1,944	1,489	Tony Egginton Tony Egginton Tony Egginton is the directly elected mayor of the Mansfield district in Nottinghamshire, England. He was elected to the position on 17 October 2002. He was re-elected in 2007 and again 2011.He had previously been a newsagent....	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... hold
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...	17,455	1,733	3,539	7,026	no candidate	Ray Mallon Ray Mallon Ray Mallon is the directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough.-Early life:Ray Mallon was raised in Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire, a working-class town near Middlesbrough and Stockton-On-Tees, the only child of Joe and Pauline Mallon...	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... hold

Scottish council elections

All 32 Scottish councils

Local government of Scotland

Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authorities designated as Councils which consist of councillors elected every four years by registered voters in each of the council areas....

had all their seats up for election - all Scottish councils are unitary authorities. These local elections were held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament general election. They were the first election for local government in mainland Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

to use the Single Transferable Vote

Single transferable vote

The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

(the system is used in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

), as implemented by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004

The Local Governance Act 2004 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, inter alia, for the election of Councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the Single Transferable Vote system....

Summary of results

> > > > >

Party		Councils - majority	Councils - in coalition/minority	Councillors
0	11	363
2	11	348
0	12	166
0	8	143
0	0	8
	Scottish Socialist Party Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....	0	0	1
	Solidarity Solidarity (Scotland) Solidarity is a political party in Scotland, launched on September 3, 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridan's libel action...	0	0	1
	Other	3	9	193
	No overall control	27	-	-

Councils

The notional results in the following table are based on a document that John Curtice

John Curtice

John Curtice is an academic who is currently Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde. He is particularly interested in electoral behaviour, researching political and social attitudes, and is an acknowledged expert on the call for Scottish independence.- External links :*...

and Stephen Herbert (Professors at the University of Strathclyde

University of Strathclyde

The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...

) produced on 3 June 2005, calculating the effect of the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote on the 2003 Scottish Local Elections

United Kingdom local elections, 2003

Local elections took place in various parts of the United Kingdom on 1 May 2003, the same day as the Scottish Parliamentary and the Welsh Assembly elections. There were local elections for all councils in Scotland and in most of England...

