About the council elections
On 5 May all councils in Scotland and Wales held elections for all of their councillors. In England, the picture is more complex. Many parts of England held no election at all. Others held elections for a third of seats as part of a four-yearly cycle in which a third of lower-tier seats are elected each year, with the upper-tier being chosen in the fourth year. In other areas there is a “unitary” council, being elected in its entirety.
There are also four new councils, although two consist of single-tier councils replacing two-tier arrangements: North Somerset and North Yorkshire. Cumbria will now have two separate councils, Cumberland, and Westmorland and Furness. In all of these cases the new councils come into effect in 2023 with the councillors elected this year.
