Local Council Political Compositions after the elections of May 2005

This page shows the composition of councils after the elections of May 2005. Refer to the live compositions page for links to other preserved historical files.

There are five tables for the different types of council in England: County Councils, Unitary Authorities, London Boroughs, Metropolitan Boroughs, and District Councils; followed by tables for Scottish Unitary Authorities, and Welsh Unitary Authorities

Keith Edkins - recreated and © 14/05/2022

Executive types shown for England (Local Government Act 2000):
LC = Leader & Cabinet MC = Mayor & Cabinet MM = Mayor & Council Manager
AA = Alternative Arrangements under Section 31 (councils with less than 85,000 population), or Section 27(2)(b) Fallback proposals after the defeat of a Mayoral Referendum

County Councils
	Exec	Control	Con	Labour	LibDem	Others
Bedfordshire	LC	Con	36	7	9
Buckinghamshire	LC	Con	44	2	11
Cambridgeshire	LC	Con	42	4	23
Cheshire	LC	Con	26	16	8	1
Cornwall	LC	LDm	8	4	45	20
Cumbria	LC		32	39	11	2
Derbyshire	LC	Lab	15	38	19	1
Devon	LC	LDm	23	4	33	2
Dorset	LC	Con	24	4	16	1
Durham	LC	Lab	2	53	5	3
East Sussex	LC	Con	29	5	14	1
Essex	LC	Con	52	13	8	2
Gloucestershire	LC	Con	33	13	13	4
Hampshire	LC	Con	45	4	27
Hertfordshire	LC	Con	46	16	14	1
Kent	LC	Con	57	21	6
Lancashire	LC	Lab	31	44	6	3
Leicestershire	LC	Con	30	13	12
Lincolnshire	LC	Con	45	21	8	3
Norfolk	LC	Con	46	22	15
North Yorkshire	LC	Con	42	9	18	3
Northamptonshire	LC	Con	45	21	7
Northumberland	LC	Lab	14	35	14	4
Nottinghamshire	LC	Lab	25	38	4
Oxfordshire	LC	Con	43	9	17	5
Shropshire	LC	Con	25	9	11	3
Somerset	LC	LDm	24	4	30
Staffordshire	LC	Lab	27	32	2
Suffolk	LC	Con	45	22	7	1
Surrey	LC	Con	58	2	12	8
Warwickshire	LC		27	23	11	1
West Sussex	LC	Con	46	7	17
Wiltshire	LC	Con	28	3	16	2
Worcestershire	LC	Con	29	17	8	3
County Totals			1144	574	477	74

Unitary Authorities
	Exec	Control	Con	Labour	LibDem	Others
Bath & N.E. Somerset	LC	LD/Con/Ind	26	6	29	4
Blackburn with Darwen	LC	Lab	17	35	12
Blackpool	LC	Lab	13	25	4
Bournemouth	LC	LDm	16	3	33	2
Bracknell Forest	LC	Con	35	6	1
Brighton & Hove	AA	Lab (minority)	21	23	3	7
Bristol	LC	LD (minority)	11	27	32
Darlington	LC	Lab	16	35	2
Derby	LC	Lab	11	25	14	1
East Riding of Yorkshire	LC	Con/LD/Ind	28	8	23	8
Halton	LC	Lab	7	35	14
Hartlepool	MC	Ind mayor	4	24	9	10
Herefordshire	LC	LD/Lab/Ind	21	4	16	17
Isle of Wight	LC	Con	35	2	5	6
Kingston upon Hull	LC	Lab (minority)	2	27	25	5
Leicester	LC	Lab (minority)	10	20	24
Luton	LC	LD (minority)	4	21	21	2
Medway Towns	LC	Con	30	17	6	2
Middlesbrough	MC	Ind mayor	7	31	6	4
Milton Keynes	LC	LDm	7	16	27	1
North East Lincolnshire	LC	LD + Con	15	7	16	4
North Lincolnshire	LC	Con	22	21
North Somerset	LC	Con + LD	23	10	24	4
Nottingham	LC	Lab	7	35	8	2
Peterborough	LC	Con	33	7	4	13
Plymouth	LC	Lab	19	35	2	1
Poole	LC	Con	26		16
Portsmouth	LC	LD	14	7	21
Reading	LC	Lab	6	35	5
Redcar & Cleveland	LC	Con/LD/Ind	13	23	15	8
Rutland	LC	Con	14		4	8
Slough	LC	Ind/Con/LD	8	15	6	12
South Gloucestershire	LC	All Party (3)	21	16	33
Southampton	LC	LD (minority)	14	15	19
Southend-on-Sea	LC	Con	33	9	7	2
Stockton-on-Tees	LC	Lab (minority)	12	27	8	9
Stoke-on-Trent	MM	Lab mayor	5	32	6	16
Swindon	LC	Con	33	18	5	3
Telford & Wrekin	LC	Lab	14	29	5	6
Thurrock	LC	Con	28	19		2
Torbay	LC	LDm	12		24
Warrington	LC	Lab	6	30	21
West Berkshire	LC	Con	27		25
Windsor & Maidenhead	LC	LDm	15	1	34	7
Wokingham	LC	Con	38		16
York	LC	LDm		15	29	3
Unitary Totals			780	796	659	168

