Liberal Democrats › 2026
Liberal Democrats in 2026
Polling day: 7 May 2026. 136 councils held elections.
Summary
- Contested in 134 of 136 councils; ran for 5,007 seats.
- Won 841 seats (16.8% of seats up) on 13.4% of the vote.
- Net change vs each council's last appearance in this dataset: +89 seats across 44 councils up, 26 councils down, 62 flat, 2 new to the window.
- Council-control change: 5 gained, 1 lost.
Same votes, different counting rule
Compare the seats Liberal Democrats 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 Liberal Democrats led, as of 2026
Councils where Liberal Democrats was the largest single party in the most recent composition snapshot at or before 2026. Greens ring councils gained at this election; reds ring those lost. Click any hex to drill in.
As of 2026
69 councils led
+5 gained this cycle
−1 lost this cycle
Grey hexes are councils where another party led, or where we don't have a snapshot for that year.
Council-control changes
Councils where the largest party in the running composition changed at this election. How a flip is defined →
Gained (5)
- West Sussex from Conservative Party
- Huntingdonshire from Conservative Party
- Newcastle upon Tyne from Labour Party
- Milton Keynes from Labour Party
- Brentwood from Conservative Party
Lost (1)
- Gosport to Conservative Party
Where the seats came from
Per-council net seat change vs each council's prior appearance in our dataset (typically that council's previous all-out election or its last by-thirds slice). "Debut" rows are councils whose first cycle in our window is 2026 — usually the result of a boundary reorganisation or being a county outside our 2021 LEH coverage.
Seats gained (44 councils)
| Council | Won | Last cycle | Net | Vote share | Seat share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton | 51 | 29 (2022) | +22 | 44.4% | 92.7% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 25 | 7 (2024) | +18 | 23.1% | 32.1% |
| Milton Keynes | 20 | 6 (2024) | +14 | 18.5% | 33.3% |
| Sefton | 17 | 3 (2024) | +14 | 15.6% | 25.8% |
| West Sussex | 23 | 10 (2021) | +13 | 22.8% | 32.9% |
| Huntingdonshire | 20 | 10 (2022) | +10 | 26.4% | 38.5% |
| Hampshire | 26 | 17 (2021) | +9 | 25.4% | 33.3% |
| Sunderland | 12 | 4 (2024) | +8 | 13.0% | 16.0% |
| Brent | 11 | 3 (2022) | +8 | 15.4% | 19.3% |
| Gateshead | 13 | 6 (2024) | +7 | 20.5% | 19.7% |
| Ealing | 13 | 6 (2022) | +7 | 16.6% | 18.6% |
| Richmond upon Thames | 51 | 45 (2022) | +6 | 51.2% | 100.0% |
| South Cambridgeshire | 43 | 37 (2022) | +6 | 42.7% | 95.6% |
| Camden | 10 | 4 (2022) | +6 | 14.8% | 18.2% |
| Norfolk | 13 | 8 (2021) | +5 | 14.7% | 15.5% |
| Lambeth | 8 | 3 (2022) | +5 | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| Eastleigh | 14 | 10 (2024) | +4 | 41.2% | 93.3% |
| Barnsley | 8 | 4 (2024) | +4 | 12.3% | 12.7% |
| Solihull | 6 | 2 (2024) | +4 | 10.9% | 11.8% |
| Rugby | 6 | 3 (2024) | +3 | 20.1% | 40.0% |
| Isle of Wight | 4 | 1 (2021) | +3 | 8.4% | 10.3% |
| St Albans | 19 | 17 (2024) | +2 | 45.2% | 86.4% |
| Merton | 19 | 17 (2022) | +2 | 27.7% | 33.3% |
| Winchester | 13 | 11 (2024) | +2 | 41.6% | 86.7% |
| Stockport | 13 | 11 (2024) | +2 | 32.1% | 61.9% |
| East Sussex | 13 | 11 (2021) | +2 | 22.4% | 26.0% |
| Welwyn Hatfield | 6 | 4 (2024) | +2 | 19.8% | 35.3% |
| Kirklees | 5 | 3 (2024) | +2 | 9.8% | 7.2% |
| Watford | 12 | 11 (2024) | +1 | 44.8% | 100.0% |
| Southwark | 12 | 11 (2022) | +1 | 16.8% | 19.0% |
| Portsmouth | 8 | 7 (2024) | +1 | 29.5% | 57.1% |
| Haringey | 8 | 7 (2022) | +1 | 17.3% | 14.0% |
| Bromley | 6 | 5 (2022) | +1 | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| Cambridge | 4 | 3 (2024) | +1 | 24.1% | 26.7% |
| Southampton | 3 | 2 (2024) | +1 | 14.1% | 17.6% |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 3 | 2 (2022) | +1 | 12.2% | 6.0% |
| Peterborough | 3 | 2 (2024) | +1 | 9.7% | 16.7% |
| Exeter | 2 | 1 (2024) | +1 | 11.7% | 14.3% |
| Croydon | 2 | 1 (2022) | +1 | 9.0% | 2.9% |
| Wakefield | 2 | 1 (2024) | +1 | 4.2% | 3.2% |
| Hounslow | 1 | 0 (2022) | +1 | 9.4% | 1.6% |
| Worthing | 1 | 0 (2024) | +1 | 8.6% | 7.7% |
| Tower Hamlets | 1 | 0 (2022) | +1 | 4.8% | 2.2% |
| Swindon | 1 | 0 (2024) | +1 | 4.7% | 1.8% |
Seats lost (26 councils)
| Council | Won | Last cycle | Net | Vote share | Seat share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham | 17 | 36 (2024) | -19 | 42.3% | 85.0% |
| Wokingham | 12 | 27 (2024) | -15 | 34.8% | 63.2% |
| Brentwood | 4 | 17 (2024) | -13 | 24.3% | 28.6% |
| Tunbridge Wells | 11 | 22 (2024) | -11 | 37.9% | 73.3% |
| Gosport | 0 | 8 (2024) | -8 | 20.5% | 0.0% |
| Havant | 0 | 7 (2024) | -7 | 10.7% | 0.0% |
| Epping Forest | 0 | 7 (2024) | -7 | 9.0% | 0.0% |
| Fareham | 4 | 8 (2024) | -4 | 20.0% | 25.0% |
| Stevenage | 2 | 6 (2024) | -4 | 12.5% | 14.3% |
| Essex | 5 | 8 (2021) | -3 | 11.5% | 6.5% |
| Rochford | 1 | 4 (2024) | -3 | 14.4% | 6.7% |
| Dudley | 0 | 3 (2024) | -3 | 7.6% | 0.0% |
| Three Rivers | 5 | 7 (2024) | -2 | 25.7% | 38.5% |