Council	2003 result United Kingdom local elections, 2003 Local elections took place in various parts of the United Kingdom on 1 May 2003, the same day as the Scottish Parliamentary and the Welsh Assembly elections. There were local elections for all councils in Scotland and in most of England... (control before May 2007, if different)
Aberdeen City Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland.The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. Act 1994... (LD + Con)	NOC (LD + SNP)	Details
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic... (LD + Ind)	NOC (LD + Con)	Details Aberdeenshire Council election, 2007 Elections to Aberdeenshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Angus Angus Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...	NOC (Ind + Con + LD + Lab)	Details Angus Council election, 2007 Elections to Angus Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...	Independent (Ind + SNP)	Details Argyll and Bute Council election, 2007 Elections to Argyll and Bute Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....	NOC (Lab minority)	Details Clackmannanshire Council election, 2007 Elections to Clackmannanshire Council were held on 3 May 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973... (Lab)	NOC (Con + LD)	Details Dumfries and Galloway Council election, 2007 Elections to Dumfries and Galloway Council were held on 3 May 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Dundee City (Lab + LD+ Con)	NOC (Lab + LD)	Details
East Ayrshire East Ayrshire East Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway...	Labour (SNP minority)	Details East Ayrshire Council election, 2007 Elections to East Ayrshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire This article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of... (LD)	NOC (Lab + Con)	Details East Dunbartonshire Council election, 2007 Elections to East Dunbartonshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
East Lothian East Lothian East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....	NOC (SNP + LD)	Details East Lothian Council election, 2007 Elections to East Lothian Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election....
East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde... (Lab + LD)	NOC (Lab + LD + Ind + Con)	Details East Renfrewshire Council election, 2007 Elections to East Renfrewshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election....
City of Edinburgh (NOC: Lab)	NOC (LD + SNP)	Details
Falkirk Falkirk (council area) Falkirk is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland. It borders onto North Lanarkshire to the south west, Stirling to the north west, West Lothian to the south east and, across the Firth of Forth to the north east, Fife and Clackmannanshire... (SNP + Ind + Con)	NOC (Lab + Ind + Con)	Details Falkirk Council election, 2007 Elections to Falkirk Council was held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using 9 new wards created as a results of the Local Governance Act 2004, each ward will elect three or four councillors using the single transferable...
Fife Fife Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire... (Lab)	NOC (LD + SNP)	Details Fife Council election, 2007 Elections to Fife Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Glasgow City	Labour	Details
Highland Politics of the Highland council area Politics of the Highland council area in Scotland are evident in the deliberations and decisions of the Highland Council, in elections to the council, and in elections to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Scottish Parliament...	Independent (Ind + SNP)	Details The Highland Council election, 2007 Elections to the Highland Council were held on 3 May 2007; the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament and to the 31 other councils in Scotland. Previous elections to the Council had been conducted using the single member plurality system...
Inverclyde Inverclyde Inverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west...	NOC (Lab minority)	Details Inverclyde Council election, 2007 Elections to Inverclyde Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using six new wards created as a results of the Local Governance Act 2004, each ward will elect three or four councillors using the single...
Midlothian Midlothian Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....	NOC (Lab minority)	Details Midlothian Council election, 2007 Elections to Midlothian Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Moray Moray Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...	Independent (Ind + Con)	Details Moray council election, 2007 Elections to The Moray Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the Scottish Parliament election. The election was the first using the eight new wards created under the Local Governance Act 2004. 26 councillors were elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral...
Na h-Eileanan Siar Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is the local government council for Na h-Eileanan Siar council area of Scotland.It is the only local council in Scotland to have a Gaelic-only name...	Independent	Details Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election, 2007 Elections to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
North Ayrshire North Ayrshire North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...	Labour (Lab minority)	Details North Ayrshire Council election, 2007 Elections to North Ayrshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...	Labour	Details North Lanarkshire Council election, 2007 Elections to North Lanarkshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Orkney Orkney Islands Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...	Independent	Details Orkney Islands Council election, 2007 Elections to Orkney Islands Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross Council Perth and Kinross Council is the local government council for the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland. It employs nearly 5000 employees.The council was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc... (SNP + LD + Ind)	NOC (SNP + LD)	Details Perth and Kinross Council election, 2007 Elections to Perth and Kinross Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...	NOC (SNP + LD)	Details Renfrewshire Council election, 2007 Elections to Renfrewshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Scottish Borders Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland... (Ind + Con)	NOC (Ind + Con + LD)	Details Scottish Borders Council election, 2007 Elections to Scottish Borders Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Shetland Shetland Islands Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...	Independent	Details Shetland Islands Council election, 2007 Elections to Shetland Islands Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
South Ayrshire South Ayrshire South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway.... (Con)	NOC (Con minority)	Details South Ayrshire Council election, 2007 Elections to South Ayrshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....	Labour (Lab minority)	Details South Lanarkshire Council election, 2007 Elections to South Lanarkshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
Stirling Stirling (council area) Stirling is one of the 32 unitary local government council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 87,000 . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of the former... (NOC: Lab)	NOC (Lab minority)	Details Stirling Council election, 2007 Elections to Stirling Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. Bordering onto the west of the City of Glasgow, containing many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages as well as the city's suburbs, West Dunbartonshire also borders onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East...	Labour (SNP + Ind)	Details West Dunbartonshire Council election, 2007 Elections to West Dunbartonshire Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...
West Lothian West Lothian West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....	NOC (SNP + Ind)	Details West Lothian Council election, 2007 Elections to West Lothian Council were held on the May 3, 2007 the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election...

Pre-election predictions

A Newsnight

Newsnight

Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....

poll by the analysts Rallings and Thrasher some days before the election predicted the following results for the English council elections:

Con 38% (Conservatives gaining 330 seats and losing 2% of the vote on 2006)

Lab 24% (Labour losing 500 seats and losing 2% of the vote on 2006)

LD 29% (Liberal Democrats gaining 110 seats and gaing 2% of the vote on 2006)

However, these predictions, as in 2006, were largely inaccurate, underestimating Conservative support and grossly overestimating the Lib Dems' performance. However, it did accurately predict the number of seats Labour would lose.

External links

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