2026 parish and town elections
Parish and town councils (‘local’ councils) cover around 35% of England. As part of our ongoing partnership with the the National Association of Local Councils, Democracy Club has collated details on this year’s elections.
Parish councils elect on four-year cycles like other types of council. This year, local councils are up for election across 33 local authority areas.
Thanks as always to Stuart Orford for doing the bulk of the compilation and analysis.
Summary
- 376 councils are up for election: 20 town councils and 356 parish councils.
- Due to a lack of candidates in most areas, only 134 wards (24%) will see a poll on 7 May.
- 2,281 council seats (67%) have been won uncontested.
- 632 seats (19%) will still be vacant after 7 May, because no-one came forward to contest them.
- 17 wards have no candidates at all, and five councils are inquorate.
- 24% of candidates are representing a political party.
The 2026 elections
376 councils are up for election this year, across 33 local authority areas. In total, 3,401 councillors are due to be elected. 29 of these higher-tier councils have scheduled elections at the same time as their parish elections. The four without are North Hertfordshire, Gedling, Horsham, and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP). The BCP elections cover three new large town councils in Bournemouth, Broadstone and Poole. Combined, these three councils will raise a council tax precept of over four million pounds. Horsham is also holding the first elections for a new council, Horsham parish council. Gedling has split a parish in two, and is holding elections for these two councils only.
Other towns holding elections this year include Sutton Coldfield, Eastleigh, Fleet, Huntingdon, and St Neots.
| Local authority | Total councils | Parishes with elections in 2026 | Wards with elections in 2026 | Seats with elections in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Cambridgeshire | 93 | 93 | 97 | 846 |
| Huntingdonshire | 71 | 71 | 89 | 652 |
| Cherwell | 67 | 31 | 31 | 214 |
| Swindon | 20 | 19 | 46 | 233 |
| Winchester | 44 | 19 | 20 | 144 |
| West Oxfordshire | 54 | 18 | 18 | 115 |
| Barnsley | 15 | 15 | 19 | 115 |
| Peterborough | 26 | 12 | 12 | 89 |
| Colchester | 29 | 11 | 12 | 53 |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | 10 | 10 | 22 | 122 |
| St. Helens | 7 | 7 | 21 | 78 |
| Basingstoke and Deane | 53 | 7 | 9 | 52 |
| Hart | 21 | 6 | 13 | 52 |
| West Lancashire | 20 | 6 | 13 | 52 |
| Cheltenham | 5 | 5 | 17 | 75 |
| Rugby | 41 | 5 | 5 | 40 |
| Chorley | 23 | 5 | 8 | 50 |
| Wokingham | 17 | 4 | 7 | 38 |
| North Hertfordshire | 27 | 4 | 7 | 43 |
| Hartlepool | 5 | 4 | 4 | 28 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 8 | 3 | 27 | 50 |
| Eastleigh | 10 | 3 | 13 | 48 |
| Burnley | 8 | 3 | 7 | 33 |
| Birmingham | 2 | 2 | 9 | 36 |
| Oxford | 4 | 2 | 3 | 26 |
| Basildon | 8 | 2 | 5 | 27 |
| Rochford | 14 | 2 | 3 | 24 |
| Westminster | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| Halton | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Tunbridge Wells | 16 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Manchester | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Horsham | 33 | 1 | 9 | 18 |
| Gedling | 12 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Total | 771 | 376 | 555 | 3,401 |
The candidates
In total, 3,233 candidates have been nominated to stand in these elections. 773 (24%) are standing for a registered political party. The majority of the remainder either use no description or describe themselves simply as ‘independent’.
The majority of seats - 2,281 (67%) - have been filled without the need for a poll, because not enough candidates came forward to stand.
| Candidate description | Seats won uncontested | Candidates in contested wards | Total candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| No party affiliation | 2,212 | 249 | 2,461 |
| Labour | 18 | 164 | 182 |
| Liberal Democrats | 14 | 156 | 170 |
| Conservatives | 15 | 139 | 154 |
| Green party | 9 | 118 | 127 |
| Reform UK | 12 | 101 | 113 |
| Other registered parties | 1 | 25 | 26 |
| Totals | 2,281 | 952 | 3,233 |
Unlike other UK elections, candidates for parish councils can use anything they like on the ballot paper, up to a maximum of six words. 152 have done so: Stuart has highlighted some of the more entertaining examples on his blog.
The polls
As is typical for parish elections, fewer candidates have come forward than there are seats to fill. Because these candidates are not spread evenly across the country, 632 seats (19%) will be left unfilled after 7 May. Eight councils will be left inquorate, of which five will have no councillors at all.
134 wards (24%) will see a poll this year. Of these wards, only 57% have two or more candidates per seat, and 29% only have one more candidate than there are seats, severely limiting voter choice. Spare a thought for the voters of Wroughton parish in Swindon, who will have 15 votes each and 17 candidates to choose from. The longest ballot paper on 7 May will be in Sutton Coldfield’s Vesey ward, which has five seats and 20 candidates.
Only BCP, Horsham Westminster will see 100% of their parish wards contested. BCP and Horsham, as discussed, have only three and one new town councils respectively up for election, while Westminster possesses a single parish council - Queen’s Park - the only such council in Greater London. By contrast, twelve local authority areas have no polls at all. South Cambridgeshire, which has 97 parish councils, will see a mere five polls.
For details of the situation in each local authority, please refer to the sheet.
Polls are far more likely to take place in town than parish councils. 67% of town council wards have a poll, whereas only 15% of parish council wards do. As we have discussed previously, the crucial factor is political party involvement: this year 90% of political party candidates will face a poll, while only 10% of non-party candidates will.
The results
A summary of results for the 125 polls will be posted here shortly after 7 May.
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Note: this blog was updated after publication to take account of new parishes in Horsham and Gedling.
