2002 United Kingdom local elections
The 2002 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 2 May 2002. All London borough council seats were elected as well a third of the seats on each of the Metropolitan Boroughs. Many unitary Authorities and District councils also had elections. There were no local elections in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This was the last time that Labour was the majority in local government until 2023.
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All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 18 unitary authorities, 88 English districts and 7 directly elected mayors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Summary of results
Simon Parker of The Guardian described the elections as "a round of embarrassing [sic] defeats for Labour in a set of council elections that also saw opposition parties making minor inroads into the party's dominant position in local government. [...] But the night really belonged to independents and the smaller parties, who made some high-profile gains as the voters expressed their dissatisfaction with mainstream politics."[1]
England
London boroughs
In all 32 London boroughs, the whole council was up for election.
‡ New ward boundaries
Metropolitan boroughs
All 36 English Metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.
Whole council
In six English Unitary authorities, the whole council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby ‡ | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Kingston upon Hull ‡ | Labour | No overall control gain | Details | ||
| Milton Keynes ‡ | No overall control | Liberal Democrats gain | Details | ||
| Portsmouth ‡ | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details | ||
| Southampton ‡ | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details | ||
| Stoke-on-Trent ‡ | Labour | No overall control gain | Details | ||
‡ New ward boundaries
Third of council
In 12 English Unitary authorities, one third of the council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburn with Darwen | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Bristol | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Halton | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Hartlepool | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details | ||
| Peterborough | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details | ||
| Reading | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Slough | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Southend-on-Sea | Conservative | Conservative hold | Details | ||
| Swindon | No overall control | No overall control hold | Details | ||
| Thurrock | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Warrington | Labour | Labour hold | Details | ||
| Wokingham | No overall control | Conservative gain | Details | ||
Whole council
In 46 English district authorities, the whole council was up for election.
‡ New ward boundaries
Third of council
In 42 English district authorities, one third of the council was up for election.
Mayoral elections
There were seven elections for directly elected mayors.
| Local Authority | Previous Mayor | Mayor-elect | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doncaster | New Post | Martin Winter (Labour) | |||
| Hartlepool | New Post | Stuart Drummond (Independent) | Details | ||
| Lewisham | New Post | Steve Bullock (Labour) | |||
| Middlesbrough | New Post | Ray Mallon (Independent) | |||
| Newham | New Post | Robin Wales (Labour) | |||
| North Tyneside | New Post | Chris Morgan (Conservative) | |||
| Watford | New Post | Dorothy Thornhill (Liberal Democrat) | Details | ||
Notes
References
- Parker, Simon (3 May 2002). "Labour avoids council meltdown despite mayoral embarrassments". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- Vote 2002 BBC News
- Local elections in England: 2 May 2002. House of Commons Library Research Paper 02/33.
- Full 2002 ward results
- The Guardian local election coverage