1991 United Kingdom local elections

The 1991 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 2 May 1991.[2][3] The results were a setback for the governing Conservative Party, who were left with their lowest number of councillors since 1973, though their popular vote was an improvement from the 1990 local elections.

1991 United Kingdom local elections

← 1990 2 May 1991 [1] 1992 →

All 36 metropolitan boroughs, all 296 English districts and all 37 Welsh districts
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Neil Kinnock John Major Paddy Ashdown
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader since 2 October 1983 27 November 1990 16 July 1988
Percentage 38% 35% 22%
Councillors 9,504 7,985 3,672
Councillors +/- Increase 584 Decrease 1,035 Increase 407

This was the first electoral test for Prime Minister and Conservative leader John Major, who had taken the helm from Margaret Thatcher in November 1990.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats both benefited from the Conservative losses.

The main opposition Labour Party gained 584 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 9,504, their highest since 1975. Their projected share of the vote was 38%, a decline of 6% from the previous year. They overtook the Conservatives in number of councillors and would remain in that position until 2003.

The governing Conservative Party lost 1,035 seats, leaving them with 7,985 councillors. Their share of the vote was projected to be 35%, an increase of 2% from the previous year.

The Liberal Democrats gained 407 seats and had 3,672 councillors after the elections, a record number and a sign of their improving popularity after a series of disastrous performances in local and European elections after their formation in March 1988. Their projected share of the vote was 22%, up from 17% in 1990.[4]

Despite the Conservatives' heavy losses, the party would go on to win the 1992 general election 11 months later.

Summary of results

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England

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Metropolitan boroughs

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All 36 metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Barnsley Labour Labour hold Details
Birmingham Labour Labour hold Details
Bolton Labour Labour hold Details
Bradford Labour Labour hold Details
Bury Labour Labour hold Details
Calderdale Labour Labour hold Details
Coventry Labour Labour hold Details
Doncaster Labour Labour hold Details
Dudley Labour Labour hold Details
Gateshead Labour Labour hold Details
Kirklees Labour Labour hold Details
Knowsley Labour Labour hold Details
Leeds Labour Labour hold Details
Liverpool Labour Labour hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Labour Labour hold Details
North Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
Oldham Labour Labour hold Details
Rochdale Labour Labour hold Details
Rotherham Labour Labour hold Details
Salford Labour Labour hold Details
Sandwell Labour Labour hold Details
Sefton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Sheffield Labour Labour hold Details
Solihull Conservative No overall control gain Details
South Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
St Helens Labour Labour hold Details
Stockport No overall control No overall control hold Details
Sunderland Labour Labour hold Details
Tameside Labour Labour hold Details
Trafford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold Details
Walsall Labour Labour hold Details
Wigan Labour Labour hold Details
Wirral No overall control Labour gain Details
Wolverhampton Labour Labour hold Details

District councils

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Whole council

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In 185 districts the whole council was up for election.

Three of those districts - Oadby and Wigston, Tonbridge and Malling and Torbay - returned to whole councils elections having previously been elected by thirds.

In 9 districts there were new ward boundaries, following further electoral boundary reviews by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

These were the last elections to the district councils of Langbaurgh-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees and Woodspring before they were made unitary authorities by the Local Government Commission for England (1992).

These were also the last elections to the district councils of Beverley, Boothferry, Cleethorpes, East Yorkshire, Glanford, Holderness, Kingswood, Medina, Northavon, South Wight and Wansdyke before they were abolished and replaced by unitary authorities by the Local Government Commission for England (1992).

