2023 United Kingdom local elections explained

Election Name:2023 United Kingdom local elections
Type:parliamentary
Country:United Kingdom
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2022 United Kingdom local elections
Previous Year:2022
Next Election:2024 United Kingdom local elections
Next Year:2024
Seats For Election:230 unitary, metropolitan and district councils in England
4 directly elected mayors in England
All 11 councils in Northern Ireland
Election Date:4 May 2023 (England)
18 May 2023 (Northern Ireland)
Turnout:32.0% (England)[1]
54.7% (Northern Ireland)[2]
1Blank:Projected vote-share
2Blank:Swing
3Blank:Councillors
4Blank:Councillors ±
5Blank:Councils
6Blank:Councils ±
7Blank:Mayors
8Blank:Mayors ±
Leader1:Keir Starmer
Party1:Labour Party (UK)
Leader Since1:4 April 2020
Last Election1:2,131
1Data1:35%
3Data1:2,675
4Data1:537
5Data1:71
6Data1:22
Leader2:Rishi Sunak
Party2:Conservative Party (UK)
Leader Since2:24 October 2022
Last Election2:3,365
1Data2:26%
2Data2:4%
3Data2:2,296
4Data2:1,063
5Data2:33
6Data2:48
Leader4:Ed Davey
Party4:Liberal Democrats (UK)
Leader Since4:27 August 2020
Last Election4:1,223
1Data4:20%
2Data4:1%
3Data4:1,628
4Data4:407
5Data4:29
6Data4:12
Leader5:Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay
Party5:Green Party of England and Wales
Leader Since5:1 October 2021
Last Election5:239
3Data5:481
4Data5:241
5Data5:1
6Data5:1

The 2023 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday, 4 May 2023 in England and on Thursday 18 May 2023 in Northern Ireland.[3] These included district councils, unitary authorities, and directly elected mayors in England, and included all local councils in Northern Ireland.[4] [5] Notably, these elections were the first to be held under the Elections Act 2022, a new voter identification law that required voters to show photo ID when attending a polling station,[6] and was a cause for controversy.

The elections in England saw significant losses for the governing Conservative Party, which lost over 1,000 council seats. The Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party of England and Wales all made gains, with Labour becoming the party with most members elected to local government for the first time since 2002. The Greens won majority control of Mid Suffolk District Council, the party's first ever council majority.[7]

In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party in local government for the first time. These elections were also the first since the creation of Northern Ireland in which nationalist candidates received more votes than unionists.

England

Background

Policy

These elections were to be the first under the new voter identification laws. This meant voters would be required to show photo identification when attending a polling station. These new laws were controversial[8] and led to accusations of voter suppression.[9] [10] There were concerns that turnout would be extremely low at the elections due to a combination of lack of ID held by some voters, and many members of the public remaining unaware of the new requirements.[11] [12] The police had been alerted to the possibility of anger and confrontation over these new rules, and polling station staff had been trained to de-escalate situations.[13]

Since late 2021, the cost of living crisis had been growing, leading to government support for help with bills. Changes to waste collection and recycling had been delayed by the Government until after the elections.[14]

Narrative

A majority of the seats up for election were last elected in 2019. At those elections, the Conservative Party lost over a thousand seats and control of several councils while the Liberal Democrats managed to make the most gains at their expense. The Labour Party also lost seats and control of some councils at the 2019 local elections.[15] In terms of seat numbers, this day of local elections was the biggest since 2019.[16] Many wards had new boundaries.[17]

The year up to the 2023 elections included the political crisis leading to Boris Johnson's resignation, the market turbulence caused by the "mini-budget", and the subsequent credibility crisis leading to Liz Truss' resignation and Rishi Sunak's appointment.

