News 

Conservatives make gains across the country

The Conservatives have taken control of 13 more councils in England in last week's local elections.
The party has gained an extra 236 councillors according to the final count, with Labour losing control of eight councils.

'A disastrous election for Labour'

Labour has an 'identity crisis' after 'disastrous' local elections, opponents have claimed.
Chief executive of think-tank Localis, Jonathan Werran, said the results meant continued Conservative control of the Local Government Association (LGA) 'was a given,' with the centre-left vote split amid a 'vaccination bounce' for the Tories.

SNP secures fourth election victory

The SNP has won 64 seats in the Scottish local elections, although was one short of winning a majority.
The party has taken Ayr and Edinburgh Central from the Conservatives, and East Lothian from Labour.

Labour win in Wales

Welsh Labour are set to retain control of the Welsh Government, taking half of the seats on the second day of counting.
Labour have won 30 of the seats declared so far, with the Conservatives on 12, Plaid Cymru on nine and the Liberal Democrats on one.

Voters back mayors in referendums

Tower Hamlets and Newham LBC have bth voted to keep the post of directly elected mayor in referendums run alongside the local elections.

Counties buck the Tory trend

County councils have bucked the trend of Conservative success in the local election on Thursday, with a mixed picture for the party.
The counties saw two senior leaders ousted from their seats, while Cambridgeshire CC returned to no overall control after four years of Conservative rule.

Powell becomes shadow housing secretary in mini-reshuffle

Labour leader Keir Starmer has replaced his shadow housing secretary and brought in a high-flyer as shadow child poverty minister as part of a mini-reshuffle.

Mistakes caught amid record election year

A smattering of errors were reported amid a bumper crop of elections.

Opinion

Local results will supercharge the levelling up ambitions

The Conservative government is now set to enjoy an assured position of dominance and power at local and national level, says chief executive of Localis Jonathan Werran.

Ideas for new administrations

Tom Lloyd Goodwin of CLES lays out eight approaches to tackling the range of problems that threaten to overwhelm the in-trays of new local government and devolved administrations.

The process demands too much of teams

Ian Miller ponders the impact of Super Thursday on the mental health of electoral teams, and says the demands are excessive, even in a ‘normal’ election.

Look behind the big story

A closer look at the Super Thursday outcomes reveals a series of more complex stories, and suggests a centrally-driven levelling up agenda would be an error, says Jonathan Carr-West.

The system creaked in the face of the number of polls

There were a variety of problems both ahead of and during polling day, but Returning Officers and electoral administrators must be praised for their work this year, says chief executive of the AEA (Association of Electoral Administrators) Peter Stanyon.

Addressing low pay and inequality

Those elected on May 6 must not miss the opportunity to secure better lives for local people, argues Rachel Kay of the High Pay Centre