The Conservative Party is facing up to heavy losses at the 2023 local
elections as
Labour and the Liberal
Democrats make gains across England. Voters across
England went to the polls on Thursday and now the ballots are being counted as results continue to trickle in. More than 8,000 seats were contested across 230 councils, with Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough among several cities and regions choosing a new mayor. Going into
election Day, the Conservatives had 3,363 seats to defend, Labour 2,140, the Liberal Democrats 1,221, independents 954, the Green Party 240, residents associations 112, UKIP 25, the Reform Party four and the Liberal Party and the Yorkshire Party two apiece. Follow our live blog for all the latest updates Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer cheered on his side’s “fantastic” results on Friday morning as both his party and the Liberal Democrats made significant gains, seemingly profiting from widespread dissatisfaction with central government after a year of political chaos in Westminster and a biting cost of living crisis defined by rocketing bills, double-digit inflation and bitter strikes impacting public services. Conservative hopes that Rishi Sunak had done enough to steady the ship and restore faith in the party at a local level after the rolling chaos of the
Boris Johnson and Liz Truss premierships appeared to have fallen away as of Friday lunchtime. Below, you can see the very latest results at a glance to get a sense of the national picture. For more of our local elections coverage follow our blog here .