The cost of living crisis and a surge in inflation were significant contributing factors to several strikes in the public sector, with high-profile strikes in the transport sector and the health service. There were also extensive strikes in the postal services, education sector and amongst the civil service. In mid-February 2023, Conservative member of the House of Lords, Lord Hayward, said that the strikes had popular support and were therefore damaging the government and party's chances in the local elections. He argued the strikes needed to stop in order to improve their chances.[18]

The Liberal Democrats had been utilising comments from senior Conservative MPs as part of their advertising in the so-called "blue wall" to draw attention to their undesirable and "toxic" opinions, such as support for the death penalty.[19]

The Labour Party had stated to the press that they want to use these local elections to prepare for the 2024 general election.

The Green Party stood 3,331 candidates, 41% of all seats that were up for election, the most they had ever contested.[20] Over half of the party's 536 total local council seats were to be defended at these elections.[21] The Greens launched their national local elections campaign in Stowmarket, Mid Suffolk, where they were aiming to win majority control, which would be the first time the Greens had won a majority on any council.[22] The Greens were said to have been aiming to win at least 100 new seats, with their appeal spreading to both left and right-wing voters due to dissatisfaction with the main two parties.[23]

Predictions

The Conservatives had been performing poorly in national polls leading up to these elections. They had been more than 20 points behind the Labour party in national opinion polling, though the gap had been narrowing.[24] Conservative party chair Greg Hands MP publicly recognised that this election would be difficult for the party and referred to analysis that suggested they would lose more than 1,000 seats.[25] [26] This estimate was based on comments by British academics Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, who said current polling would put conservative seat losses at around 1,000, while Labour would gain around 700 seats.[27] [28] President of the British Polling Council Sir John Curtice had described the electorate as "increasingly sophisticated" in using tactical voting to defeat the Conservative party candidates. For this reason Sir John Curtice said the Conservative party could actually end up losing well over 1,000 seats if the tactical voting is a big factor, which director of polling company Savanta, Chris Hopkins, agreed with. A website was created to inform voters how to vote to have the best chance to unseat the Conservatives in their local area, and it received publicity thanks to endorsements from several public figures.[29]

Labour NEC member Luke Akehurst stated that he expected the party to make its best gains in seat numbers since 2012, when it gained 847 seats (next best being a net gain of 288 seats), but expected varied results in terms of council control.[30]

Sky News reported that YouGov predictions were pointing towards Labour gains in the North and the Midlands.[31] [32] That same report showed that Conservative-controlled Swindon council looked set to switch control to Labour, and some other councils would move into Labour control from no overall control, or move to no overall control from Conservative. East Cambridgeshire was predicted to switch from Conservative control to Liberal Democrat. Sky News also reported that if the Conservatives only lost 500 seats they may feel "relatively unscathed"; if they lost 750 they could argue that Labour was not performing as well as the polls suggest, but over 1,000 seat losses would be "difficult to spin".[33] [34]

Campaigning

The Conservative Party launched its campaign on 24 March 2023 in the Midlands when Rishi Sunak visited some local sites along with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and local MPs.[35] [36] There was some confusion as to whether this had been the campaign launch, but Conservative headquarters later confirmed the launch had happened.

The Liberal Democrats launched its campaign on 29 March 2023 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, when the party leader, Ed Davey, drove a tractor into a ‘Blue Wall’ of hay bales.[37] [38]

Labour launched its campaign on 30 March 2023 in Swindon with speeches from Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves.[39] [40]

The Green Party launched its campaign in early April 2023 in Stowmarket, Suffolk, with speeches from co-leaders Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer.[41] [42]

On 31 March 2023, Rishi Sunak was photographed looking at a pothole in Darlington to raise awareness of new powers to prevent potholes from forming and to help fix them.[43] [44]

There were rumours that the Conservative Party would turn to Boris Johnson to help boost the parties chances by having him join the campaign trail.[45] There had been earlier reports stating that the Conservative Party election leaflets and campaign material did not show pictures of Rishi Sunak, but instead showed images of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and Suella Braverman.[46]

Amid the campaign, Sunak was accused of a conflict of interest over his wife's shares in a childcare agency that benefits from the latest budget policy.[47] This led to Sunak declaring his wife's shares as a financial interest on 19 April 2023.[48]

