United Kingdom local elections, 1996

← 1995

2 May 1996

1997 →

All 36 metropolitan boroughs, 14 out of 25 unitary authorities
and 100 out of 262 English districts

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Tony Blair	Paddy Ashdown	John Major
Party	Labour	Liberal Democrat	Conservative
Leader since	21 July 1994	16 July 1988	28 November 1990
Percentage	43%		29%
Councillors	10,929	5,078	4,276
Councillors +/-	468	136	607

Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1996. They were the last local elections until 2010 to show a decline in the number of Conservative councillors and an increase in the number of Labour councillors.

The main opposition Labour Party gained 468 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 10,929. Their share of the vote was projected to be 43%, 4% down on the 1995 local elections.

The governing Conservative Party lost 607 seats and were left with 4,276 councillors - still in third place behind the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives' projected share of the vote was 29%, a 4% increase since the previous local elections in 1995.

The Liberal Democrats gained 136 seats and had 5,078 councillors after the elections.

Source: Parliamentary Research Briefing on 1996 Local Election

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

These were the first elections to 13 more unitary authorities established by the Local Government Commission for England (1992). They acted as "shadow authorities" until 1 April 1997.

‡ New ward boundaries from predecessor authorities

In 1 unitary authority one third of the council was up for election.

In 100 districts one third of the council was up for election.

These were the last elections to the district councils of Blackburn, Halton, Peterborough, Reading, Slough, Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock and Wokingham before they became unitary authorities by the Local Government Commission for England (1992).

These were also the last elections to the district councils of Gillingham, Hereford, Leominster and South Herefordshire before they were abolished and replaced by unitary authorities by the Local Government Commission for England (1992).

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