London Borough Councils
	Exec	Control	Con	Labour	LibDem	Others
Barking & Dagenham	LC	Lab	3	41	3	4
Barnet	LC	Con	33	24	6
Bexley	LC	Lab	30	32	1
Brent	LC	Lab	18	35	10
Bromley	LC	Con	41	6	13
Camden	LC	Lab	11	35	8
Croydon	LC	Lab	31	37	1	1
Ealing	LC	Lab	17	48	4
Enfield	LC	Con	39	24
Greenwich	LC	Lab	9	38	4
Hackney	MC	Lab mayor	10	44	3
Hammersmith & Fulham	LC	Lab	17	29
Haringey	LC	Lab		41	16
Harrow	LC	Lab (minority)	28	30	3	2
Havering	LC	Con (minority)	26	11	1	16
Hillingdon	LC	Con (minority)	30	27	8
Hounslow	LC	Lab	14	37	5	4
Islington	LC	LDm		10	36	2
Kensington & Chelsea	LC	Con	41	12	1
Kingston upon Thames	LC	LDm	15	3	30
Lambeth	LC	Con + LD	7	29	27
Lewisham	MC	Lab mayor	2	40	8	4
Merton	LC	Lab	24	33		3
Newham	MC	Lab mayor		59		1
Redbridge	LC	Con	34	20	9
Richmond upon Thames	LC	Con	34		19	1
Southwark	LC	LD (minority)	6	28	29
Sutton	LC	LDm	8	3	43
Tower Hamlets	LC	Lab	1	33	16	1
Waltham Forest	LC	Lab + LD	18	26	15	1
Wandsworth	LC	Con	50	10
Westminster	LC	Con	48	12
London Totals			645	857	319	40

Metropolitan Borough Councils
	Exec	Control	Con	Labour	LibDem	Others
Barnsley	LC	Lab	5	33	3	22
Birmingham	LC	Con + LD	39	52	28	1
Bolton	LC	LD (minority)	19	20	21
Bradford	LC	Con (minority)	38	29	15	8
Bury	LC	Lab	19	27	5
Calderdale	LC	Con (minority)	21	9	15	6
Coventry	LC	Con (minority)	27	22	3	2
Doncaster	MC	Lab mayor	9	28	12	14
Dudley	LC	Con	40	25	7
Gateshead	LC	Lab		43	22	1
Kirklees	LC		22	17	25	3
Knowsley	LC	Lab		52	11
Leeds	LC	LD/Con/Green	24	40	26	9
Liverpool	LC	LDm		27	60	3
Manchester	LC	Lab		57	38	1
Newcastle upon Tyne	LC	LDm		30	48
North Tyneside	MC	Lab mayor	27	26	7
Oldham	LC	Lab	2	32	25	1
Rochdale	LC	Lab + Con	9	24	27
Rotherham	LC	Lab	7	53		3
St Helens	LC	Lab (minority)	6	24	18
Salford	LC	Lab	8	45	7
Sandwell	LC	Lab	12	53	5	2
Sefton	LC	All party (3)	19	20	27
Sheffield	LC	Lab	2	44	37	1
Solihull	LC	Con	27	8	15	1
South Tyneside	LC	Lab	3	35	4	12
Stockport	LC	LDm	10	14	35	4
Sunderland	LC	Lab	12	61	2
Tameside	LC	Lab	7	45	3	2
Trafford	LC	Con	40	20	3
Wakefield	LC	Lab	10	44	3	6
Walsall	LC	Con	35	18	6	1
Wigan	LC	Lab	7	42	8	18
Wirral	LC	All party (3)	21	26	19
Wolverhampton	LC	Lab	16	41	3
Metropolitan Totals			543	1186	593	121