Whilst there is no fixed date for the pre-election period to begin, the UK government's guidance was that special care should be taken from 13 April 2023, three weeks before the election date in England.[49] The Liberal Democrats called for an investigation into Rishi Sunak's alleged flouting of these rules by making a speech on his proposed "maths to 18" policy after this date, although a spokesperson for the government said the announcement was within the rules.[50]

A further distraction to the election campaign came in the form of the Dominic Raab bullying scandal. In February 2023 Raab said he would quit if the government's independent ethics adviser, Adam Tolley KC, upheld the bullying claim against him.[51] Sunak received the report on 20 April[52] [53] and Raab resigned the next day.[54] [55]

The list of candidates put forward in strongly Tory-held Bracknell Forest Council led to local Labour and Liberal Democrat parties being accused of going against their national party leaderships by forming a de facto 'progressive alliance' to defeat the Conservative candidates.[56] The local parties denied this was planned and suggested a struggle for candidates and cash had led to the choices of which seats to challenge for. The Greens were also said to be involved in this arrangement; however, they only stood three candidates in the 2019 locals in Bracknell yet were standing seven in these elections, including in seats also contested by Labour or the Liberal Democrats.

Election day

Impact of voter ID requirement

ITV News reported that tellers had told them between 10 and 25% of voters in Oxfordshire were unable to cast their ballots due to the new measures.[57] The chair of the Electoral Commission was quoted as saying that "It appears that the government has designed a system which denies the prospect of sensible and co-ordinated information collection and makes it almost impossible to judge the true impact of the introduction of voter ID".[57] The Guardian reported that some transgender electors were not being allowed to vote because their identity documents did not match their new name as recorded on the electoral roll.[58] Disabled and clinically vulnerable voters were also turned away due to a requirement to remove face masks.[58]

Results analysis

Party! colspan="2"
CouncillorsCouncils
NumberChangeNumberChange
92 12
2,675 53771 22
2,296 1,06333 48
1,628 40729 12
864 892 1
481 2411 1
99 132
4 20
3 10
2 10
0 250
Post-election vacancy24
Projected proportion of aggregate votes
PartyBBC[59] Sky News[60]
%Change from%
2022[61] 2019[62]
35% 736%
26% 4 229%
20% 1 118%
19% 2 617%

The Labour Party achieved its largest lead in local elections over the Conservative Party since 1997. Its support recovered after a series of mediocre local election results over the previous few years; however, its projected national share of the vote remained at 35%, the same as in 2022. The Conservative Party fell to 26% in the BBC Projected National Share, its worst result ever in local elections, apart from 1995 and 2013. The Liberal Democrats and Greens made significant gains in the south of England, with some councils with safe Conservative seats at the parliamentary level voting for the opposition parties. The Liberal Democrats achieved their best result in local elections since the Cameron–Clegg coalition in 2010 with a projected national vote share of 20%. The Greens achieved their best ever result in English local elections, winning majority control of a council for the first time.[63] [64]

Results by party

Conservative

These elections were the first local elections of the Premiership of Rishi Sunak, and saw the Conservatives lose over 1,000 councillor seats, with major gains achieved by Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens.[65] Labour also overtook the Conservatives as holding the highest number of members elected to local government for the first time since 2002.[66] The Conservatives did take two councils; Torbay Council in Devon,[67] and Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire.[68]

Labour

Labour saw a net gain of 537 councillors and 22 councils.[69] Labour became the party with most members elected to local government for the first time since 2002.[70] The only council that Labour lost was Slough Borough Council, where 16 Tory gains took the council into no overall control, the first time in 15 years.[71] [72] Labour also retained Leicester City Council but lost 22 seats to the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens.[73]

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats saw considerable gains, gaining 407 councillors and winning control of 12 more councils.[74] Gains were concentrated in the Blue wall.[75]

Independents

Independents and residents associations were reported to have benefitted from voter disillusion.[76] [77] The Canvey Island Independent Party gained increased seats on Castle Point Borough Council, despite the Council remaining under no overall control.[78] The Boston District Independents won a majority on Boston Borough Council.[79] The Ashfield Independents increased their majority by two seats on the Ashfield District Council, taking a seat each off of the Conservatives and Labour, for a total seat count of 32.[80]

