Election

England council results

Number of councillors

136 of 136 councils Counting complete

  • Reform UK 1,454 councillors 1,452 councillors gained
  • Labour 1,068 councillors 1,498 councillors lost
  • Liberal Democrat 844 councillors 155 councillors gained
  • Conservative 801 councillors 563 councillors lost
  • Green 587 councillors 441 councillors gained
  • Independent 213 councillors 35 councillors gained
Change

Summary

  1. RESULT: No party majority for Oxfordpublished at 04:56 BST 8 May

    With 21 of 24 seats declared we have a result in Oxford and the city council will remain no overall control.

    The Greens have gained five seats and Labour has lost five.

    Election BBC graphic for Oxford
    Election BBC graphic for Oxford's change in councillors
  2. Lib Dem leader vows to work cross-partypublished at 04:49 BST 8 May

    Patrick Hughes
    BBC South, in Portsmouth

    Steve Pitt, leader of the Lib Dems for Portsmouth City Council, has been talking after the party took control of the authority.

    He said: "It's a brilliant result for us, but it's also a great result for Portsmouth.

    "It's a vote of confidence in a hard-working team that really understand how Portsmouth works."

    He said to get overall control is an even better result than he was expecting.

    "It's not about the party in control having domination over everything," he said, and vowed to work cross-party.

    But he added: "I think some people were expecting to do rather better tonight than they have"

    A man with glasses smiling into the camera with tables and chairs behind him
    Image caption,

    Steve Pitt, Portsmouth Lib Dem leader

  3. Final results in for Readingpublished at 04:37 BST 8 May

    About 10 minutes ago we told you how Labour had held Reading Borough Council.

    The full results are now in. Labour did lose four seats overall, with three going to the Greens and one to the Conservatives.

    A graphic showing the results of the Reading Borough Council election
  4. Halfway scores in Oxfordpublished at 04:32 BST 8 May

    Victoria Walton
    Oxfordshire Political Reporter

    Scores on the doors at just over halfway here in Oxford: Labour 5, Greens 5 and the Lib Dems 3.

    Still nothing for Reform or the Conservatives. Voter turn out for the city is high at 43.5%.

    Labour's leader, Susan Brown, has held her Churchill seat.

    Will she be able to form an administration though? Labour look to still be the biggest party, but could the Greens and the Lib Dems join forces and boot them out? We might only know after a weekend of hard discussions..

  5. Reform lose Reading seatpublished at 04:32 BST 8 May

    Patrick O'Hagan
    Political reporter, Berkshire

    While there's been a lot of talk about how well Reform will do tonight it's not all good news for the party.

    Clarence Mitchell who was the only Reform councillor on the borough lost his seat.

    Disappointed he's no longer a councillor he's putting a brave face on it.

    Clarence Mitchell a man in a suit with a light blue rosette on his chest
  6. RESULT: Labour holds in Readingpublished at 04:27 BST 8 May

    After 13 of 17 seats declared, Labour has held Reading Borough Council, but lost two seats.

    The Greens and the Conservatives have gained one seat, while the Lib Dems remained the same.

    Election graphic saying 'Reading Labour Hold'
    Election graphic outlining which parties have lost and gained seats in Reading
  7. First win in Southampton goes to Greenspublished at 04:18 BST 8 May

    Tristan Pascoe
    Political Reporter

    Green candidate Luke Reynolds wins a seat on Southampton City Council after standing as a councillor for the very first time, taking the seat from Labour by just 37 votes.

    He said national politics certainly was a factor: "A lot of the stuff that happens with Labour locally is to do with the national picture. The country wants a different way of running the Government, and the country wants a different way of running councils.

    "We want to bring communities together again. That's what the Green Party is saying it's going to do, that's what we're going to do and that's what people want."

    He added: "We're going to get more seats in the coming years. This is just the start of it."

    Luke Reynolds stood in a hall with people in the background
  8. Lib Dem victorypublished at 04:11 BST 8 May

    Some very happy faces in Portsmouth this morning as the Lib Dems keep every seat they were defending on the city council. The party also gained three seats to take overall control of the authority from no overall control.

    A group of people holding up Lib Dem signs
    Image caption,

    The Lib Dems celebrating in Portsmouth

  9. Disappointment over delayed count in Havantpublished at 04:09 BST 8 May

    Sophie Cridland
    BBC South, in Havant

    In Havant, volunteers are sat chatting and waiting trying to pass the time.

    The count has not begun yet because of delays following an issue with a boundary line between North East and North West Havant.

    Some of the votes in those areas will be counted in the voter turnout but they will not be counted towards the candidate vote.

    Instead the votes will be sealed and labelled by the returning officer.

    The remainder of the votes in the two divisions will be counted as normal and declared.

    Sharon Colings, the Reform UK group leader, said she is deeply disappointed: "It is very difficult to get our residents and voters to come out in the first place.

