2009 United Kingdom local elections

2009 United Kingdom local elections
← 2008 4 June 2009 2010 →
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
  David Cameron Nick Clegg Gordon Brown
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%[1] 28% 23%
Swing Decrease6% Increase3% Decrease1%
Councils 30 1 0
Councils +/– Increase7 Decrease1 Decrease4
Councillors 1,531 484 178
Councillors +/– Increase244 Decrease2 Decrease291
County council election results
Unitary authority and mayoral 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.[2][3] The elections were due to be held on 7 May 2009, but were delayed in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.[4][5]

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%.

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.

  1. ^ "BBC projected national vote shares for 2009". BBC News. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Communities and Local Government - Local government elections in 2009". Communities.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  3. ^ Communities and Local Government - Moving the date of English Local Government elections to the date of the European Parliament elections in 2009 - Consultation Archived August 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (4 November 2008). "House of Commons Hansard Debates from 04 Nov 2008 - Local Government Motion". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "'British expenses scandal dominates political debate', 23 May 2009". City Mayors. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.