District Councils
	Exec	Control	Con	Labour	LibDem	Others
Adur	AA	Con	25	2		2
Allerdale	LC	Lab (minority)	15	27	4	8
Alnwick	AA	Ind/Con	3	2	10	14
Amber Valley	LC	Con	24	21
Arun	LC	Con	35	8	12	1
Ashfield	LC	Lab (minority)	1	16		16
Ashford	LC	Con	25	4	5	9
Aylesbury Vale	LC	Con	30		25	4
Babergh	AA	Con/LD/Ind	11	6	18	8
Barrow-in-Furness	AA	Lab	12	24		2
Basildon	LC	Con	24	15	3
Basingstoke & Deane	LC	LD + Lab	28	12	17	3
Bassetlaw	LC	Con (minority)	24	18	1	5
Bedford	MC	Con/Lab/Ind	16	15	13	10
Berwick-upon-Tweed	AA	Con/LD/Ind	13	1	8	7
Blaby	LC	Con	25	4	9	1
Blyth Valley	LC	Lab	3	34	10	3
Bolsover	LC	Lab		31		6
Boston	LC	Con/LD/Ind	12	11	4	5
Braintree	LC	Con + Ind	27	20	4	9
Breckland	LC	Con	42	8		4
Brentwood	AA	Con	21	3	13
Bridgnorth	AA	Con/Ind/LD	10	2	8	14
Broadland	LC	Con	31		11	5
Bromsgrove	LC	Con	25	8	1	5
Broxbourne	AA	Con	34	2		2
Broxtowe	LC	Lab + LD	13	15	13	3
Burnley	LC	Lab (minority)	4	21	11	9
Cambridge	LC	LDm	1	13	28
Cannock Chase	LC	LD + Con	10	17	14
Canterbury	LC	Con	26	7	17
Caradon	LC		4	1	16	21
Carlisle	LC	Con (minority)	20	24	7	1
Carrick	LC	LDm	10	1	30	6
Castle Morpeth	AA	Lab + LD	9	10	6	7
Castle Point	AA	Con	35			6
Charnwood	LC	Lab + LD	24	22	6
Chelmsford	LC	Con	35	2	20
Cheltenham	LC	LD (minority)	15	2	18	5
Cherwell	LC	Con	37	10	3
Chester	LC	LD + Lab	20	17	22	1
Chester-le-Street	LC	Lab	1	29		4
Chesterfield	LC	LDm		12	36
Chichester	LC		24		22	2
Chiltern	LC	Con	27		12	1
Chorley	LC	Lab/LD/Ind	20	21	3	3
Christchurch	AA	Con	13		10	1
Colchester	LC	Con (minority)	28	7	24	3
Congleton	LC	Con	27		14	7
Copeland	LC	Lab	16	31	1	3
Corby	AA	Lab	9	18	2
Cotswold	AA	Con	24		8	12
Craven	AA	All party (3)	13		6	11
Crawley	LC	Lab	16	19	2
Crewe & Nantwich	LC	Lab + Ind	22	22	6	6
Dacorum	LC	Con	32	14	6
Dartford	LC	Con + Ind	21	16		7
Daventry	AA	Con	34	3	1
Derbyshire Dales	AA	Con	24	5	9	1
Derwentside	LC	Lab		38	1	16
Dover	LC	Con (minority)	22	20	3
Durham	LC	LDm		17	30	3
Easington	LC	Lab		42	2	5
East Cambridgeshire	AA	All party (3)	16		17	6
East Devon	LC	Con	35		18	6
East Dorset	AA	Con	24		11	1
East Hampshire	LC	Con	26		18
East Hertfordshire	LC	Con	41		7	2
East Lindsey	LC	All party (4)	15	12	6	27
East Northamptonshire	AA	Con	33	3
East Staffordshire	LC	Con	22	16	1
Eastbourne	LC	Con	14		13
Eastleigh	LC	LDm	9	3	32
Eden	AA	Ind	8		4	26
Ellesmere Port & Neston	AA	Lab	12	29	2
Elmbridge	LC	Ind	21		8	31
Epping Forest	LC	All party (4)	23	4	15	16
Epsom & Ewell	AA	Residents	2	3	7	26
Erewash	LC	Con	27	19	3	2
Exeter	LC	All party (4)	5	18	13	4
Fareham	LC	Con	22		9
Fenland	LC	Con	36	3		1
Forest Heath	AA	Con	22			5
Forest of Dean	LC	All party (4)	18	15	4	11
Fylde	AA	Con	26		2	23
Gedling	LC	Con/Lab/LD	21	21	7	1
Gloucester	LC	Con (minority)	16	8	12
Gosport	AA	Con	18	11	5
Gravesham	LC	Lab	21	23
Great Yarmouth	LC	Con	26	13
Guildford	LC	Con	25	2	20	1
Hambleton	LC	Con	36	1	3	4
Harborough	LC	LD (minority)	16	1	18	2
Harlow	AA	All party (3)	13	11	9
Harrogate	LC	Con	29		21	4
Hart	LC	Con	18		12	5
Hastings	LC	All party (3)	13	15	4
Havant	LC	Con	27	6	5
Hertsmere	LC	Con	26	7	6
High Peak	LC	Con/LD/Ind	12	17	8	6
Hinckley & Bosworth	LC	Con	19	6	9
Horsham	LC	Con	23		19	2
Huntingdonshire	LC	Con	39		10	3
Hyndburn	LC	Con	19	16
Ipswich	LC	Con + LD	18	23	7
Kennet	AA	Con	28	1	3	11
Kerrier	LC	Ind	4	5	10	25
Kettering	LC	Con	30	13		2
King's Lynn & W. Norfolk	LC	Con	37	14	7	4
Lancaster	LC	Lab/LD/Grn	11	20	8	21
Lewes	LC	LDm	11		28	2
Lichfield	LC	Con	35	16	5
Lincoln	LC	Lab	7	25	1
Macclesfield	LC	Con	35	6	14	5
Maidstone	LC	LD/Lab/Ind	23	8	20	4
Maldon	LC	Con	21	2		8
Malvern Hills	LC	LD/Grn/Ind	13		20	5
Mansfield	MC	Ind mayor	1	15	4	26
Melton	AA	Con	19	4		5
Mendip	LC	Con	30		12	4
Mid Bedfordshire	LC	Con	38	1	9	5
Mid Devon	AA	Ind (minority)	12	1	8	21
