Contested parish and town council elections surge by 40% in 2025

Parish and town councils saw a dramatic increase in contested elections this May, with 21% of councils holding competitive ballots, up from just 15% last year. The rise represents a 40% year-on-year increase, signalling a surge of local interest in grassroots democracy.

The findings come from our new analysis commissioned by the Local Government Association's Be A Councillor campaign and compiled by The Democracy Club, which gathered results from over 1,200 parish and town councils across 12 county areas.

Campaigners have long warned of dwindling participation at the most local level of government. But this year's results suggest signs of renewed competition, with more communities seeing residents put themselves forward to represent their towns and parishes.

While the increase in contested seats is positive, the data also revealed challenges. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of parish and town councils that held elections were left with vacancies afterwards, up from 70% in 2024. In Wiltshire alone, there were 547 unfilled seats across 186 parish and town councils, the highest total of any area.

Concerns were also raised over councils becoming inquorate, unable to meet because too few councillors were elected. Northumberland topped the list with 12 inquorate parish and town councils. Nationally, 2.43% of councils fell into this category in 2025, a sharp rise from just 0.02% the previous year.

Party politics remained a minority feature in local elections. Just 5.8% of parish and town councils had candidates elected on a party-political ticket, a slight fall from 6.7% in 2024. Cornwall saw the highest number of such councils, with 12.

Despite the vacancies and inquoracy concerns, a 40% jump in contested elections offers a positive sign for community representation.

With parish and town councils responsible for many services from playgrounds to allotments, the growing willingness of residents to contest seats could mark a turning point in revitalising local democracy.