Local election results 2025: How Labour did in each council and mayor race

The moment polls closed in the 2025 local elections on Thursday night, party chair Ellie Reeves issued an immediate warning: “These elections were always going to be a challenge.”

So it has proved, and the devastation writ large on Karen Shore’s face as the Labour candidate quickly left the Runcorn count summed up Labour’s night, for all ministers’ understandable emphasis on mid-term blues, voter impatience and the disproportionately shire seats at play aross England.

The results declared so far have seen Labour projected to slump to its worst vote share projected in over four decades, down around 150 seats. The party lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by a whisker, saw mayoral candidates finish fourth in Hull and East Yorkshire and third in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, whilst suffering double-digit seat losses in once Labour-controlled County Durham, Lancashire and Northumberland.

Labour managed to hold on to the West of England, Doncaster and North Tyneside mayoralties, but only by fine margins as Reform advanced.

READ MORE: Runcorn blame game begins – why did Labour lose?

Here was Labour’s tally of seats as of 6pm on Friday (note some counts continue, and some authorities have cut councillor numbers):

By late afternoon Friday, Reform had won seven of the first 23 councils declared and had over 500 new councillors, with the Lib Dems gaining more than 300 seats and two councils, and the Greens gaining dozens of seats. The rest of the councils were in no overall control. As of 6pm Friday, Labour was down around 160 on just 81 in the small number of contested areas, with the Tories down by almost 600.

Blame game over Runcorn, and setbacks in once-red councils

The blame game is well underway after the closest by-election in history in Runcorn, which went to a recount and saw Reform’s swing exceeding national polls – likely sparking angst among many MPs who might lose on a similar swing.

Survation warned it made up to 100 constituencies now Reform targets, Keir Starmer said Labour must go “further and faster” on current policy, while others say the cost of living is key and both left critics and defeated candidates have blamed spending cuts. Some warn against mimicking Reform as a solution, however.

In Hull and East Yorkshire, Labour’s Margaret Pinder had acknowledged voters were asking “why haven’t you fixed everything” in the lead-up, boxer Luke Campbell won the mayoralty for Reform. Pinder, who secured just 14% of the vote, said recently it would have been “slam dunk” at the general election.

In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, won by Labour by a whisker last time, a ‘two-horse race’ message failed to stop the outgoing Labour deputy mayor ending only a fraction ahead of the Lib Dems in third, pipped by both Reform and the victorious ex-Tory MP. Nik Johnson had stood down due to ill health.

READ MORE: ‘‘Labour has lost in Runcorn – here are the eight things the party should do now‘

In Labour’s historic mining heartland County Durham, where it had governed for a century until 2021, won every constituency last year and was last week the largest party, the party shed a staggering 38 seats to finish fourth as Reform took control with 65 councillors.

In Lancashire, Labour-run in the New Labour era, Labour’s leader slammed spending cuts after he and 26 colleagues lost seats as Reform took control, with the Tories also losing 39 seats. In Northumberland, where Labour was the largest party in the 2000s, the party lost a dozen seats  finishing a distant third behind Reform and the Tories, who narrowly remain the biggest party.

Some positives for Labour

But the first three major sets of results fully declared early on had all seen Labour hold on, albeit with Reform finishing close second in three mayoralties.

In Doncaster, Labour’s Ros Jones was re-elected for a fourth time, but only by around 700 votes to Reform. In North Tyneside, Karen Clark held it for Labour but with only 32.4% of the vote to Reform’s  29.4%. Labour’s vote tally more than halved, however, from 33,119 for Clark’s outgoing predecessor in 2021 to just 16,230 this time round.

READ MORE: Lancashire: Defeated Labour leader hits out as two dozen seats lost

In the West of England, Labour’s Helen Godwin hung on despite Dan Norris’ arrest, securing a majority of less than 6,000 votes over Arron Banks, with 25% of the vote to Reform’s 22.1%, It marked an unusual four-way contest, with the Greens third on 20% and Tories on 16.6%.

Follow our tracker of how many council seats Labour has gained, lost or held as counting progresses.

2025 mayor election results for Labour

Lost

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (third place, Conservative win)
• Greater Lincolnshire (third place, Reform win)
• Hull and East Yorkshire (fourth place, Reform win)

Held

• Doncaster
• North Tyneside
• West of England

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Read more on the 2025 local elections:

Results on the day

Analysis of the 2025 election results

• Starmer: ‘Labour must go further and faster to deliver after Runcorn defeat’
• Runcorn blame game begins – why did Labour lose?
• ‘Labour has lost in Runcorn – here are the eight things the party should do now‘
• MPs who could lose their seat on Runcorn by-election swing to Reform
• ‘Results so far say one thing: voters think change isn’t coming fast enough’
• Three ways to measure Labour’s success tonight
• ‘Uxbridgitis: If election results are grim, let’s not learn the wrong lessons again’
• Where’s Keir? PM barely features in Labour party election broadcasts for the locals
• The meme elections: Labour’s social media pivot to take fight to Farage

LabourList’s on-the-ground reports from the campaign

• Hull and East Yorkshire: Labour candidate spars with Reform’s boxing star in UK’s most disillusioned city
• Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Nik Johnson on why he’s standing down and Anna Smith on knife-edge Labour-Tory fight to replace him
• West of England: Tory and Green threats, Dan Norris and low voter awareness
• Lancashire: Long shadow of Gaza looms over key battleground

Inside the Runcorn campaign

• Mood on the doorstep: Labour’s last push for Tory voters to keep out Reform
• At least 150 Labour MPs visit – but Keir Starmer ain’t one
• Karen Shore interview: Labour candidate on Reform, the NHS and closing asylum hotels
• Runcorn poll: One in ten Labour voters expected to back Reform

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