Mid Suffolk	LC		21	2	11	6
Mid Sussex	LC	Con	28	2	24
Mole Valley	AA	Con (minority)	19		17	5
New Forest	LC	Con	32		27	1
Newark & Sherwood	LC	Con/LD/Ind	23	13	4	6
Newcastle-under-Lyme	LC	Lab	14	32	12	2
North Cornwall	AA	Ind	3		13	20
North Devon	LC	LDm	12		22	11
North Dorset	LC	Con + Ind	14		12	7
North East Derbyshire	LC	Lab	7	36	6	4
North Hertfordshire	LC	Con	28	14	7
North Kesteven	LC	Con + Ind	18	4	5	13
North Norfolk	LC	LDm	15		29	4
North Shropshire	AA	Ind + Lab	15	4	1	20
North Warwickshire	AA	LD/Con	15	16	4
North West Leicestershire	LC	Lab	12	20	4	2
North Wiltshire	LC	LD + Lab	25	1	26	1
Northampton	LC	Con (minority)	20	10	16	1
Norwich	LC	LD (minority)	1	15	18	5
Nuneaton & Bedworth	LC	Lab	11	22	1
Oadby & Wigston	AA	LDm	9		17
Oswestry	LC	Ind + LD	10	1	7	11
Oxford	LC	Lab (minority)		20	18	10
Pendle	LC	LDm	11	8	30
Penwith	AA	Con + Ind	12	1	14	8
Preston	LC	Lab (minority)	18	24	10	5
Purbeck	AA	Con	13		8	5
Redditch	LC	Lab	10	16	3
Reigate & Banstead	LC	Con	37	3	5	6
Restormel	LC	LD/Ind/Con	9		23	13
Ribble Valley	AA	Con	22	1	15	2
Richmondshire	AA		11		8	15
Rochford	AA	Con	32	1	4	2
Rossendale	AA	Con	24	9	2	1
Rother	LC	Con	25	3	8	2
Rugby	LC	Con (minority)	21	14	10	3
Runnymede	AA	Con	33	3		6
Rushcliffe	LC	Con	34	4	10	2
Rushmoor	LC	Con	24	5	12	1
Ryedale	LC	Con/LD/Ind	13		8	9
St Albans	LC	LD (CV)	17	11	29	1
St Edmundsbury	LC	Con	28	11	2	4
Salisbury	LC	Con	31	11	9	4
Scarborough	LC	Con	26	8	2	14
Sedgefield	LC	Lab	1	35	7	7
Sedgemoor	LC	Con	35	14	1
Selby	AA	Con	23	14	1	3
Sevenoaks	LC	Con	33	10	8	3
Shepway	LC	Con (minority)	17	1	14	14
Shrewsbury & Atcham	LC		20	11	6	3
South Bedfordshire	LC	Con	34	4	12
South Bucks	LC	Con	33		1	6
South Cambridgeshire	LC	Con/LD/Ind	22	2	20	13
South Derbyshire	AA	Lab	15	21
South Hams	LC	Con	28	3	7	2
South Holland	LC	Con	26	1		11
South Kesteven	LC	Con	31	10	5	12
South Lakeland	LC	LD/Con/Lab	20	8	22	2
South Norfolk	LC	LDm	18		28
South Northamptonshire	LC	Con	30	4	1	7
South Oxfordshire	LC	Con	27	4	9	8
South Ribble	LC	Lab + LD	19	17	15	4
South Shropshire	LC	All party (4)	10		14	10
South Somerset	LC	LDm	17		36	7
South Staffordshire	LC	Con	35	8	1	5
Spelthorne	LC	Con	35		4
Stafford	LC	Con	40	14	5
Staffordshire Moorlands	LC	RA/LD/Ind	20	7	11	18
Stevenage	LC	Lab	3	32	4
Stratford-on-Avon	LC	Con	30		20	3
Stroud	LC	Con	27	11	6	7
Suffolk Coastal	LC	Con	42	2	11
Surrey Heath	LC	Con	22	3	13	2
Swale	LC	Con	26	11	10
Tamworth	LC	Con	16	13		1
Tandridge	AA	Con	28	2	11	1
Taunton Deane	LC	Con	31	5	15	3
Teesdale	AA	Ind	3	9		20
Teignbridge	LC	LD + Ind	14		17	15
Tendring	LC	Con/LD/Ind	25	11	13	11
Test Valley	LC	Con	30		17	1
Tewkesbury	AA	Con (minority)	18	3	9	8
Thanet	LC	Con	30	24	1	1
Three Rivers	LC	LDm	12	7	29
Tonbridge & Malling	LC	Con	34	7	12
Torridge	AA	Ind	1		7	28
Tunbridge Wells	LC	Con	36	1	11
Tynedale	AA	Con	27	9	11	5
Uttlesford	AA	LDm	10		31	3
Vale of White Horse	LC	LDm	20		30	1
Vale Royal	LC	Con + LD	24	20	11	2
Wansbeck	LC	Lab		36	9
Warwick	LC	Lab + LD	16	14	10	6
Watford	MC	LD mayor	4	3	27	2
Waveney	LC	Con/Ind/LD	24	14	3	7
Waverley	LC	LDm	27		30
Wealden	LC	Con	34		15	6
Wear Valley	AA	Lab		25	10	5
Wellingborough	AA	Con	27	9
Welwyn Hatfield	LC	Con	31	15	2
West Devon	AA	Con + Ind	12		8	11
West Dorset	LC	Con	25		12	11
West Lancashire	LC	Con	29	25
West Lindsey	AA	Con	19		16	2
West Oxfordshire	LC	Con	29	1	13	6
West Somerset	LC	Con	18	2	2	9
West Wiltshire	LC	Con + Ind	19	3	18	4
Weymouth & Portland	AA	All party (4)	8	9	14	5
Winchester	LC	LD (minority)	22	4	26	5
Woking	LC	Con (minority)	17	4	15
Worcester	LC	Con	18	10	3	4
Worthing	LC	Con	26		11
Wychavon	LC	Con	31	2	12
Wycombe	LC	Con	46	9	2	3
Wyre	LC	Con	33	21	1
Wyre Forest	LC	Con (minority)	19	4	2	17
District Totals			4833	2120	2390	1233