| Sheffield | 5 | 7 (2024) | -2 | 18.4% | 16.7% |
| Suffolk | 2 | 4 (2021) | -2 | 9.0% | 2.9% |
| Pendle | 1 | 3 (2024) | -2 | 15.7% | 10.0% |
| Oldham | 1 | 3 (2024) | -2 | 10.9% | 5.0% |
| Bradford | 1 | 3 (2024) | -2 | 3.0% | 1.1% |
| Kingston upon Hull | 8 | 9 (2024) | -1 | 31.8% | 42.1% |
| Preston | 5 | 6 (2024) | -1 | 22.9% | 31.3% |
| Oxford | 4 | 5 (2024) | -1 | 14.0% | 16.7% |
| Colchester | 3 | 4 (2024) | -1 | 18.8% | 17.6% |
| St Helens | 3 | 4 (2022) | -1 | 5.4% | 6.5% |
| Burnley | 1 | 2 (2024) | -1 | 11.8% | 6.7% |
| Bolton | 1 | 2 (2024) | -1 | 7.4% | 5.0% |
| Salford | 0 | 1 (2024) | -1 | 5.6% | 0.0% |
Debut councils (2)
| Council | Won | Vote share | Seat share |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Surrey | 56 | 35.7% | 62.2% |
| East Surrey | 40 | 29.4% | 55.6% |
No change (62)
- Kingston upon Thames 44 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Birmingham 12 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Cherwell 8 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- West Oxfordshire 7 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Hart 5 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Basingstoke and Deane 4 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Lincoln 2 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Trafford 2 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Leeds 2 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Calderdale 2 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Norwich 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Ipswich 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Manchester 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Reading 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Rochdale 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Southend-on-Sea 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Rushmoor 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- North East Lincolnshire 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Halton 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Knowsley 1 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Wandsworth 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Lewisham 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Islington 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Hammersmith and Fulham 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Westminster 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Greenwich 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Enfield 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Adur 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Redditch 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Harrow 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Plymouth 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Hillingdon 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Crawley 0 seats (unchanged from 2023)
- Barnet 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Waltham Forest 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Basildon 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Hackney 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Bexley 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Broxbourne 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Redbridge 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Wigan 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Hartlepool 0 seats (unchanged from 2023)
- North Tyneside 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Barking and Dagenham 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Coventry 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- West Lancashire 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Newcastle-under-Lyme 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Newham 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Wolverhampton 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Chorley 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Hastings 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Sandwell 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Tameside 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Havering 0 seats (unchanged from 2022)
- Nuneaton and Bedworth 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Walsall 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Tamworth 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- South Tyneside 0 seats (unchanged from 2023)
- Thurrock 0 seats (unchanged from 2019)
- Blackburn with Darwen 0 seats (unchanged from 2023)
- Bury 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
- Harlow 0 seats (unchanged from 2024)
Net-change comparisons are versus each council's most recent appearance in our dataset (2021–2026). For all-out councils that's the previous all-out cycle (typically four years prior); for by-thirds councils it's last year's slice. Cross-cycle ward boundary changes can produce small artefacts — see methodology.