1997 United Kingdom local elections
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The 1997 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 1 May 1997 in England, and Wednesday 21 May 1997 in Northern Ireland.[1][2] Elections took place for all of the English country councils, some English unitary authorities and all of the Northern Ireland districts. The local elections were held on the same day as the 1997 general election.
Summary of results
| Party | Councils | Councillors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gain | Loss | Change | Total | Gain | Loss | Change | Total | ||
| Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Increase1 | 1299 | |||||||
| Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Decrease-177 | 741 | |||||||
| Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Increase193 | 1121 | |||||||
| Other | Decrease-17 | 131 | |||||||
| Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | — | — | — | — | |||||
While the results were overshadowed by the landslide election of a Labour government, they did provide some comfort to the Conservative party. The Conservatives made some gains and were the largest party in the county council elections. It is likely that what helped the Conservatives gain some councils (Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Essex and Kent) was the creation of unitary authorities and thus the abolition of county council divisions in these areas (in this case unitaries in Peterborough, Luton, Thurrock and Medway), in predominantly urbanised areas which are usually strong for the Labour Party in elections and indeed all four of those unitaries (and all of the parliamentary seats that they cover) were won/held by Labour at the point these elections took place. Buckinghamshire, the only county council that the Conservatives actually had a majority for the four years prior to these elections, will have also been helped by the creation of a unitary authority for Milton Keynes in 1996.
The gains for the Conservatives in Lincolnshire, Surrey and West Sussex will likely have been helped by the fact that most parliamentary seats in these counties were seriously strong Conservative areas (indeed, every parliamentary seat in Surrey was retained by the Conservatives in the general election) and thus saw some genuine ground recovered compared with the 1993 local elections. The only seats that the Conservatives lost in the general election in these areas were Lincoln and Crawley, both of which were very easy seats for Labour to gain in the general election, while they came close to losing Boston & Skegness to Labour too, though this was far from enough to have made a difference to council control in their respective counties.
England
Non-metropolitan county councils
In 34 non-metropolitan counties the whole council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Buckinghamshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Cambridgeshire County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Cheshire County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Cornwall County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Cumbria County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Derbyshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Devon County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Dorset County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Durham | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| East Sussex County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Essex County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Gloucestershire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Hampshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Hertfordshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Kent County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Lancashire County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Leicestershire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Lincolnshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Norfolk County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| North Yorkshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Northamptonshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Northumberland County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Nottinghamshire County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Oxfordshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Shropshire County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Somerset County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Staffordshire County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Suffolk County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Surrey County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Warwickshire County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| West Sussex County Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". gain | Details | ||
| Wiltshire County Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Worcestershire County Council † | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
† Elected as a "shadow authority" until 1 April 1998.
‡ Because areas of the county were due to become unitary authorities on 1 April 1998, the county councillors representing those areas had their terms extended by one year and no election was held.
Unitary authorities
Whole council
These were the first elections to 19 more unitary authorities established by the Local Government Commission for England (1992). They acted as "shadow authorities" until 1 April 1998.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburn with Darwen ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Blackpool Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Bracknell Forest Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Halton Borough Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Herefordshire Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Medway Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Nottingham City Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Peterborough City Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Plymouth City Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Reading Borough Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Slough Borough Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Southend-on-Sea Borough Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Telford and Wrekin Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Thurrock Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Torbay Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Warrington Borough Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| West Berkshire Council ‡ | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Wokingham Borough Council | New Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
‡ New ward boundaries from predecessor authorities
Third of council
In 2 unitary authorities one third of the council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol City Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
| Kingston upon Hull | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
District council
In 1 district the whole council was up for election.
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malvern Hills District Council ‡ | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
‡ New ward boundaries
Sui generis
| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council of the Isles of Scilly | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". hold | Details | ||
Northern Ireland
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| Council | Previous control | Result | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim Borough Council | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Ards | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Armagh | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Ballymena | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Ballymoney | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Banbridge | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Belfast | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Carrickfergus | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Castlereagh | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Coleraine | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Cookstown | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Craigavon | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Derry | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Down | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Dungannon | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Fermanagh | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Larne | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Limavady | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Lisburn | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Magherafelt | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Moyle | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Newry and Mourne | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Newtownabbey | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| North Down | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Omagh | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
| Strabane | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Script error: No such module "Party name with color". | Details | ||
Notes
References
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External links
- Local election results 1997
- The local elections of 1 May 1997. House of Commons Library Research Paper 97/82.
- Vote 1999 BBC News
- Vote 2001 BBC News
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