Scottish Unitary Authorities
	Control	Con	Labour	LibDem	SNP	Others
Aberdeen City	LD + Con	3	14	20	6
Aberdeenshire		11		28	18	11
Angus	SNP	2	1	3	17	6
Argyll & Bute	Ind	3		8	3	22
Clackmannanshire	Lab	1	10		7
Dumfries & Galloway		11	14	5	5	12
Dundee		5	10	2	11	1
East Ayrshire	Lab	1	23		8
East Dunbartonshire	LD (minority)	3	9	12
East Lothian	Lab	4	17	1		1
East Renfrewshire		7	8	3		2
Edinburgh	Lab	13	30	15
Falkirk		2	14		10	6
Fife	Lab (minority)	2	36	23	11	6
Glasgow	Lab	1	71	3	3	1
Highland	Ind		8	9	6	57
Inverclyde	LDm		6	13		1
Midlothian	Lab		14	3		1
Moray	Ind	1	5	1	3	16
North Ayrshire	Lab	5	20		3	2
North Lanarkshire	Lab		54		13	3
Orkney	Ind					21
Perth & Kinross		10	5	9	15	2
Renfrewshire	Lab	1	21	3	15
Scottish Borders		11		8	1	14
Shetland	Ind			5		17
South Ayrshire		15	15
South Lanarkshire	Lab	3	49	2	10	3
Stirling	Lab	10	12
West Dunbartonshire	Lab		17		2	3
West Lothian	Lab	1	18		12	1
Western Isles	Ind		4		3	24
Scotland Totals		126	505	174	185	232