    "We have run a phenomenal campaign so to have voters votes that are going to be void is absolutely outrageous and as a voter how would it make you feel about voting again?"

  10. RESULT: Lib Dems win in Portsmouthpublished at 03:58 BST 8 May

    Patrick Hughes
    BBC South, in Portsmouth

    It's a majority for the Lib Dems here in Portsmouth - they've kept every seat they were defending, and have gained three on top of that to take control of the city council.

    On the flip side, it's been a terrible night for Labour who've lost all five seats they were defending.

    Reform picked up five seats and the room is now half empty.

    A graphic showing the Portsmouth election result
  11. Postpublished at 03:45 BST 8 May

    Earlier we told you about Pascual Jean Louis, an independent candidate at Reading Borough Council who says he wants to be the President of France.

    So, we tracked him down to find out why he was standing to be a councillor and here he is complete with full Napoleon regalia.

    You can read more here.

    Media caption,

    Pascual Jean Louis, an independent candidate, is at the local election count in Reading.

  12. Mixed feelings for Reform and Lib Dems in Havantpublished at 03:39 BST 8 May

    Sophie Cridland
    BBC South, Havant

    In Havant, Phillipa Gray from the Lib Dems is anticipating a disappointing night.

    She said: “Right now it doesn’t seem to be as well as we’d hope but the count isn’t over yet. Politics is never boring. Sometimes it’s painful but never boring.”

    Phillipa Gray stood in a cafe wearing a yellow rosette and smiling at the camera.
  13. First seats declared for Hampshire County Councilpublished at 03:36 BST 8 May

    Emily Hudson
    BBC South Political Editor

    The first three seats on Hampshire County Council have been declared.

    All three have been held by the Conservatives. What's interesting is they are the three Andover seats, West, South and North. In the Test Valley part of the county, these were the three Reform had been hopeful of taking. The faces are glum.

    Councillors stood around as the results are announced.
  14. Portsmouth: How would you spend £1m in your local council?published at 03:29 BST 8 May

    As we wait for the first results from Portsmouth, here's our reporter Anjana Gadgil talking to voters in the city about how they would spend £1m if they were elected.

    Media caption,

    We asked the people of Portsmouth how they would use the money in their local area.

  15. Postpublished at 03:20 BST 8 May

    Victoria Walton
    Oxfordshire Political Reporter

    We told you earlier about Emily Lygo who was bidding to join her father on Oxford City Council, but it wasn't to be and she has lost out to the Oxford's Lib Dem leader, Chris Smowton.

  16. Democracy is winningpublished at 03:15 BST 8 May

    Emily Hudson
    BBC South Political Editor

    Forget which party is winning seats for now, tonight it's democracy which is winning.

    At every count which has reported figures, turnout is up and in some wards or divisions - significantly up. In Copnor, Portsmouth in 2024, turnout was 29%, today it was 44%.

    In Reading in 2024, it was 32%, today more than 41%.

    Reform's Hampshire spokesman George Madgwick has said "both Greens and Reform have engaged the community and that's prompted high turnout".

    But Nick Adams-King, Conservative leader of Hampshire County Council agreed many people actively came out to vote for Reform, but said "just as many people, if not more, had came out to vote against them".

  17. RESULT: Lib Dems Hold in Eastleighpublished at 03:09 BST 8 May

    A graphic which reads "Eastleigh Liberal Democrat hold"
  18. RESULT: No change in Hartpublished at 03:05 BST 8 May

    Our first result of the night is in and Hart District Council still has a no party majority.

    The Liberal Democrats are the biggest party with 13 seats, gaining one from the Conservatives on the night.

    A graphic which says "Hart. No Party Majority. No change"
  19. Nervous smiles for Labour and Conservatives in Havantpublished at 02:50 BST 8 May

    Sophie Cridland
    BBC South, Havant

    In Havant, Labour's Phil Munday, the leader of the borough council, said “let’s be honest, we are nervous but I think the outcome will be different in different places. It will come down to how well known the councillor is”.

    Lulu Bowerman from the Conservatives, said: “We as a county had an idea that it would be seismic change, the way that the polls have indicated. We are braced and would like to be pleasantly surprised but I fear the predictions will be accurate.”

    Phil Munday, a man with grey hair and wearing a suit, while stood in a hall and smiling at the camera.
    Lulu Bowerman a woman stood in a hall smiling at the camera.
  20. Early gains for Reform, Greens and Lib Demspublished at 02:40 BST 8 May

    Like buses, we've waited four hours and four come along and once as the first ward results are coming in.

    In Oxford, it's beginning to look like a good night for the Greens. They've taken two wards. One from Labour. The Lib Dems have the other.

    And we've had our first result at Portsmouth City Council too - with Labour losing a seat they were defending to Reform in Cosham.