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2002 United Kingdom local elections

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2002 United Kingdom local elections

← 2001 2 May 2002 2003 →

All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs,
18 unitary authorities, 88 English districts
and 7 directly elected mayors
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Tony Blair Iain Duncan Smith Charles Kennedy
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader since 21 July 1994 13 September 2001 9 August 1999
Percentage 33%[a] 34% 27%
Swing Increase2% Decrease6% Increase2%
Councils 64 42 15
Councils +/- Decrease7 Increase9 Increase2
Councillors 2,416 2,007 1,250
Councillors +/- Decrease334 Increase238 Increase37

Colours denote council control following elections, as shown in the main table of results.

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.

Summary of results

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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

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London boroughs

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In all 32 London boroughs, the whole council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Barking and Dagenham Labour Labour hold Details
Barnet No overall control Conservative gain Details
Bexley No overall control Labour gain Details
Brent Labour Labour hold Details
Bromley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Camden Labour Labour hold Details
Croydon Labour Labour hold Details
Ealing Labour Labour hold Details
Enfield Labour Conservative gain Details
Greenwich Labour Labour hold Details
Hackney Labour Labour hold Details
Hammersmith and Fulham Labour Labour hold Details
Haringey Labour Labour hold Details
Harrow Labour No overall control gain Details
Havering No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hillingdon No overall control No overall control hold Details
Hounslow Labour Labour hold Details
Islington Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Kensington and Chelsea Conservative Conservative hold Details
Kingston upon Thames No overall control Liberal Democrats gain Details
Lambeth Labour No overall control gain Details
Lewisham Labour Labour hold Details
Merton Labour Labour hold Details
Newham Labour Labour hold Details
Redbridge No overall control Conservative gain Details
Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats Conservative gain Details
Southwark No overall control No overall control hold Details
Sutton Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Tower Hamlets Labour Labour hold Details
Waltham Forest Labour No overall control gain Details
Wandsworth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Westminster Conservative Conservative hold Details

‡ New ward boundaries

Metropolitan boroughs

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All 36 English 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 No overall control No overall control hold Details
Bury Labour Labour hold Details
Calderdale Conservative No overall control gain (Conservative Minority) Details
Coventry Labour Labour hold Details
Doncaster Labour Labour hold Details
Dudley Labour Labour hold Details
Gateshead Labour Labour hold Details
Kirklees No overall control No overall control hold Details
Knowsley Labour Labour hold Details
Leeds Labour Labour hold Details
Liverpool Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Manchester Labour Labour hold Details
Newcastle upon Tyne Labour Labour hold Details
North Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
Oldham Liberal Democrats No overall control gain 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 Liberal Democrats No overall control gain Details
Solihull Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Tyneside Labour Labour hold Details
St Helens Labour Labour hold Details
Stockport Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Sunderland Labour Labour hold Details
Tameside Labour Labour hold Details
Trafford Labour Labour hold Details
Wakefield Labour Labour hold Details
Walsall No overall control No overall control hold Details
Wigan Labour Labour hold Details
Wirral No overall control No overall control hold Details
Wolverhampton Labour Labour hold Details

Unitary authorities

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Whole council

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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

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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

District councils

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Whole council

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In 46 English district authorities, the whole council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Basildon No overall control No overall control hold Details
Basingstoke and Deane No overall control No overall control hold Details
Bassetlaw Labour Labour hold Details
Bedford No overall control No overall control hold Details
Brentwood Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Burnley Labour Labour hold Details
Cannock Chase Labour Labour hold Details
Cheltenham Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Cherwell Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chorley No overall control No overall control hold Details
Colchester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Craven No overall control No overall control hold Details
Eastbourne Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Eastleigh Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Epping Forest No overall control No overall control hold Details
Fareham Conservative Conservative hold Details
Gloucester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Gosport No overall control No overall control hold Details
Harlow Labour No overall control gain Details
Harrogate Liberal Democrats No overall control gain Details
Hart No overall control Conservative gain Details
Hastings Labour Labour hold Details
Havant No overall control Conservative gain Details
Hyndburn Conservative Labour gain Details
Ipswich Labour Labour hold Details
Maidstone No overall control No overall control hold Details
Newcastle-under-Lyme Labour No overall control gain Details
Nuneaton and Bedworth Labour Labour hold Details
Oxford No overall control Labour gain Details
Pendle No overall control No overall control hold Details
Preston No overall control No overall control hold Details
Rochford No overall control Conservative gain Details
Rossendale Conservative Labour gain Details
Rugby No overall control No overall control hold Details
Rushmoor Conservative Conservative hold Details
Shrewsbury and Atcham No overall control Conservative gain Details
South Bedfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Stratford-on-Avon Conservative Conservative hold Details
Stroud No overall control Conservative gain Details
Swale No overall control Conservative gain Details
Tamworth Labour Labour hold Details
Tunbridge Wells Conservative Conservative hold Details
Waveney Labour No overall control gain Details
West Lancashire No overall control Conservative gain Details
West Oxfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Winchester Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details

‡ New ward boundaries

Third of council

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In 42 English district authorities, one third of the council was up for election.

Council Previous control Result Details
Adur No overall control Conservative gain Details
Amber Valley Conservative Conservative hold Details
Barrow-in-Furness No overall control No overall control hold Details
Broadland Conservative Conservative hold Details
Broxbourne Conservative Conservative hold Details
Cambridge Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Carlisle Conservative Conservative hold Details
Chester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Congleton No overall control No overall control hold Details
Crawley Labour Labour hold Details
Crewe and Nantwich No overall control No overall control hold Details
Daventry Conservative Conservative hold Details
Ellesmere Port and Neston Labour Labour hold Details
Elmbridge No overall control Residents gain Details
Exeter Labour Labour hold Details
Great Yarmouth Conservative Conservative hold Details
Hertsmere Conservative Conservative hold Details
Huntingdonshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Lincoln Labour Labour hold Details
Macclesfield Conservative Conservative hold Details
Mole Valley No overall control No overall control hold Details
North Hertfordshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Norwich Labour Liberal Democrats gain Details
Penwith No overall control No overall control hold Details
Purbeck Conservative Conservative hold Details
Redditch Labour No overall control gain Details
Reigate and Banstead Conservative Conservative hold Details
Runnymede Conservative Conservative hold Details
South Cambridgeshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
South Lakeland No overall control No overall control hold Details
St Albans No overall control No overall control hold Details
Stevenage Labour Labour hold Details
Tandridge Conservative Conservative hold Details
Three Rivers Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats hold Details
Watford No overall control No overall control hold Details
Welwyn Hatfield Labour Conservative gain Details
West Lindsey No overall control No overall control hold Details
Weymouth and Portland No overall control No overall control hold Details
Woking No overall control No overall control hold Details
Worcester No overall control No overall control hold Details
Worthing Conservative Liberal Democrats gain Details
Wyre Forest No overall control Health Concern gain Details

Mayoral elections

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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

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  1. ^ All vote shares in the infobox are projected national vote shares, not total votes cast.

References

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  1. ^ Parker, Simon (3 May 2002). "Labour avoids council meltdown despite mayoral embarrassments". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 July 2022.