Welsh Unitary Authorities
	Control	Con	Labour	LibDem	Pl.Cym	Others
Blaenau Gwent	Lab		31	3	8
Bridgend	LD/Ind/Con	8	21	13	1	10
Caerphilly	Lab		39		26	8
Cardiff	LD (minority)	12	27	32	4
Carmarthenshire		1	25		16	32
Ceredigion	LD + Ind		1	9	16	16
Conwy		13	12	6	9	18
Denbighshire		7	8	2	7	23
Flintshire	Lab	4	37	10	1	18
Gwynedd	PlC		10	7	41	17
Isle of Anglesey	Ind	2	1	1	8	28
Merthyr Tydfil	Lab		17			16
Monmouthshire	Con	23	9	4	2	5
Neath & Port Talbot	Lab		36	2	10	16
Newport	Lab	11	31	6	1	1
Pembrokeshire	Ind		12	3	5	40
Powys	Ind		4	17		52
Rhondda Cynon Taff	Lab		57	2	13	3
Swansea	LD/Ind/Con	4	32	19	5	12
Torfaen	Lab	1	34	2		7
Vale of Glamorgan		20	16		8	3
Wrexham		3	19	10		20
Wales Totals		109	479	148	181	345

England, Scotland & Wales Totals	Con	Labour	LibDem	SNP	Pl.Cym	Others
	8180	6517	4762	182	181	2214

Local Council Political Compositions after the elections of May 2005

County Councils

Unitary Authorities

London Borough Councils

Metropolitan Borough Councils

District Councils

Scottish Unitary Authorities

Welsh Unitary Authorities

England, Scotland & Wales Totals