2009 United Kingdom local elections

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.

2009 United Kingdom local elections

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4 June 2009
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All 27 county councils, 7 out of 55 unitary authorities,
1 sui generis authority, and 3 directly elected mayors
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader David Cameron Nick Clegg Gordon Brown
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour
Leader since 6 December 2005 18 December 2007 24 June 2007
Percentage 38% 28% 23%
Swing 6% 3% 1%
Councils 30 1 0
Councils +/– 7 1 4
Councillors 1,531 484 178
Councillors +/– 244 2 291

County council election results

Unitary authority and mayoral elections

The elections resulted in significant gains for the Conservatives. The party won 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%. This was the last local elections until 2024 where the Liberal Democrats polled in second place.

Labour, taking the blame in government from a worsening economic climate, soaring unemployment and the expenses scandal, lost all of its councils, with some authorities being swept clear of any Labour councillors at all. The party also performed poorly in the European elections on the same day.

Results

Party Councillors Councils
Number Change Number Change
Conservative 1,531 244 30 7
Liberal Democrats 484 2 1 1
Labour 178 291 0 4
Independent 97 6 0
Green 18 8 0
Residents 9 2 0
UKIP 7 7 0
BNP 3 3 0
Mebyon Kernow 3 0
Liberal 2 0
Others 30 15 0
No overall control n/a n/a 3 2

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 Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cambridgeshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cumbria No overall control No overall control hold Details
Derbyshire Labour Conservative gain Details
Devon Liberal Democrats Conservative gain Details
Dorset Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Sussex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Essex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gloucestershire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hampshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Kent Conservative Conservative hold Details
Lancashire Labour Conservative gain Details
Leicestershire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Lincolnshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Norfolk Conservative Conservative hold Details
North Yorkshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Northamptonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Nottinghamshire Labour Conservative gain Details
Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Somerset Liberal Democrats Conservative gain Details
Staffordshire Labour Conservative gain Details
Suffolk Conservative Conservative hold Details
Surrey Conservative Conservative hold Details
Warwickshire No overall control Conservative gain Details
West Sussex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Worcestershire Conservative Conservative hold Details

Unitary authorities

Existing authorities

Council Proportion up
for election
Previous control Result Details
Bristol 1/3 No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Isle of Wight All Conservative Conservative hold Details

New authorities

Elections were held for five new unitary authorities. All councillors were elected at this election.

Council Result Details
Bedford No overall control Details
Central Bedfordshire Conservative Details
Cornwall No overall control (Conservative/Independent Coalition) Details
Shropshire Conservative Details
Wiltshire Conservative Details

Isles of Scilly

The Council of the Isles of Scilly was created by the Local Government Act 1888, meaning they lie outside the classifications of authorities used in the rest of England.

Council Proportion up
for election
Previous control Result Details
Isles of Scilly All Independent Independent hold Details

Mayoral elections

Local Authority Previous Mayor Candidate elected Details
Doncaster Martin Winter (Independent) Peter Davies (English Democrats) Details
Hartlepool Stuart Drummond (Independent) Stuart Drummond (Independent) Details
North Tyneside John Harrison (Labour) Linda Arkley (Conservative) Details

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.

See also

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