United Kingdom local elections, 2009
Encyclopedia
The 2009 United Kingdom local elections were elections held to all 27 County Councils, three existing Unitary Authorities
and five new Unitary Authorities, all in England
, on 4 June 2009. The elections were due to be held on 7 May 2009, but were delayed in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament
.
The elections produced a political landscape on the map of England that was a sea of Conservative blue. The party snatched Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Lancashire from Labour, as well as Devon and Somerset from the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats did however win a majority in Bristol. Despite the optimism for the Conservatives in seat and council gains, their share of the vote at 38% was 6% down on 2008. That said, they had a clear 10% lead over the Liberal Democrats who achieved a respectable second place on 28%. Labour, suffering from a worsening economic climate and the expenses scandal, lost all of its councils, with some authorities being swept clear of any Labour councillors at all.
Source: BBC News
Isles of Scilly Council not included in the above figures.
A mayoral election was also due to be held in Stoke-on-Trent
, however voters in the city voted to abolish the directly elected mayor system in a referendum
held in October 2008. The referendum decided to replace the mayor and executive system with a council leader and cabinet system of local government.
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
and five new Unitary Authorities, all in 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...
, on 4 June 2009. The elections were due to be held on 7 May 2009, but were delayed in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament
European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)
The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...
.
The elections produced a political landscape on the map of England that was a sea of Conservative blue. The party snatched Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Lancashire from Labour, as well as Devon and Somerset from the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats did however win a majority in Bristol. Despite the optimism for the Conservatives in seat and council gains, their share of the vote at 38% was 6% down on 2008. That said, they had a clear 10% lead over the Liberal Democrats who achieved a respectable second place on 28%. Labour, suffering from a worsening economic climate and the expenses scandal, lost all of its councils, with some authorities being swept clear of any Labour councillors at all.
Summary of results
| Party | Councillors | Councils | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +/− | Total | +/− | Total | ||
| +244 | 1,531 | +7 | 30 | ||
| −2 | 484 | −1 | 1 | ||
| −291 | 178 | −4 | 0 | ||
| +6 | 97 | 0 | 0 | ||
| +8 | 18 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Residents | +2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| +7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| +3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Others | +15 | 30 | 0 | 0 | |
| No overall control | n/a | n/a | −2 | 3 | |
Source: BBC News
Isles of Scilly Council not included in the above figures.
County councils
All 27 English County Councils were up for election. All seats on the councils were contested at this election.| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom. Its area of control does not include Milton Keynes, which is a unitary authority... hold |
Details | ||||
| Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council of Cambridgeshire, England. The council currently consists of 69 councillors, representing 60 electoral divisions. The Conservative Party has a majority on the council, having gained control in the 1997 local elections... hold |
Details | ||||
| Cumbria Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council is the county council of Cumbria, a county in the North West of England. Established in 1974, following its first elections held a year before that, it is an elected local government body responsible for the most significant local services in the county, including county... hold |
Details Cumbria Council election, 2009 Elections to Cumbria County Council took place on 4 June 2009. They coincided with an election for the European Parliament. All 84 seats in the Council were up for election, and a total of 301 candidates stood... |
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| Derbyshire gain |
Details Derbyshire Council election, 2009 Elections to Derbyshire County Council took place on 4 June, 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.The election was won by the Conservatives who were elected with a small overall majority... |
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| Devon Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon... gain |
Details | ||||
| Dorset Dorset County Council Dorset County Council is the county council of the Dorset in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils... hold |
Details Dorset Council election, 2009 Elections to Dorset County Council took place on 4 June 2009. The vote was delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament... |
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| East Sussex hold |
Details | ||||
| Essex hold |
Details Essex Council election, 2009 Elections to Essex County Council took place on 4 June 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.... |
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| Gloucestershire hold |
Details Gloucestershire Council election, 2009 Elections to Gloucestershire County Council took place on 4 June 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament. All of the Council's 62 seats were up for election. Most divisions returned one County Councillor under the first past the post... |
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| Hampshire Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils... hold |
Details | ||||
| Hertfordshire Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. It currently consists of 77 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, which has 55 councillors, 17 Liberal Democrats, versus 3 Labour... hold |
