Reform on the rise and a bad night for Labour and the Conservatives: local elections 2025

On Thursday 1 May, for the first time since last year’s general election, people had the opportunity to vote for political candidates.

It has been a difficult first 10 months for the Labour government after implementing a variety of unpopular policies, including proposed caps to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) and the ending of the winter fuel payment.

Polls were open in 23 councils, six mayoralties and one parliamentary constituency, the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby. Nine councils postponed their elections due to these areas being reorganised following devolution deals. These councils are looking to avoid spending money on holding elections over two consecutive years - although some have accused this of being a stitch up.

With the full results now in, we can now assess how the night went for the major political parties and how this will impact members.

The result that will most likely get the most focus is the Reform UK by-election victory in Runcorn and Helsby. This is one of the closest election results ever, with the margin of victory only six votes. It followed a dramatic recount, with the original count finding just four votes separating the new Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, and her Labour opponent. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Labour MP Mike Amesbury, following his conviction for assaulting a constituent.

This seat was seen as safe for Labour, the previous MP winning with a 14,696 majority at the general election. Many are seeing this result as indicative of a popular shift away from Labour. However, as the first by-election of a parliament that runs until summer 2029, it is too early to say. Labour have responded by insisting that they are “getting on with delivery.”

The rise of Reform has also been seen in the mayoral results. Labour has retained three of the four so far: the West of England, Doncaster and North Tyneside. However, Reform rose to second in all three and were only a few hundred votes behind in Doncaster and North Tyneside. This will cause real concern to Labour. The first Reform mayor, former Conservative MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns, comfortably won the Greater Lincolnshire race. This result was expected, and will worry the Conservatives, who had won six of eight Lincolnshire constituencies at the last election. Reform candidate Luke Campbell, an Olympic gold medal winning boxer, has also been elected as the new Mayor for Hull and East Yorkshire. The Conservatives have a ray of hope however with former MP Paul Bristow elected as Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough.

The election of Dame Andrea Jenkyns may best highlight the trends we are seeing in councils: former Conservatives moving towards Reform especially in rural and semi-rural areas. Take Northumberland Council as an example. The Conservatives remain the largest party here but have lost 10 seats, Labour have lost 12, and Reform have gained 23. Reform has taken control of 10 councils, including Kent, Lincolnshire, Durham and Staffordshire. Significantly, the Conservatives failed to defend each of the 16 councils they had previously held. Altogether, the Conservatives lost 674 councillors, while Reform picked up 677 and the Liberal Democrats gained 163. Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch has said that her party will “come out fighting” following the results.

For many of those who wanted to vent frustrations towards Labour, this election is not the most effective time. Most local council seats up for election this year were Conservative, following a “vaccine bounce” in 2021. Of the 1,600 council seats going up for election only 350 were held by Labour. However, it was still a very bad night for Labour, who lost more than two thirds of its council seats. Following these results, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told voters, “I get it,” and argued that “now is the time to go further and faster in pursuit of that national renewal.”

The Labour government is keen to expand devolution. It has indicated in the English Devolution white paper that the party will create more mayors with powers over areas such as housing, planning and transport.

We have seen several mayors elected with significant rural populations. It is vital that these elected officials act on behalf of all the businesses within their authorities. The CLA is developing a devolution strategy to ensure that members are represented to these new mayors.

As a first step, we are writing to all newly elected council leaders and mayors to encourage them to prioritise improving the planning system to work for both rural and urban communities.

We have started our mayoral engagement, with CLA East Director Cath Crowther meeting with the new Conservative mayor for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Paul Bristow.

The CLA will look to engage with all victors and ensure that members are being represented amongst all forms of government.