2021 Durham County Council election

2021 Durham County Council election

6 May 2021

All 126 council division seats
64 seats needed for a majority
Turnout36.4% (5.1 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Labour Conservative Independent
Last election 74 seats, 36.3% 10 seats, 20.3% 13 seats, 15.0%
Seats won 53 24 22
Seat change 21 14 9
Popular vote 51,769 41,465 25,653
Percentage 33.5% 26.8% 16.6%
Swing 2.8% 6.5% 1.6%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Liberal Democrats Derwentside Independents North East
Last election 14 seats, 13% 7 seats, 5.8% 3 seats, 2.3%
Seats won 17 5 4
Seat change 3 2 1
Popular vote 19,126 5,042 2,445
Percentage 12.4% 3.3% 1.6%
Swing 0.7% 2.4% 0.7%

  Seventh party
 
Party Green
Last election 0 seats, 2.8%
Seats won 1
Seat change 1
Popular vote 5,842
Percentage 3.8%
Swing 1.0%

Map showing the results of the 2021 Durham County Council election

Council control before election

Labour

Council control after election

Liberal Democrat led coalition

The 2021 Durham County Council election was held on 6 May 2021 as part of the 2021 local elections in the United Kingdom.

All 126 councillors were to be elected. The county is divided into 63 electoral divisions (called "wards") with each electing between 1 and 3 councillors by the first-past-the-post voting method for a fixed four-year term.

The result saw the Labour Party retain its position as the largest party but lose control of the council. It marked the first time since 1919 that the council (and its predecessors) had not been controlled by Labour.

Another notable result was the Green Party of England and Wales gaining their first seat on the Council in the Brandon division, gaining one seat from Labour.

The council convened in its Annual Meeting on 26 May, where a coalition of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, North East Party, and independents formed the Cabinet and elected Amanda Hopgood of the Liberal Democrats as Leader of the Council; the first woman to hold the position.