Lib Dems lose overall control of Hull City Council

4 hours ago

Holly Phillips,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire,

Tim Iredale,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire political editorand

Becki Bowden,in Hull

News image — Hull City Council leader Mike Ross says he is "incredibly pleased" despite seeing the Liberal Democrats lose their overall majority

Becki Bowden / BBC A head and shoulder shot of councillor Mike Ross smiling at the camera. He has short grey hair and is wearing a black collared jumper. — Hull City Council leader Mike Ross says he is "incredibly pleased" despite seeing the Liberal Democrats lose their overall majority

The Liberal Democrats have lost overall control of Hull City Council as Reform UK took almost half the seats being contested in the city.

The Lib Dems had controlled the authority since 2022 but lost two seats, cutting the number of their councillors to 26, and just short of a majority.

Labour lost eight of the seats they had held with group leader Daren Hale saying the vote was down to a "failure of national leadership".

Reform UK took ten seats when the results were announced on Thursday, making them the third largest party within the Guildhall.

Lib Dem leader Mike Ross, who is also the leader of Hull City Council, said: "I'm incredibly pleased that we managed to win eight seats here in Hull.

"That is a tremendous result, given everything that's going on. It shows that the public of Hull have put their faith in us yet again."

He added: "I'm confident we can carry on running the council in this new political environment we face."

A head and shoulders shot of Darren Hale looking glum at the camera. He is wearing a black shirt, a yellow lanyard around his neck and a red badge. He has short brown hair and is also wearing glasses. — Hull Labour group leader Daren Hale says it was a "terrible night" for the Labour Party

Bar chart showing the results for the council election in Hull, After 19 of 19 seats declared. Seats needed for majority: 29. Lib Dem won 26 seats, a loss of 2; Labour won 16 seats, a loss of 8; Reform UK won 10 seats, a gain of 10; Independents and others won 5, same as previous election.

Hale described the result of the Hull vote as a "terrible night for the Labour Party" and called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign.

"What we were getting on every doorstep... was not about the Labour Party per se - certainly not about local councillors - it was about the leadership of the Labour Party," he said.

"I'm afraid councillors up and down the land, in Hull tonight, have paid the price for that.

"Keir Starmer needs to look at these results, reflect upon them and do the right thing and go."

A group of women and men dressed in suits, wearing blue and white badges, with their arms in the air in celebration. — Reform UK gained 10 seats in Thursday's local election in Hull

Reform UK entered the election holding no seats on Hull City Council. They ended the vote with 10 councillors to become the city's third largest party.

It followed the party winning the inaugural Hull and East Yorkshire mayoral race in May 2025.

The Green Party failed to win a single seat despite being hopeful of making progress when the polls opened.

Independents hold the remaining five seats.

The turnout figure for Hull was 30.25%, higher than the turnout in 2022, which was 23.5%.

The make-up of Hull City Council is:

Liberal Democrats: 26 seats

Labour: 16 seats

Reform UK: 10 seats

Independents: five seats

Analysis by Tim Iredale, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire political editor

In recent years, local government in Hull has been dominated by two parties – Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Both took a hit from Reform UK.

The Lib Dems may feel a sense of déjà vu, one year after council leader Mike Ross was beaten into second place by Reform's Luke Campbell in the race to become the first elected mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire.

Labour will feel badly bruised in a city they once dominated.

Back in the 1990s, Labour held 59 of 60 seats in the Guildhall council chamber.

Some commentators will point to Hull as a place where many voters have fallen out of love with the established Westminster parties.

Nigel Farage will be hopeful that significant gains made locally could be transformed into seats at the next general election.

Reform's opponents will continue to paint them as a party of protest, not a party of power.

But after many years of a Labour-Lib Dem duopoly, three party politics has arrived in Hull and it may be that way for some time.

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