LIVE | Midlands local election results 2026

Polling has now closed for local elections across the Midlands, with voters in 13 local authority areas set to elect new local councillors.

Results are expected to roll in throughout the day, but early indications suggest a bruising night for Kier Starmer’s Labour Party, who are predicted to have made heavy losses across the country.

Overnight polls confirmed a bleak picture for Labour and the Conservatives as Reform surged in several Midlands heartlands, taking control of Newcastle-under-Lyme in the early hours before making huge gains in Tamworth, Redditch and Dudley.

As results trickle in ahead of the weekend all eyes will be on Birmingham, the largest local authority in Europe, which Nigel Farage’s Reform party had earmarked as a key battleground ahead of the election.

Results are expected from the city at 6pm.

Newcastle-under-Lyme (Reform GAIN from Conservative)

Reform has won its first English local council of this year’s elections in Staffordshire, winning 27 of the 44 seats available on the council.

Labour lost a total of 17 seats while the Conservatives lost 10 to lose overall control of the authority.

Tamworth (Labour LOSS to no overall control)

In Tamworth, Reform also made significant gains as the council slipped from Labour into no overall control.

Only nine seats were up for election but Reform won them all, taking six from the Conservatives, two from Labour and one previously independent.

Labour remains the largest party in the council with 14 seats.

Dudley (Remains under no overall control)

Dudley Council remained under no overall control despite a historic night for Reform, who became the second largest party on the council.

A total of 25 seats out of 72 were up for grabs, with Reform taking 22 of them, mostly from Conservative incumbents. The tories hung on in Halesowen North as well as Kingswinford North & Wall Heath, while Labour were re-elected in St Thomas’s.

The conservatives remain the largest party on the council with 27 seats.

Redditch (Labour LOSS to no overall control)

Labour lost overall control of Redditch, an authority it gained from the Conservatives in 2024, as Reform’s surge continued across the region.

Only a third of seats in Redditch were up for grabs, but the Reform Party took eight of the nine available wards to become the main opposition to Labour on the council.

Despite its historic surge, which saw turnout of more than 1,000 in some wards, Reform remains some way behind Labour’s 13 seats on the authority.

Results are also expected in the following local authority areas later today (timings to follow):

• Birmingham (Expected 6pm)
• Cannock Chase (Expected 3pm)
• Coventry (Expected 5pm)
• Nuneaton & Bedworth (Expected 3.30pm)
• Rugby (Expected 4pm)
• Sandwell (Expected 5pm)
• Solihull (Expected 3pm)
• Walsall (Expected 5pm)
• Wolverhampton (Expected 3.30pm)