By Richard Johnstone | 4 May 2012
Labour has gained more than 800 councillors following last Thursday’s local government elections across the UK.
With all results in, Ed Miliband’s party has won 2,159 council seats, giving it 824 more than before the election.Labour has also gained control of 32 councils. These include Birmingham, England’s largest local authority, and Derby. In both councils, Labour was fighting Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalitions. This means that Labour now runs 75 of 181 authorities contested.
The coalition parties have suffered heavy losses. The Conservatives are down by 403 councillors to 1,006, and the party has lost control of 12 authorities. These include Dudley and Great Yarmouth, which went to Labour, and Gloucester, which went to No Overall Control.
The Liberal Democrats have lost 330 councillors, compared to before the vote, and won 431 seats. They lost control of one authority, Cambridge City Council, which went to No Overall Control, but retained control in six, including Portsmouth, Eastleigh, Cheltenham and Watford. Overall, the party now has fewer than 3,000 councillors nationally for the first time in its history.
A total of 149 councils are holding elections in England and Wales, as well as all 32 Scottish authorities.
Around 80 councils, including all those in Scotland, started counting on Friday morning, along with the Salford and London mayoral races.
Liverpool has announced the result of its first vote for a directly elected mayor, with Labour council leader Joe Anderson winning the post.
Ten English cities have also held referendums on whether city council mayors should be introduced. Voters in nine cities, including Manchester, Nottingham, Coventry and Bradford have rejected this option. Only Bristol backed the plan.
In Wales, Labour has taken control of ten of the 21 authorities to declare. This includes regaining control of Cardiff from the LibDems, and replacing the Conservatives as the biggest party in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Responding to the results, Prime Minister David Cameron said the Conservatives had fought the elections against ‘a difficult national backdrop’, adding: ‘These are difficult times and there aren't easy answers.
‘What we have to do is take the difficult decisions to deal with the debt, deficit and broken economy that we've inherited and we will go on making those decisions and we've got to do the right thing for our country.’
Deputy Prime Minister and LibDem leader Nick Clegg said it was ‘really sad’ so many of the party’s councillors had lost their seats but added: ‘I am determined that we will continue to play our role in rescuing, repairing and reforming the British economy. It's not an easy job and it can't be done overnight but our duty is to boost jobs and investment and to restore a sense of hope and optimism to our country.’
Labour leader Miliband said the party still had ‘more work to do’ to persuade voters to back it at the next general election. ‘People are hurting from this recession. People are suffering from a government that raises taxes for millions of families but cuts taxes for millionaires,' he said. 'I am determined that we show people we can change people's lives for the better.’