Council Previous control Result Details
Allerdale No overall control Labour gain Details
Alnwick No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Arun Conservative Conservative hold Details
Ashfield Labour Labour hold Details
Ashford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Aylesbury Vale Conservative No overall control gain Details
Babergh No overall control No overall control hold Details
Berwick-upon-Tweed No overall control No overall control hold Details
Beverley Conservative No overall control gain Details
Blaby Conservative Conservative hold Details
Blackpool No overall control Labour gain Details
Blyth Valley Liberal Democrats Labour gain Details
Bolsover Labour Labour hold Details
Boothferry No overall control No overall control hold Details
Boston No overall control No overall control hold Details
Bournemouth Conservative No overall control gain Details
Bracknell Forest Conservative Conservative hold Details
Braintree No overall control No overall control hold Details
Breckland Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bridgnorth Independent Independent hold Details
Bromsgrove Conservative Conservative hold Details
Broxtowe Conservative Conservative hold Details
Burnley Labour Labour hold Details
Canterbury Conservative No overall control gain Details
Caradon Independent Independent hold Details
Carrick No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Castle Morpeth No overall control No overall control hold Details
Castle Point Conservative Conservative hold Details
Charnwood Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chelmsford Liberal Democrats Conservative gain Details
Chesterfield Labour Labour hold Details
Chester-le-Street Labour Labour hold Details
Chichester Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chiltern Conservative Conservative hold Details
Christchurch Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cleethorpes No overall control No overall control hold Details
Copeland Labour Labour hold Details
Corby Labour Labour hold Details
Cotswold Independent Independent hold Details
Dacorum Conservative Conservative hold Details
Darlington No overall control Labour gain Details
Dartford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Derbyshire Dales Conservative Conservative hold Details
Derwentside Labour Labour hold Details
Dover Conservative No overall control gain Details
Durham Labour Labour hold Details
Easington Labour Labour hold Details
East Cambridgeshire Independent Independent hold Details
East Devon Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Dorset Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Hampshire Conservative No overall control gain Details
East Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Lindsey Independent Independent hold Details
East Northamptonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
East Staffordshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
East Yorkshire Conservative No overall control gain Details
Eden Independent Independent hold Details
Epsom and Ewell Independent Independent hold Details
Erewash Conservative Labour gain Details
Fenland Conservative Conservative hold Details
Forest Heath Conservative No overall control gain Details
Forest of Dean No overall control Labour gain Details
Fylde Conservative No overall control gain Details
Gedling Conservative Conservative hold Details
Glanford Conservative No overall control gain Details
Gravesham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Guildford Conservative No overall control gain Details
Hambleton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Harborough No overall control No overall control hold Details
High Peak No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hinckley and Bosworth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Holderness Independent Independent hold Details
Horsham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hove Conservative Conservative hold Details
Kennet No overall control No overall control hold Details
Kerrier No overall control No overall control hold Details
Kettering No overall control No overall control hold Details
King's Lynn and West Norfolk Conservative No overall control gain Details
Kingswood Conservative Labour gain Details
Lancaster No overall control No overall control hold Details
Langbaurgh-on-Tees No overall control Labour gain Details
Leicester Labour Labour hold Details
Lewes Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Lichfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Luton Conservative Labour gain Details
Maldon No overall control No overall control hold Details
Malvern Hills No overall control Independent gain Details
Mansfield Labour Labour hold Details
Medina Conservative No overall control gain Details
Melton Conservative Conservative hold Details
Mendip No overall control No overall control hold Details
Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Mid Devon Independent Independent hold Details
Mid Suffolk No overall control No overall control hold Details