Green Party

The Green Party gained over 240 councillors across England, and won majority control of Mid Suffolk District Council, the party's first ever council majority.[81] [82] Despite losing minority-control of Brighton and Hove City Council to Labour, the Greens became the largest party on seven other councils: East Hertfordshire District Council, Lewes District Council, Warwick, Babergh, East Suffolk, Forest of Dean and Folkestone & Hythe.[83] [84] 2023 saw the party's best ever results in a local election.[85]

Other parties

Reform UK jointly nominated some of the winning Reform Derby candidates who won 6 seats on Derby City Council.[86] but failed to make a breakthrough with its own candidates on any other councils, averaging 6% of the vote in the wards where it stood.[87]

The UK Independence Party lost all six seats it was defending.[88] The Daily Telegraph reported that UKIP voters had flocked to Labour and independents.[89]

The Liberal Party won four seats bringing their total to five.[90] The Yorkshire Party won three seats in the East Riding of Yorkshire.[91] The Social Democratic Party won a second seat on Leeds City Council.[92]

Metropolitan boroughs

There are thirty-six metropolitan boroughs, which are single-tier local authorities. Thirty-three of them elect a third of their councillors every year for three years, with no election in each fourth year. These councils hold their elections on the same timetable, which includes elections in 2023. Due to boundary changes, seven councils which generally elect their councillors in thirds, will elect all of their councillors in 2023. They will then return to the thirds schedule.

In 2021, the government appointed commissioners to oversee Liverpool City Council following an investigation into the mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson. In 2022, the government announced it would take greater control of the council.[93] Liverpool was required to move to all-out elections from 2023 under new boundaries following a report by the government commissioner Max Caller.[94]

Wirral Council has also decided to move to all-out elections from 2023, on the existing ward boundaries.

Whole council

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResult
Bolton60[95] (Conservative minority) (Labour minority)
Liverpool85[96] Details
Oldham60[97] Details
Stockport63[98] (Lib Dem minority) (Lib Dem minority)
Tameside57[99] Details
Trafford63[100] Details
Wigan75[101] Details
66[102] (Labour minority)Details
Wolverhampton60[103] Details
All councils609

Third of council

By-elections or uncontested wards can cause the seats up for election to be above or below one third of the council.

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
upofPreviousResult
Barnsley2163Details
Bradford3090Details
Bury1751Details
Calderdale1751Details
Coventry1854Details
Dudley2472Details
Gateshead2266Details
Kirklees2369Details
Knowsley1545Details
Leeds3399Details
Manchester3296Details
Newcastle upon Tyne2678Details
North Tyneside2060Details
Rochdale2060Details
Salford2060Details
Sandwell2472Details
Sefton2266Details
Sheffield2884 (Labour minority) (Lab/LDm/Grn coalition)Details
Solihull1751Details
South Tyneside1854Details
Sunderland2575Details
Wakefield2163Details
Walsall2060Details
All councils

Unitary councils

Whole council

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResult
Bath and North East Somerset59Details
Bedford46[104] (Lib Dem mayor; Lib Dem/Lab/Ind coalition) (Con mayor)Details
Blackpool42[105] Details
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole76 (Conservative minority) (Lib Dem/CI/PP/Ind coalition)Details
Bracknell Forest41[106] Details
54[107] (Green minority) Details
Central Bedfordshire63 (Ind minority)Details
Cheshire East82 (Labour/Ind coalition) Details
Cheshire West and Chester70 (Labour minority) Details
Darlington50 (Conservative minority) Details
Derby51[108] (Conservative minority) Details
East Riding of Yorkshire67Details
Herefordshire53 (Ind/Green coalition) Details
Leicester54Details
Luton48[109] Details
Medway59[110] Details
Middlesbrough46 (Ind mayor)Details
North Lincolnshire43[111] Details
North Somerset50 (Ind/Lib Dem/Lab/Ind Group/Green coalition)Details
Nottingham55Details
Redcar and Cleveland59 (Ind Group/Lib Dem coalition)Details
Rutland27Details
Slough42[112] Details
Southampton51[113] Details
South Gloucestershire61Details
Stockton-on-Tees56[114] (Labour minority)Details
Stoke-on-Trent44[115] (Conservative minority)Details
Telford and Wrekin54[116] Details
Torbay36Details
West Berkshire43Details
Windsor & Maidenhead41Details
York47 (Lib Dem/Green coalition)Details
All councils

