There were 53 by-elections in this latest crop of results with 24 (45 per cent) seeing a seat change hands.
Nine vacancies arose because of the requirement that councillors elected to the expanded Welsh Senedd should vacate their seat. A further five contests were in seats won by the Green Party last May, after winning candidates fell foul of the rules governing eligibility.
Reform UK continues to have appeal among local voters, with six gains, three each from Labour and Independents.
Harborough’s Lutterworth East produced a split ward in 2023, with one seat each for Labour and Liberal Democrats and Reform in last place. Those parties were overtaken by both Conservative and Reform this time, with Leicestershire County’s Cllr Bill Piper (Ref) edging the contest by 17 votes.
Nuneaton and Bedworth voted heavily for Reform last May, including in Camp Hill ward where Labour’s vote collapsed. The Greens chose to sit out this by-election, resulting in a boost to Labour’s share, but Reform made the expected gain.
A third gain from Labour, in Denbighshire, reflects Reform’s appeal in Wales. The party finished second in the Welsh Senedd election, winning more than a third of the seats.
Two of the three Reform council gains from Independents in Wales were in seats where the incumbent had previously switched to Reform and was then subsequently selected for a Senedd seat.
The Conservatives enjoyed a strong performance, making six gains and two defeats (a loss to Liberal Democrats in Powys and to an Independent in Cheshire West and Chester), including three gains from the Liberal Democrats.
Hertsmere’s Bushey Park elected a full slate of Liberal Democrats in 2023 from a ballot only containing the three main parties. Reform’s presence on the by-election ballot had no impact on the Conservatives who selected a former ward councillor.
Stort Valley comfortably elected a Liberal Democrat to Uttlesford District Council at the previous May election, but this time round the Conservatives won easily.
Stratford-on-Avon’s Kinwarton ward heavily backed the Liberal Democrats three years ago but a closely contested by-election saw a high turnout, with the Conservatives winning by five votes.
The Conservatives gained a seat from Independent in Pembrokeshire before adding two more gains from Labour and Reform respectively.
Breckland’s Dereham Toftwood ward featured the two main parties at the May election but a three-way battle this time as Reform entered the fray. The Conservatives emerged with the gain, with Labour in third.
Reform won Norfolk’s Old Catton division last May after polling 30 per cent of the vote. This by-election saw Restore contest their first council by-election – but it was voters switching to the Conservatives (whose losing candidate last May was duly elected) and Greens that accounts for Reform’s defeat.
Despite causing by-elections, the Greens held steady, gaining three seats from Labour while losing two in exchange and another to the Liberal Democrats.
Control of Haringey last May hung by a thread, with the Greens falling one short. Two by-elections – in Northumberland Park, whose Green winner was subsequently disqualified, and Woodside, whose Labour winner resigned – were pivotal to council control.
The outcome saw the main protagonists simply swap seats, leaving the council unchanged.
Labour had success in Camden’s Regent’s Park ward – another Green disqualification prompting this extra contest – but their winning candidate polled under a third of the vote.
It was a Green resignation that led to a third defeat in London, this time in Lambeth’s Streatham St Leonard’s ward. The Liberal Democrats successfully squeezed the vote of all its competitors when making the gain.
Elsewhere, the Greens met with another success in Brighton, this time capturing Labour’s Goldsmid ward by a comfortable margin.
And in Peterborough’s Fletton and Woodston ward, having lost a by-election seat to Reform in February, Labour lost another but this time to the Greens who had taken the ward seat on offer at last May’s election.
- See LGA council results – July 2026 for more data on these and other by-election results.
