Labour Party
Labour Party across the UK local-election cycles in our dataset (2021–2026 election results, plus chamber composition rolled forward to 2026 from opencouncildata snapshots).
Headline
- 54 council-control gains and 58 losses across this window (net -4).
- Footprint share moved from 33.1% (2016) to 24.5% (2026) — a −8.6 pts shift across 418 councils.
- Largest party in 113 of 418 councils as of 2026 (27.0%).
Same votes, different counting rule
Compare the seats Labour Party actually won under FPTP with a proportional re-count of the same council-level votes. Positive means seats unfairly awarded by FPTP; negative means seats the party was denied by FPTP.
Where Labour Party leads
Councils where Labour Party is the largest single party in the most recent composition snapshot. Hover any hex for the council name and seat count; click to drill in.
Currently largest in
113 councils
From the most recent composition snapshot per council. Grey hexes are councils where another party leads (or where we don't yet have a snapshot).
Cycles
Click into any cycle for a full breakdown — councils gained, lost, and where the seats came from.
2026
1,067 of 5,031 seats won
21% → 21% +1 pts
Control: +0 / −30 councils
136 councils contested
2025
98 of 1,640 seats won
15% → 6% −9 pts
Control: +0 / −2 councils
23 councils contested
2024
1,158 of 2,659 seats won
35% → 44% +8 pts
Control: +12 / −2 councils
107 councils contested
2023
2,679 of 8,031 seats won
31% → 33% +2 pts
Control: +28 / −2 councils
230 councils contested
2022
3,056 of 6,660 seats won
38% → 46% +8 pts
Control: +10 / −7 councils
196 councils contested
2021
1,346 of 4,729 seats won
28% → 28% +1 pts
Control: +0 / −8 councils
143 councils contested
2019
2,019 of 8,282 seats won
27% → 24% −2 pts
Control: +2 / −3 councils
254 councils contested
2018
2,357 of 4,417 seats won
44% → 53% +9 pts
Control: +2 / −4 councils
154 councils contested
2017
881 of 3,581 seats won
24% → 25% +1 pts
105 councils contested
2016
1,342 of 2,796 seats won
39% → 48% +9 pts
149 councils contested
Votes vs seats, by cycle
For each cycle this party contested, the bars show vote share (filled) against seat share (outlined). The signed gap is the disproportionality.
Four-year movement
Vote share across each cycle pair (same councils, four years apart).
votes −18 pts
votes −13 pts
votes +5 pts
Cumulative footprint
Share of all UK council seats held. Across all councils in our dataset, including those not polling this year. Comparable across the full window because composition rolls forward year-on-year.
By election
| Year | Seats up | Won | Vote share | Seat share | Footprint share | Largest in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 5,031 | 1,067 | 20.7% | 21.2% | 24.5% | 113 / 418 | Details → |
| 2025 | 1,640 | 98 | 14.9% | 6.0% | 30.9% | 143 / 418 | Details → |
| 2024 | 2,659 | 1,158 | 35.2% | 43.6% | 33.1% | 150 / 416 | Details → |
| 2023 | 8,031 | 2,679 | 31.2% | 33.4% | 32.4% | 137 / 416 | Details → |
| 2022 | 6,660 | 3,056 | 38.3% | 45.9% | 29.5% | 111 / 416 | Details → |
| 2021 | 4,729 | 1,346 | 27.9% | 28.5% | 28.9% | 105 / 414 | Details → |
| 2020 | — | — | — | — | 30.8% | 116 / 412 | |
| 2019 | 8,282 | 2,019 | 26.5% | 24.4% | 31.2% | 117 / 412 | Details → |
| 2018 | 4,417 | 2,357 | 44.3% | 53.4% | 31.9% | 122 / 407 | Details → |
| 2017 | 3,581 | 881 | 24.1% | 24.6% | 31.5% | 127 / 407 | Details → |
| 2016 | 2,796 | 1,342 | 38.7% | 48.0% | 33.1% | 147 / 407 | Details → |
See methodology for how we normalise party names, why "Labour and Co-operative" collapses to "Labour Party", and the bloc-vote vote-share caveat for multi-member wards.