Third of council

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
upofPreviousResult
Blackburn with Darwen1751Details
Halton1854Details
Hartlepool1236Details
Hull1957Details
Milton Keynes1957 (Lab/Lib Dem coalition)Details
North East Lincolnshire1542Details
Peterborough2060 (Con minority)Details
Plymouth1957 (Con minority)Details
Portsmouth1442 (Lib Dem minority)Details
Reading1748Details
Southend-on-Sea1751 (Lab/Lib Dem/Ind coalition)Details
Swindon1957Details
Thurrock1649Details
Wokingham1854 (Lib Dem/Lab/Ind coalition)Details
All councils

District councils

District councils are the lower tier of a two-tier system of local government, with several district councils covering the same area as a county council with different responsibilities.

Whole council

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
PreviousResult
Amber Valley42Details
Arun54 (Conservative minority) (Lib Dem/Lab/Green coalition)Details
Ashfield35Details
Ashford47Details
Babergh32 (Green/Ind/Lib Dem coalition)Details
Bassetlaw48Details
Blaby36Details
Bolsover37Details
Boston30Details
Braintree49Details
Breckland49Details
Broadland47 (Lib Dem/Green/Lab coalition)Details
Bromsgrove31Details
Broxtowe44Details
Canterbury39Details
Charnwood52 (Labour minority)Details
Chelmsford57Details
Chesterfield40Details
Chichester36 (Conservative minority)Details
Cotswold34Details
Dacorum51Details
Dartford42Details
Derbyshire Dales34[117] (Lib Dem/Labour/Green coalition)Details
Dover32Details
Eastbourne27Details
East Cambridgeshire28Details
East Devon60Details
East Hampshire43Details
East Hertfordshire50 (Green/Lib Dem coalition)Details
East Lindsey55Details
East Staffordshire37Details
East Suffolk55 (GreenLib Dem/Ind coalition)Details
Epsom and Ewell35Details
Erewash47Details
Fenland43[118] Details
Folkestone & Hythe30Details
Forest of Dean38 (Green minority)Details
Fylde37[119] Details
Gedling41Details
Gravesham39Details
Great Yarmouth39Details
Guildford48Details
Harborough34Details
Hertsmere39Details
High Peak43Details
Hinckley and Bosworth34Details
Horsham48Details
King's Lynn and West Norfolk55Details
Lancaster61Details
Lewes41 (Lib Dem/Green/Ind/Lab coalition) (Green/Lab coalition)Details
Lichfield47Details
Maldon31Details
Malvern Hills31[120] Details
Mansfield36 (Labour mayor)Details
Melton28Details
Mid Devon42Details
Mid Suffolk34Details
Mid Sussex48Details
Mole Valley39[121] Details
New Forest48Details
Newark and Sherwood39Details
North Devon42Details
North East Derbyshire53Details
North Kesteven43Details
North Norfolk40Details
North Warwickshire35Details
North West Leicestershire38Details
Oadby and Wigston26Details
Ribble Valley40Details
Rother38Details
Rushcliffe44[122] Details
Sevenoaks54Details
South Derbyshire36Details
South Hams31Details
South Holland37Details
South Kesteven56Details
South Norfolk46Details
South Oxfordshire36Details
South Ribble50Details
South Staffordshire42[123] Details
Spelthorne39Details
Stafford40 (Conservative minority)Details
Staffordshire Moorlands56Details
Stratford-on-Avon41[124] Details
Surrey Heath35 (Conservative minority)Details
Swale47Details
Teignbridge47 (Liberal Democrats minority)Details
Tendring48Details
Test Valley43Details
Tewkesbury38Details
Thanet56 (Conservative minority)Details
Tonbridge and Malling44[125] Details
Torridge36Details
Uttlesford39Details
Vale of White Horse38Details
Warwick44 (Green/Labour coalition)Details
Waverley50Details
Wealden45Details
West Devon31Details
West Lancashire45 (Labour minority)Details
West Lindsey36 (Conservative minority)Details
West Suffolk64Details
Wychavon43[126] Details
Wyre50Details
Wyre Forest33Details
All councils