Mid Sussex Conservative Conservative hold Details
Middlesbrough Labour Labour hold Details
New Forest Conservative No overall control gain Details
Newark and Sherwood No overall control Labour gain Details
Newbury Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
North Cornwall Independent Independent hold Details
North Devon No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
North Dorset Independent Independent hold Details
North East Derbyshire Labour Labour hold Details
North Kesteven No overall control No overall control hold Details
North Norfolk Independent No overall control gain Details
North Shropshire Independent Independent hold Details
North Warwickshire Labour Labour hold Details
North West Leicestershire No overall control Labour gain Details
North Wiltshire Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Northampton Conservative No overall control gain Details
Northavon Conservative No overall control gain Details
Nottingham Conservative Labour gain Details
Oadby and Wigston Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Oswestry No overall control Independent gain Details
Plymouth Conservative Labour gain Details
Poole Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Restormel No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Ribble Valley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Richmondshire Independent Independent hold Details
Rochester-upon-Medway Conservative No overall control gain Details
Rother Conservative No overall control gain Details
Rushcliffe Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rutland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Ryedale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Salisbury Conservative Conservative hold Details
Scarborough No overall control No overall control hold Details
Sedgefield Labour Labour hold Details
Sedgemoor Conservative Conservative hold Details
Selby Conservative No overall control gain Details
Sevenoaks Conservative Conservative hold Details
Shepway No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
South Bucks Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Derbyshire Labour Labour hold Details
South Hams Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Herefordshire Independent Independent hold Details
South Holland No overall control Independent gain Details
South Kesteven Conservative No overall control gain Details
South Norfolk No overall control No overall control hold Details
South Northamptonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Ribble Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Shropshire Independent Independent hold Details
South Somerset Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
South Staffordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Wight No overall control No overall control hold Details
Spelthorne Conservative Conservative hold Details
St Edmundsbury Conservative No overall control gain Details
Stafford No overall control No overall control hold Details
Staffordshire Moorlands No overall control Independent gain Details
Stockton-on-Tees Labour No overall control gain Details
Suffolk Coastal Conservative Conservative hold Details
Surrey Heath Conservative Conservative hold Details
Taunton Deane Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Teesdale Independent Independent hold Details
Teignbridge No overall control No overall control hold Details
Tendring Conservative No overall control gain Details
Test Valley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Tewkesbury No overall control Independent gain Details
Thanet No overall control Conservative gain Details
The Wrekin Labour Labour hold Details
Tonbridge and Malling Conservative Conservative hold Details
Torbay No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Torridge Independent Independent hold Details
Tynedale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Uttlesford Conservative Conservative hold Details
Vale of White Horse Conservative Conservative hold Details
Vale Royal No overall control Labour gain Details
Wansbeck Labour Labour hold Details
Wansdyke Conservative No overall control gain Details
Warrington Labour Labour hold Details
Warwick Conservative Conservative hold Details
Waverley Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wealden Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wear Valley Labour Liberal Democrats gain Details
Wellingborough Conservative Conservative hold Details
Welwyn Hatfield Labour Labour hold Details
West Devon No overall control Independent gain Details
West Dorset No overall control No overall control hold Details
West Somerset Independent Independent hold Details
West Wiltshire Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Windsor and Maidenhead Conservative No overall control gain Details
Woodspring Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wychavon Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wycombe Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wyre Conservative Conservative hold Details