| By-elections |
|---|
| Bolton, Horwich North HORWICH FIRST HELD 27.2% over Ref Turnout 20.9% |
| Breckland, Dereham Toftwood CON GAIN FROM LAB 8.9% over Ref Turnout 21.8% |
| Brighton & Hove, Goldsmid GREEN GAIN FROM LAB 16.4% over Lab Turnout 35.8% |
| Cambridgeshire, Ramsey and Bury REF HELD 5.2% over Ind Turnout 19.4% |
| Cambridgeshire, Roman Bank and Peckover REF HELD 1.0% over Con Turnout 28.2% |
| Camden, Regents Park LAB GAIN FROM GREEN 5.3% over Green Turnout 21.9% |
| Cardiff, Splott LAB HELD 4.6% over Green Turnout 19.9% |
| Carmarthenshire, Llangennech PLAID GAIN FROM REF 12.4% over Lab Turnout 28.2% |
| Cherwell, Kidlington West LIB DEM HELD 39.9% over Ref Turnout 24.7% |
| Cheshire West and Chester, Weaver and Cuddington IND GAIN FROM CON 10.2% over Con Turnout 34.2% |
| Cotswold, St Michael’s LIB DEM HELD 39.4% over Con Turnout 32.2% |
| Denbighshire, Llanrhaeadr-Yng-Nghinmeirch IND GAIN FROM PLAID 6.7% over Plaid Turnout 39.1% |
| Denbighshire, Rhyl South REF GAIN FROM LAB 16.9% over Con Turnout 25.9% |
| Dorset, St Leonards and St Ives CON HELD 4.3% over Ref Turnout 37.5% |
| Ealing, North Acton GREEN HELD 6.1% over Lab Turnout 24.2% |
| Flintshire, Argoed and New Brighton LIB DEM HELD 8.0% over Ref Turnout 32.7% |
| Flintshire, Connah’s Quay Central REF GAIN FROM IND 29.1% over Lab Turnout 14.9% |
| Gateshead, High Fell REF HELD 0.4% over Lab Turnout 21.0% |
| Gloucestershire, Cirencester Park LIB DEM HELD 40.3% over Con Turnout 28.5% |
| Gwynedd, Llanrug IND GAIN FROM PLAID 19.2% over Plaid Turnout 50.9% |
| Hackney, Dalston GREEN HELD 21.8% over Lab Turnout 13.8% |
| Hackney, Hackney Central GREEN HELD 3.5% over Lab Turnout 15.2% |
| Halton, Farnworth LAB HELD 14.6% over Ref Turnout 26.2% |
| Harborough, Lutterworth East REF GAIN FROM LAB 1.2% over Con Turnout 36.0% |
| Haringey, Northumberland Park LAB GAIN FROM GREEN 1.9% over Green Turnout 22.4% |
| Haringey, Woodside GREEN GAIN FROM LAB 2.3% over Lab Turnout 24.4% |
| Hertsmere, Bushey Park CON GAIN FROM LIB DEM 10.0% over Lib Dem Turnout 37.1% |
| Lambeth, Clapham Park GREEN HELD 2.2% over Lab Turnout 20.2% |
| Lambeth, Streatham St Leonard’s LIB DEM GAIN FROM GREEN 6.8% over Green Turnout 25.8% |
| Merthyr Tydfil, Dowlais and Pant LAB GAIN FROM IND 15.9% over Ind Turnout 18.0% |
| Neath Port Talbot, Trebanos PLAID HELD 31.0% over Ref Turnout 31.1% |
| Norfolk, Old Catton CON GAIN FROM REF 1.8% over Green Turnout 39.9% |
| North Norfolk, Suffield Park LIB DEM HELD 47.0% over Ref Turnout 35.4% |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth, Camp Hill REF GAIN FROM LAB 6.4% over Lab Turnout 16.8% |
| Pembrokeshire, Pembroke Dock: Market CON GAIN FROM IND 13.5% over Ind Turnout 27.6% |
| Peterborough, Fletton and Woodston GREEN GAIN FROM LAB 11.5% over Ref Turnout 20.9% |
| Powys, Glantwymyn PLAID HELD 71.8% over Ref Turnout 35.1% |
| Powys, Llanyre with Nantmel REF GAIN FROM IND 15.4 over Lib Dem Turnout 49.6% |
| Powys, Yscir with Honddu Isaf and Llanddew LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 5.1% over Ref Turnout 51.1% |
| Rhondda Cynon Taff, Treorchy PLAID HELD 54.7% over Ref Turnout 27.7% |
| Rushmoor, Wellington LAB HELD 21.5% over Con Turnout 18.4% |
| South Staffordshire, Himley and Swindon CON HELD 16.1% over Ref Turnout 32.4% |
| St Helens, Haydock REF HELD 4.0% over Ind Turnout 25.9% |
| Stafford, Manor LAB HELD 5.0% over Ref Turnout 25.8% |
| Staffordshire, Stretton REF HELD 1.3% over Con Turnout 19.3% |
| Stratford-on-Avon, Kinwarton CON GAIN FROM LIB DEM 0.5 over Lib Dem Turnout 45.1% |
| Surrey, Haslemere LIB DEM HELD 15.5% over Con Turnout 24.8% |
| Teignbridge, Dawlish South West LIB DEM HELD 15.8% over Ref Turnout 31.9% |
| Telford & Wrekin, Malinslee & Dawley Bank LAB HELD 1.5% over Ref Turnout 24.3% |
| Torfaen, Llantarnam REF GAIN FROM IND 12.1% over Lab Turnout 22.3% |
| Uttlesford, Stort Valley CON GAIN FROM LIB DEM 14.6% over Lib Dem Turnout 33.8% |
| Vale Of Glamorgan, Baruc PLAID HELD 23.8% over Ref Turnout 26.4% |
| Waverley, Haslemere West LIB DEM HELD 41.2% over Green Turnout 24.8% |