Third of council

CouncilSeatsParty controlDetails
upofPreviousResult
Basildon1442Details
Basingstoke and Deane1854 (Conservative minority)Details
Brentwood1237Details
Broxbourne1030Details
Burnley1545 (Lab/Lib Dem coalition) (Lab/Lib Dem coalition) Details
Cambridge1442Details
Cannock Chase1541Details
Castle Point1441 (Ind coalition)Details
Cherwell1648Details
Chorley1442Details
Colchester1751 (Lib Dem/Lab/Green coalition)Details
Crawley1236Details
Eastleigh1339Details
Elmbridge1648 (Lib Dem/Residents coalition)Details
Epping Forest1858Details
Exeter1339Details
Harlow1133Details
Hart1133 (Community Campaign (Hart)/Lib Dem coalition)Details
Havant1038Details
Hyndburn1235 (Labour minority)Details
Ipswich1648Details
Lincoln1133Details
Maidstone1855Details
North Hertfordshire1649 (Lab/Lib Dem coalition)Details
Norwich1339Details
Pendle1133Details
Preston1648Details
Redditch1029Details
Reigate and Banstead1545Details
Rochford1339Details
Rossendale1236Details
Rugby1442Details
Runnymede1441Details
Rushmoor1339Details
St Albans1856Details
Stevenage1339Details
Tamworth1030Details
Tandridge1442Details
Three Rivers1339Details
Tunbridge Wells1648 (Lib Dem/Ind/Lab coalition)Details
Watford1236Details
Welwyn Hatfield1648Details
West Oxfordshire1649 (Lib Dem/Labour/Green coalition)Details
Winchester1645Details
Woking1030Details
Worcester1135Details
Worthing1137Details
All councils

Mayoral elections

CouncilMayor beforeMayor-elect
Bedford
Leicester
Mansfield
Middlesbrough

The voting system for mayoral elections was first-past-the-post - replacing the supplementary vote used for all previous mayoral elections.[127]

Post-election vacancies

A number of seats remained vacant following the elections resulting in at least 24 post election vacancies:[128]

Opinion polling

Multiple polls were undertaken and published to ascertain voting intention ahead of the local elections.

Dates
conducted
PollsterClientdata-sort-type="number" rowspan="2"Sample
size
ConLabLib DemGreenReformOtherdata-sort-type="number" rowspan="2"Lead
data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"
OmnisisN/A75926%37%17%9%4%6%11
SurvationGood Morning Britain2,01423%33%18%11%14%10
Focaldata?1,03929%49%8%3%6%?%20
2019 local elections9,509,17631.4%26.6%16.8%9.2%15.9%4.8

Northern Ireland

See main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections.

CouncilSeatsLargest party (elected in 2019)Details
PriorPost
Belfast60 (18) (22) Details[140]
Ards & North Down40 (14) (14)Details[141]
Antrim & Newtownabbey40 (14) (13)Details[142]
Lisburn & Castlereagh40 (15) (14)Details[143]
Newry, Mourne & Down41 (16) (20) Details[144]
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon41 (11) (15)Details[145]
Mid & East Antrim40 (15) (14)Details[146]
Causeway Coast & Glens40 (14) (13)Details[147]
Mid Ulster40 (17) (19)Details[148]
Derry City & Strabane40 (11)Sinn Féin (18)Details[149]
(11)
Fermanagh & Omagh40 (15) (21)Details[150]