‡ New ward boundaries

Third of council

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In 111 districts one third of the council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Adur Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Amber Valley Conservative Labour gain Details
Barrow-in-Furness Labour No overall control gain Details
Basildon Labour No overall control gain Details
Basingstoke and Deane Conservative Conservative hold Details
Bassetlaw Labour Labour hold Details
Bath No overall control No overall control hold Details
Blackburn Labour Labour hold Details
Brentwood No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Brighton Labour Labour hold Details
Bristol Labour Labour hold Details
Broadland Conservative Conservative hold Details
Broxbourne Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cambridge Labour Labour hold Details
Cannock Chase Labour Labour hold Details
Carlisle Labour Labour hold Details
Cheltenham No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Cherwell Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Chorley Labour No overall control gain Details
Colchester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Congleton No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Craven No overall control No overall control hold Details
Crawley Labour Labour hold Details
Crewe and Nantwich Labour Labour hold Details
Daventry Conservative Conservative hold Details
Derby Conservative No overall control gain Details
Eastbourne No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Eastleigh No overall control No overall control hold Details
Ellesmere Port and Neston Labour Labour hold Details
Elmbridge Conservative No overall control gain Details
Epping Forest Conservative Conservative hold Details
Exeter No overall control No overall control hold Details
Fareham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gillingham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Gloucester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Gosport No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Great Grimsby Labour Labour hold Details
Great Yarmouth Labour Labour hold Details
Harlow Labour Labour hold Details
Harrogate No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hart No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hartlepool Labour Labour hold Details
Hastings No overall control No overall control hold Details
Havant No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hereford Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Hertsmere Conservative Conservative hold Details
Huntingdonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hyndburn Labour Labour hold Details
Ipswich Labour Labour hold Details
Kingston upon Hull Labour Labour hold Details
Leominster Independent Independent hold Details
Lincoln Labour Labour hold Details
Macclesfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Maidstone No overall control No overall control hold Details
Milton Keynes No overall control Labour gain Details
Mole Valley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Newcastle-under-Lyme Labour Labour hold Details
North Bedfordshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
North Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Norwich Labour Labour hold Details
Nuneaton and Bedworth Labour Labour hold Details
Oxford Labour Labour hold Details
Pendle No overall control Labour gain Details
Penwith No overall control No overall control hold Details
Peterborough No overall control No overall control hold Details
Portsmouth No overall control No overall control hold Details
Preston Labour Labour hold Details
Purbeck No overall control No overall control hold Details
Reading Labour Labour hold Details
Redditch Labour Labour hold Details
Reigate and Banstead Conservative No overall control gain Details
Rochford No overall control No overall control hold Details
Rossendale Labour Labour hold Details
Rugby No overall control No overall control hold Details
Runnymede Conservative Conservative hold Details
Rushmoor Conservative Conservative hold Details
Scunthorpe Labour Labour hold Details
Shrewsbury and Atcham No overall control No overall control hold Details
Slough Labour Labour hold Details
South Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Cambridgeshire Independent Independent hold Details
South Lakeland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Southampton Labour Labour hold Details
Southend-on-Sea Conservative Conservative hold Details
St Albans Conservative No overall control gain Details
Stevenage Labour Labour hold Details
Stoke-on-Trent Labour Labour hold Details
Stratford-on-Avon Conservative No overall control gain Details
Stroud No overall control No overall control hold Details
Swale No overall control No overall control hold Details
Tamworth Labour Labour hold Details
Tandridge No overall control No overall control hold Details
Thamesdown Labour Labour hold Details
Three Rivers No overall control No overall control hold Details
Thurrock Labour Labour hold Details
Tunbridge Wells Conservative Conservative hold Details
Watford Labour Labour hold Details
Waveney Labour Labour hold Details
West Lancashire Conservative No overall control gain Details
West Lindsey No overall control No overall control hold Details
West Oxfordshire Independent Independent hold Details
Weymouth and Portland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Winchester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Woking No overall control No overall control hold Details
Wokingham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Worcester Labour Labour hold Details
Worthing Conservative Conservative hold Details
Wyre Forest No overall control No overall control hold Details
York Labour Labour hold Details

Wales

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District councils

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These were the last elections to the district councils before they were abolished by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994.

Council Previous control Result Details
Aberconwy No overall control No overall control hold Details
Alyn and Deeside Labour Labour hold Details
Anglesey - Ynys Môn Independent Independent hold Details
Arfon No overall control No overall control hold Details
Blaenau Gwent Labour Labour hold Details
Brecknock Independent Independent hold Details
Cardiff No overall control Labour gain Details
Carmarthen Independent Independent hold Details
Ceredigion Independent Independent hold Details
Colwyn No overall control No overall control hold Details
Cynon Valley Labour Labour hold Details
Delyn No overall control Independent gain Details
Dinefwr Labour No overall control gain Details
Dwyfor Independent Independent hold Details
Glyndŵr Independent Independent hold Details
Islwyn Labour Labour hold Details
Llanelli Labour Labour hold Details
Lliw Valley Labour Labour hold Details
Meirionnydd Independent Independent hold Details
Merthyr Tydfil Labour Labour hold Details
Monmouth Conservative No overall control gain Details
Montgomeryshire Independent Independent hold Details
Neath Labour Labour hold Details
Newport Labour Labour hold Details
Ogwr Labour Labour hold Details
Port Talbot Labour Labour hold Details
Preseli Pembrokeshire Independent Independent hold Details
Radnorshire Independent Independent hold Details
Rhondda Labour Labour hold Details
Rhuddlan Independent Independent hold Details
Rhymney Valley Labour Labour hold Details
South Pembrokeshire Independent Independent hold Details
Swansea Labour Labour hold Details
Taff-Ely Labour No overall control gain Details
Torfaen Labour Labour hold Details
Vale of Glamorgan Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wrexham Maelor Labour Labour hold Details

References

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  1. ^ "Local Election 1991 - Thursday, 2nd May, 1991". Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  2. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Local Elections Handbook 1991 (PDF). Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  4. ^ "The 1992 General Election - Liberal Democrats". BBC News. Retrieved 3 May 2016.