Details Hertfordshire Council election, 2009 A four-yearly election to Hertfordshire County Council took place on 4 June 2009, when all 77 electoral divisions were contested.-Election results:... |
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| Kent Kent County Council Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors... hold |
Details Kent Council election, 2009 The 2009 Kent County Council election took place on 4 June 2009 to elect members of Kent County Council.Elections were held in all divisions across Kent, excepting Medway Towns which is a unitary authority.... |
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| Lancashire Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of... gain |
Details Lancashire Council election, 2009 Lancashire County Council held elections on 4 June 2009. The United Kingdom government department Department for Communities and Local Government on the issue of moving the elections to the same date as the European Parliament election, 2009... |
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| Leicestershire Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a total of 55 councillors. The council is controlled by... hold |
Details Leicestershire Council election, 2009 Elections to Leicestershire County Council took place on 4 June, 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament. A total of 52 councillors were elected from 52 wards across the county's 7 districts... |
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| Lincolnshire hold |
Details | ||||
| Norfolk hold |
Details Norfolk Council election, 2009 The Nofolk Council election took place on 4 June 2009, coinciding with local elections for all county councils in England.The Conservatives were re-elected with an increased majority and as in Suffolk and Kent the Liberal Democrats replaced Labour as the main opposition party. The Conservatives... |
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| North Yorkshire hold |
Details | ||||
| Northamptonshire hold |
Details | ||||
| Nottinghamshire gain |
Details Nottinghamshire Council election, 2009 Elections to Nottinghamshire County Council took place on 4 June 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.... |
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| Oxfordshire Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils... hold |
Details | ||||
| Somerset Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.-Area covered:... gain |
Details | ||||
| Staffordshire gain |
Details Staffordshire Council election, 2009 Elections to Staffordshire County Council took place on 4 June, 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.... |
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| Suffolk Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the administrative authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 72 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions... hold |
Details Suffolk Council election, 2009 Elections to Suffolk County Council were held on 4 June 2009 on the same day as the elections to the European Parliament.Labour and the Conservatives were the only parties with candidates standing in all sixty-three electoral divisions... |
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| Surrey Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 80 elected councillors.The council is controlled by the Conservative party.The leader of the council is David Hodge.... hold |
Details | ||||
| Warwickshire gain |
Details | ||||
| West Sussex West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains 7 district and borough councils, and 159 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 71 elected councillors... hold |
Details West Sussex Council election, 2009 The West Sussex Council election, 2009 were elections to West Sussex County Council which took place on 4 June, 2009, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.... |
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| Worcestershire hold |
Details Worcestershire Council election, 2009 The 2009 Worcestershire Council election took place on 4 June 2009 to elect members of Worcestershire County Council.The election had been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament... |
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Existing authorities
| Council | Proportion up for election |
Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 1/3 gain |
Details Bristol Council election, 2009 The 2009 Bristol City Council elections were held on Thursday 4 June 2009, for 23 seats, that being one third of the total number of councillors... |
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| Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Council The Isle of Wight Council is a local council. It is a unitary authority covering the Isle of Wight, South East England. It is currently made up of 40 seats, with the Conservatives as ruling party with 24 councillors at the latest local election in June 2009.... |
All hold |
Details Isle of Wight Council election, 2009 The 2009 Isle of Wight Council elections were held on Thursday 4 June 2009.After a review by the boundary commission, the number of seats on the council was reduced from 48 single-member constituencies, to a 40 member council, consisting of 38 single member constituencies, and one double-member... |
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| Isles of Scilly Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part... |
All hold |
Details Isles of Scilly Council election, 2009 Elections to the Isles of Scilly Council, a unitary authority in the West of England, were held on 4 June 2009.The whole council of 21 members was up for election, with thirteen members elected in the St Mary's electoral division and another eight from the 'Off Islands', being two each from Bryher,... |
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New authorities
Elections were held for five new unitary authorities. All councillors were elected at this election.| Council | Result | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Bedford (borough) Bedford is a unitary authority with the status of a borough in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based at Bedford, which is also the county town of Bedfordshire. The borough contains a single urban area, the 69th largest in the United Kingdom that comprises Bedford and... |
