Liberal Democrats › 2019

Liberal Democrats in 2019

Polling day: 2 May 2019. 255 councils held elections.

Summary

Contested in 244 of 255 councils; ran for 7,990 seats.
Won 1,355 seats (17.0% of seats up) on 17.5% of the vote.
Net change vs each council's last appearance in this dataset: +120 seats across 55 councils up, 19 councils down, 47 flat, 123 new to the window.
Council-control change: 6 gained, 0 lost.

Where Liberal Democrats led, as of 2019

Councils where Liberal Democrats was the largest single party in the most recent composition snapshot at or before 2019. Greens ring councils gained at this election; reds ring those lost. Click any hex to drill in.

As of 2019

30 councils led

+6 gained 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 (6)

Chelmsford from Conservative Party
Mendip from Conservative Party
Winchester from Conservative Party
Portsmouth from Conservative Party
St Albans from Conservative Party
Mole Valley from 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 2019 — usually the result of a boundary reorganisation or being a county outside our 2021 LEH coverage.

Seats gained (55 councils)

Council	Won	Last cycle	Net	Vote share	Seat share
Chelmsford	31	0 (2017)	+31	39.9%	54.4%
Mendip	22	0 (2017)	+22	33.9%	46.8%
Dacorum	19	0 (2017)	+19	31.6%	37.3%
Dorset	29	11 (2017)	+18	28.8%	35.4%
Guildford	17	0 (2016)	+17	27.9%	35.4%
Test Valley	12	1 (2017)	+11	30.5%	29.3%
Malvern Hills	9	0 (2017)	+9	27.6%	26.5%
Windsor and Maidenhead	9	0 (2017)	+9	25.3%	22.0%
Spelthorne	8	0 (2017)	+8	17.5%	20.5%
Preston	9	2 (2018)	+7	20.0%	18.8%
Sedgemoor	7	0 (2017)	+7	29.6%	14.6%
Canterbury	6	0 (2016)	+6	19.7%	15.4%
Mole Valley	11	6 (2018)	+5	50.4%	78.6%
Mid Suffolk	5	0 (2017)	+5	17.7%	14.7%
South Ribble	5	0 (2016)	+5	16.4%	10.0%
Wokingham	8	4 (2018)	+4	39.4%	44.4%
Colchester	6	2 (2018)	+4	26.6%	35.3%
St Albans	12	9 (2018)	+3	42.4%	57.1%
North Hertfordshire	6	3 (2018)	+3	28.4%	37.5%
Tunbridge Wells	5	2 (2018)	+3	27.2%	27.8%
Reigate and Banstead	3	0 (2018)	+3	13.8%	6.7%
Rushcliffe	3	0 (2017)	+3	12.9%	7.1%
Central Bedfordshire	3	0 (2017)	+3	9.7%	5.1%
Runnymede	3	0 (2018)	+3	7.5%	7.3%
Winchester	11	9 (2018)	+2	48.3%	68.8%
Sheffield	11	9 (2018)	+2	24.5%	39.3%
Stockport	10	8 (2018)	+2	34.6%	47.6%
Cambridge	7	5 (2018)	+2	35.0%	43.8%
Portsmouth	6	4 (2018)	+2	27.8%	40.0%
Pendle	5	3 (2018)	+2	18.9%	29.4%
Sunderland	5	3 (2018)	+2	13.7%	19.2%
Basingstoke and Deane	4	2 (2018)	+2	25.4%	20.0%
Sefton	4	2 (2018)	+2	20.8%	17.4%
Barnsley	3	1 (2018)	+2	16.9%	14.3%
Southend-on-Sea	3	1 (2018)	+2	14.0%	17.6%
Norwich	3	1 (2018)	+2	13.5%	7.7%
Wyre Forest	3	1 (2018)	+2	10.5%	9.1%
Trafford	2	0 (2018)	+2	10.6%	9.5%
Watford	10	9 (2018)	+1	55.2%	76.9%
Brentwood	5	4 (2018)	+1	40.9%	41.7%
Gateshead	5	4 (2018)	+1	26.9%	22.7%
Woking	4	3 (2018)	+1	29.9%	40.0%
Hart	4	3 (2018)	+1	29.0%	33.3%
Peterborough	4	3 (2018)	+1	15.3%	20.0%
Kirklees	4	3 (2018)	+1	14.3%	17.4%
Derby	3	2 (2018)	+1	17.9%	17.6%
Oldham	3	2 (2018)	+1	13.7%	15.0%
Bolton	3	2 (2018)	+1	12.7%	15.0%
Cherwell	2	1 (2018)	+1	16.6%	11.8%
St Helens	2	1 (2018)	+1	14.4%	12.5%
Solihull	2	1 (2018)	+1	13.4%	11.8%
Bury	2	1 (2018)	+1	12.7%	11.8%
Reading	1	0 (2018)	+1	14.7%	6.3%
Wakefield	1	0 (2018)	+1	9.0%	4.8%
Carlisle	1	0 (2018)	+1	4.6%	2.6%