References

Footnotes
Citations

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Report on the May 2023 local elections in England . 2023-09-13 . www.electoralcommission.org.uk . en.
  2. Web site: Local Council Elections 18 May 2023 . 2023-11-19 . www.eoni.org.uk . en.
  3. News: Hughes . Brendan . NI council election date moved due to King Charles III coronation . 21 December 2022 . BelfastLive . 21 December 2022 . en.
  4. Web site: Election timetable . . 2 June 2022.
  5. Web site: Local government elections . Local Government Association . 2 June 2022.
  6. News: 2023-05-05 . Local elections 2023: Voters express anger at ID rule changes . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-05-06.
  7. Web site: Local elections 2023: Green Party makes record gains . BBC News . 5 May 2023 . 6 May 2023 .
  8. News: Kerslake . Bob . 2022-04-06 . With all eyes on Ukraine, the UK is quietly set to disenfranchise 2 million citizens . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-04-20 . 0261-3077.
  9. News: Toynbee . Polly . 2022-11-25 . Call these voter ID laws what they really are: voter suppression and an attack on young people . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-04-20 . 0261-3077.
  10. Web site: Demianyk . Graeme . 2023-04-19 . Why Critics Say Photo ID Law Amounts To 'Voter Suppression' To Benefit The Tories . 2023-04-20 . HuffPost UK . en.
  11. Web site: Sleigh . Sophia . 2023-04-14 . Awareness Of Voter ID Change Is 'Worryingly Low', Campaigners Warn . 2023-04-20 . HuffPost UK . en.
  12. News: Baynes . Chris . 2023-04-18 . Local elections 2023: Fears voter ID will cut Barnsley turnout to new low . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-04-20.
  13. News: Savage . Michael . 2023-04-23 . Police in England on alert for polling day rage over voter ID rules . en-GB . The Observer . 2023-04-24 . 0029-7712.
  14. News: 4 April 2023 . Bin collections: Recycling changes delayed until after local elections . en-GB . BBC News . 4 April 2023.
  15. Web site: Crerar . Pippa . 1 February 2023 . Labour to use May vote to sharpen campaign ahead of general election . 14 February 2023 . The Guardian.
  16. News: 2023-03-23 . Local Elections 2023: Is there an election in my area? . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-04-25.
  17. Web site: New Wards 2023 . 2023-04-25 . www.electoralcalculus.co.uk.
  18. Web site: Camilla. Turner . Strikes 'must end for Tories to survive local elections' . . 11 February 2023 . 14 February 2023.
  19. Web site: Helm . Toby . 11 February 2023 . Lib Dems aim to use Lee Anderson's views as weapon to win 'safe' Tory seats . 14 February 2023 . The Guardian.
  20. Web site: Green Party to stand record number of candidates in local elections . 14 April 2023 . Bright Green. 5 April 2023 .
  21. Web site: 2022 . Open Council Data UK - England . 11 April 2023 . Open Council Data UK.
  22. News: 2023-04-18 . Local elections 2023: Greens eye first council win in former Tory heartland . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-04-20.
  23. Web site: Chaplain . Chloe . 2023-04-05 . Rural Tories are 'panicking' Green leaders say as party targets Conservative seats . 2023-04-20 . inews.co.uk . en.
  24. Web site: Chaplain . Chloe . 2023-04-19 . Keir Starmer 'unconcerned' as polls narrow under Rishi Sunak ahead of local elections . 2023-04-20 . inews.co.uk . en.
  25. Web site: William . James . New UK Conservative Party chairman predicts difficult local elections . Reuters. 8 February 2023 . 14 February 2023.
  26. Web site: Singh . Arj . 2023-04-16 . Tory councils among worst-hit by cuts as party braces to lose 1,000 seats in local elections . 2023-04-16 . inews.co.uk . en.
  27. News: Crerar . Pippa . Walker . Peter . 2023-03-31 . Tories hope Sunak will boost damaged brand as local elections loom . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-04-20 . 0261-3077.
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