Details | ||
| Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created from the merger of Bedfordshire County Council, Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire on 1 April 2009... |
Details | ||
| Cornwall |
Details Cornwall Council election, 2009 Elections to Cornwall Council, the Unitary Authority for Cornwall took place on 4 June 2009, the same day as other United Kingdom local elections, 2009.... |
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| Shropshire Shropshire Council Shropshire Council is a unitary authority in Shropshire, United Kingdom.It replaced the former two-tier local government structure in the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire on 1 April 2009, which involved its immediate predecessor, Shropshire County Council, and five non-metropolitan districts -... |
Details Shropshire Council election, 2009 The first elections to Shropshire Council took place on 4 June 2009, having been delayed from 7 May in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.74 councillors were elected from 63 electoral divisions... |
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| Wiltshire Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council is the unitary authority for most of the county of Wiltshire, in the West of England, the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council and to four districts—Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury, and West Wiltshire—all of which had been created in 1973 and were... |
Details Wiltshire Council election, 2009 Elections to Wiltshire Council, a new unitary authority, were held on 4 June 2009.The whole council of 98 members was up for election, with each member elected in a single-member electoral division... |
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Mayoral elections
| Local Authority | Previous Mayor | Candidate elected | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doncaster Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire in Yorkshire and the Humber Region of England.In addition to the town of Doncaster, the borough covers Mexborough, Conisbrough, Thorne and Finningley.... |
Martin Winter (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... ) |
Peter Davies Peter Davies (politician) Peter Davies is a politician in the English Democrats. He became Doncaster's second directly elected mayor in June 2009.-Personal life:Born in Woodlands on the outskirts of Doncaster in 1948, Davies went to school in Thorne, then worked at Danum School as a teacher. He is married... (English Democrats) |
Details Doncaster Council mayoral election, 2009 Elections for Doncaster's directly elected mayor were held on 4 June 2009, the same day as the Elections to the European Parliament. Peter Davies of the English Democrats won. Placing second in terms of first preference votes, Davies beat Michael Maye, an independent with backing from the Liberal... |
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| Hartlepool Hartlepool (borough) Hartlepool is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of County Durham, north east England. In 2003 it had a resident population of 90,161. It borders the non-metropolitan county of County Durham to the north, Stockton-on-Tees to the south and Redcar and Cleveland to the south-east along the... |
Stuart Drummond Stuart Drummond Stuart Drummond is the first directly-elected mayor of Hartlepool in North East England. He was first elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2005 and 2009. He was the first elected mayor in Britain to win a third term.-Biography:... (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... ) |
Stuart Drummond Stuart Drummond Stuart Drummond is the first directly-elected mayor of Hartlepool in North East England. He was first elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2005 and 2009. He was the first elected mayor in Britain to win a third term.-Biography:... (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... ) |
Details Hartlepool Council mayoral election, 2009 Elections for Hartlepool's directly elected mayor were held on 4 June 2009 on the same day as the Elections to the European Parliament.- Results :... |
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| North Tyneside North Tyneside The Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England and is part of the Tyneside conurbation. Its seat is Wallsend Town Hall.... |
John Harrison John Harrison (politician) John Harrison was the mayor of North Tyneside in England between 2005 and 2009. He is a member of the Labour Party.He became the elected mayor of North Tyneside on May 5, 2005 in the UK local elections, taking over from the previous Conservative mayor Linda Arkley, who later defeated him in the... (Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... ) |
Linda Arkley Linda Arkley Linda Arkley is the Conservative mayor of North Tyneside, England,She was elected as mayor in a 2003 by-election, following the resignation of Chris Morgan. She had previously been Deputy Leader of the Conservative group on North Tyneside Council... (Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... ) |
Details North Tyneside Council mayoral election, 2009 Elections for North Tyneside's directly elected mayor took place on 4 June 2009 on the same day as the elections to the European Parliament.The candidates for this election were:* Linda Arkley * Robert Nigel Batten... |
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A mayoral election was also due to be held in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, however voters in the city voted to abolish the directly elected mayor system in a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
held in October 2008. The referendum decided to replace the mayor and executive system with a council leader and cabinet system of local government.
See also
- 2009 structural changes to local government in England2009 structural changes to local government in EnglandStructural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a 'two-tier' system of counties and districts...
- European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...
External links
- Elections 2009 BBC News
- Elections 2009: Councils A-Z BBC News