The 2008

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

local elections were held on 1 May 2008. These elections took place in 137

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Local Authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

and all Welsh Councils. There were also extraordinary elections held for four of the new unitary authorities being created, in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, County Durham and Cheshire (two councils – Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester). Scheduled elections for

Penwith Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Shrewsbury and Atcham Shrewsbury and Atcham was a local government district with borough status in Shropshire, England, between 1974 and 2009. Shrewsbury was the only town in the borough; Atcham, although itself only a village, was included in the name as a reflect ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and

South Bedfordshire South Bedfordshire was, from 1974 to 2009, a non-metropolitan district of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. Its main towns were Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard. Creation The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a gen ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

and five district councils in Cheshire were cancelled, due to the up-coming unitary authorities being established in those counties. The Labour Party finished in 3rd place by vote share, trailing the Conservatives by 20%, the largest such margin ever between the two main parties. Aside from the strong showing for David Cameron's Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems each made net gains of over 30 seats and the BNP made 10 net gains to finish with over 30 seats. The strong showing for the Conservatives and the disappointing showing by Labour reflected the change in the political mood of Britain at the time, where the Labour government, now led by prime minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

, had suffered a slump in popularity due to the financial crisis and economic fears which were affecting Britain at the time.

Summary of results

England

Metropolitan boroughs

All 36 English metropolitan borough councils had one third of their seats up for election.

Unitary authorities

Existing councils

In 19 English

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

one third of the council was up for election.

New councils

Elections were held in three of the current non-metropolitan counties of Cheshire, County Durham and

for four new unitary authorities which were established in 2009. These councils were "shadow councils" until then.

District councils

Whole council

In 4 English district authorities the whole council was up for election following

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

boundary changes.

Half of council

In 7 English district authorities, half of the council was up for election.

Third of council

In 67 English district authorities, a third of the council was up for election.

Mayoral elections

Wales

2008 Welsh Local Elections - Ward and Council Control

In all 22 Welsh councils the whole of the council was up for election.

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2008

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2008 elections in the United Kingdom