Seats lost (19 councils)

Council	Won	Last cycle	Net	Vote share	Seat share
Eastleigh	12	32 (2018)	-20	52.1%	92.3%
South Lakeland	12	29 (2018)	-17	45.0%	75.0%
Kingston upon Hull	9	24 (2018)	-15	43.0%	47.4%
Cambridgeshire	1	15 (2017)	-14	46.7%	100.0%
Gloucestershire	1	14 (2017)	-13	47.8%	100.0%
Durham	1	14 (2017)	-13	29.4%	50.0%
Newcastle upon Tyne	8	19 (2018)	-11	23.3%	29.6%
West Sussex	0	9 (2017)	-9	10.1%	0.0%
Kent	0	7 (2017)	-7	4.8%	0.0%
Leeds	3	6 (2018)	-3	11.6%	9.1%
Northumberland	0	3 (2017)	-3	10.3%	0.0%
Welwyn Hatfield	5	6 (2018)	-1	32.5%	27.8%
Milton Keynes	5	6 (2018)	-1	21.3%	26.3%
West Oxfordshire	3	4 (2018)	-1	24.3%	18.8%
Tandridge	3	4 (2018)	-1	17.4%	21.4%
Manchester	1	2 (2018)	-1	13.9%	3.0%
Havant	0	1 (2018)	-1	18.6%	0.0%
Craven	0	1 (2016)	-1	6.6%	0.0%
Swindon	0	1 (2018)	-1	6.5%	0.0%

Debut councils (123)

