LOCAL elections are taking place across much of the country today – but not in Worcester.
Elections are happening in 136 English local authorities – all 32 London boroughs, 32 metropolitan boroughs, 18 unitary authorities, six county councils, 48 district councils and six directly elected mayors.
Most of those seats were most recently up for election in 2022. Some elections were postponed from last year as part of local government reorganisation.
Scottish Parliamentary and Welsh Senedd elections are also taking place.
When did Worcester City Council last hold an election?
Worcester City Council last held elections in May 2024, with Labour taking control of the council.
All 35 seats had been up for grabs in the council’s first set of all-out elections.
Previously, councillors had been elected in thirds over a three-year period, with no elections in the fourth year.
What election happened last year in Worcester?
Worcestershire County Council elections took place in May 2025 with all 57 seats on the authority up for grabs.
Reform UK won the most seats but fell just short of a majority and took minority control of the council.
Prior to that, city voters went to the polls in July 2024 for a general election that saw Labour’s Tom Collins elected as Worcester’s MP.
When is the next election happening in Worcester?
This is where things get a little bit complicated.
Two-tier council systems, in which county and district councils operate in the same area, are being scrapped by the government and replaced by unitary authorities in 2028.
This means Worcestershire County Council and all six of Worcestershire’s district councils – Worcester, Redditch, Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Wychavon and Wyre Forest – will be dissolved and replaced by either one or two unitary councils.
The government is set to decide on whether Worcestershire gets one or two unitary councils by this summer.
No, local elections have not been cancelled in Worcester
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The upshot of all of this is that elections to a so-called shadow authority are set to take place in May 2027.
This authority will oversee the transition of power from the outgoing councils and run alongside them until power is transferred to the new unitary council in May 2028.
That will be the next election to happen in Worcester, unless a by-election is called. These can happen at any time when either a parliamentary or council seat becomes available between elections.