Council	Won	Vote share	Seat share
South Somerset	41	47.9%	68.3%
Bath and North East Somerset	37	43.7%	62.7%
Vale of White Horse	31	58.3%	83.8%
North Norfolk	30	50.1%	75.0%
Somerset West and Taunton	30	40.6%	51.7%
Teignbridge	26	40.6%	55.3%
Oadby and Wigston	24	66.7%	92.3%
Arun	22	30.2%	40.7%
Hinckley and Bosworth	21	46.4%	61.8%
North Devon	21	37.5%	50.0%
York	21	34.5%	44.7%
Eastbourne	18	49.6%	66.7%
Cotswold	18	41.4%	52.9%
Chesterfield	17	38.9%	35.4%
South Gloucestershire	17	31.8%	27.9%
West Berkshire	16	33.4%	37.2%
Bedford	15	30.9%	37.5%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	15	22.4%	19.7%
Waverley	14	26.5%	25.5%
East Cambridgeshire	13	40.7%	46.4%
Mid Sussex	13	30.2%	26.0%
Horsham	13	28.3%	27.1%
Torbay	13	27.8%	36.1%
New Forest	13	23.7%	22.0%
Redcar and Cleveland	13	20.6%	22.0%
Mid Devon	12	31.7%	29.3%
West Lindsey	12	31.3%	37.5%
Broadland	12	27.5%	25.5%
South Oxfordshire	12	25.0%	33.3%
Luton	12	17.2%	25.0%
Harborough	11	33.9%	33.3%
Chichester	11	33.3%	30.6%
Stratford-on-Avon	11	28.7%	30.6%
North Somerset	11	18.8%	22.0%
South Hams	10	30.6%	32.3%
South Norfolk	10	30.2%	21.7%
Surrey Heath	10	28.3%	28.6%
Eden	10	27.9%	28.6%
Ribble Valley	10	20.3%	26.3%
Warwick	9	23.5%	20.5%
Tonbridge and Malling	9	19.5%	17.3%
Tewkesbury	8	28.0%	21.1%
Derbyshire Dales	8	23.5%	20.5%
Lewes	8	22.5%	19.5%
East Riding	8	15.7%	11.9%
East Hampshire	7	22.8%	16.7%
Uttlesford	7	21.4%	17.9%
Broxtowe	7	19.8%	15.9%
Rother	7	15.3%	18.4%
Herefordshire	7	9.9%	13.2%
East Hertfordshire	6	19.0%	12.5%
Blaby	6	19.0%	17.6%
East Devon	6	15.4%	10.5%
Wychavon	5	25.7%	13.5%
Swale	5	9.6%	10.6%
Wealden	4	13.7%	9.1%
North West Leicestershire	4	12.3%	10.5%
Cheshire East	4	11.0%	4.9%
Telford and Wrekin	4	7.3%	7.4%
High Peak	3	14.9%	7.0%
Sevenoaks	3	14.8%	6.1%
Richmondshire	3	13.9%	12.5%
North East Derbyshire	3	13.6%	5.7%
Hertsmere	3	11.6%	7.7%
East Suffolk	3	11.4%	5.5%
Babergh	3	10.3%	9.4%
Bromsgrove	3	10.3%	9.7%
Lancaster	3	6.0%	5.0%
Darlington	3	4.2%	6.0%
Rutland	2	17.1%	10.5%
Tendring	2	13.3%	4.2%
Epsom and Ewell	2	13.2%	5.3%
Newark and Sherwood	2	12.8%	5.3%
Cheshire West and Chester	2	12.3%	2.9%
Gedling	2	12.0%	4.9%
Ryedale	2	11.8%	7.4%
Folkestone and Hythe	2	11.3%	6.7%
Torridge	2	10.9%	5.9%
Fenland	2	10.9%	7.4%
Forest of Dean	2	5.2%	5.3%
Stockton-on-Tees	2	3.8%	3.6%
South Kesteven	2	3.3%	3.7%
Lichfield	1	13.7%	2.5%
Bracknell Forest	1	11.9%	2.4%
Erewash	1	10.6%	2.1%
Hambleton	1	8.5%	3.7%
West Devon	1	6.9%	3.7%
Leicester	1	5.4%	1.9%
Bolsover	1	5.4%	2.9%
Staffordshire Moorlands	1	4.2%	1.8%
East Staffordshire	1	3.3%	2.7%
Fylde	1	3.1%	2.0%
Bassetlaw	1	2.7%	2.1%
East Lindsey	1	2.1%	2.0%
King's Lynn and West Norfolk	1	2.0%	1.8%
Dover	0	8.0%	0.0%
Ashford	0	6.4%	0.0%
Thanet	0	5.8%	0.0%
Charnwood	0	4.7%	0.0%
Medway	0	4.2%	0.0%
Braintree	0	4.1%	0.0%
Brighton and Hove	0	3.8%	0.0%
Gravesham	0	3.4%	0.0%
Middlesbrough	0	3.3%	0.0%
West Suffolk	0	3.1%	0.0%
Hartlepool	0	2.4%	0.0%
Blackpool	0	2.1%	0.0%
Allerdale	0	2.0%	0.0%
Scarborough	0	2.0%	0.0%
South Staffordshire	0	1.7%	0.0%
Melton	0	1.4%	0.0%
Thurrock	0	1.4%	0.0%
Ashfield	0	1.2%	0.0%
North Kesteven	0	1.1%	0.0%
Breckland	0	1.1%	0.0%
North Lincolnshire	0	0.9%	0.0%
Stafford	0	0.9%	0.0%
Wyre	0	0.9%	0.0%
South Holland	0	0.5%	0.0%
Boston	0	0.4%	0.0%
Dartford	0	0.2%	0.0%
Copeland	0	0.1%	0.0%
Mansfield	0	0.1%	0.0%

No change (47)

Three Rivers 8 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Maidstone 6 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Rugby 3 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Elmbridge 3 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Liverpool 3 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Burnley 3 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Stevenage 2 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Calderdale 2 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Wirral 2 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Bradford 2 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Epping Forest 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Worthing 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Rochford 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Halton 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Ipswich 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Rushmoor 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Rochdale 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Exeter 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
North East Lincolnshire 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Knowsley 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Cannock Chase 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Blackburn with Darwen 1 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Broxbourne 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Southampton 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Lincoln 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Basildon 0 seats (unchanged from 2016)
Worcester 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Amber Valley 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Plymouth 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Nottingham 0 seats (unchanged from 2017)
Redditch 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Wolverhampton 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Walsall 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Salford 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Chorley 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Wigan 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Slough 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Dudley 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Harlow 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
South Tyneside 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Crawley 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Coventry 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Castle Point 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Tamworth 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Sandwell 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
North Tyneside 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)
Tameside 0 seats (unchanged from 2018)

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.