Scotland
Scottish Parliament
Examples of devolved powers
Health, education, housing, justice and policing, agriculture, and aspects of taxation.
Party Politics
News from Party Politics, live parliamentary information and official UK statistics — with source links on the data that matters.
Latest Politics
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Councils
Results & upcoming →Local politics across Great Britain and Northern Ireland: party representation and council leadership. By-election results and schedules are presented separately.
18,811GB council seats, including 47 vacancies
373GB councils in the source's leadership table
462Northern Ireland councillors
Councillors & council control
Latest available GB snapshot: 29 October 2026. Checked 30 October 2026. The Northern Ireland figures have a separate, older source date. These totals are not a live feed.
| Party | Councillors | Full control | Councils led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 4,584 | 61 | 121 |
| Liberal Democrats | 3,353 | 43 | 76 |
| Conservative | 3,861 | 26 | 69 |
| Reform UK | 2,300 | 23 | 35 |
| Green | 1,340 | 6 | 21 |
| SNP | 412 | 1 | 15 |
| Plaid Cymru | 203 | 4 | 4 |
| Other | 2,711 | 11 | 31 |
| Vacant / unassigned | 47 | — | 1 |
| Total | 18,811 | 175 | 373 |
How to read the figures: Full control means a party holds a majority of council seats. Councils led includes full control and leading parties in no-overall-control administrations. Councils led includes full control and the leading party in no-overall-control administrations. Leadership does not always mean a majority. “Other” combines smaller parties and independents; the source lists one leadership entry as unassigned.
| Party | Councillors |
|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | 144 |
| DUP | 119 |
| Alliance | 65 |
| Ulster Unionist | 51 |
| SDLP | 34 |
| Other | 49 |
| Total | 462 |
Next council by-elections
Dates are checked against UK time; past scheduled contests are automatically hidden. Confirm current dates using the source link below.
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · Penn HillDefending party: Liberal Democrats
- Hyndburn · HuncoatDefending party: Labour
- North East Lincolnshire · Croft BakerDefending party: Labour
- Oldham · Failsworth WestDefending party: Reform UK
- Staffordshire Moorlands · CheddletonDefending party: Labour
- Suffolk · BosmereDefending party: Reform UK
- Wigan · Hindley GreenDefending party: Independent
- Caerphilly · Risca EastDefending party: Labour
- Conwy · BrynDefending party: Conservative
- Durham · Craghead & South MoorDefending party: Reform UK
GB council composition is sourced from 29 October 2026 and was checked 30 October 2026; NI figures are from 15 September 2026; upcoming contests were checked 30 October 2026. Neither refreshes automatically. Sources: Open Council Data UK statistics and by-election schedule. For a council-by-council reference, see political make-up of UK local councils on Wikipedia; its summary may use a different update date and coverage.
Devolved Powers & Public Finances
Who makes the decisions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? Explore their powers, follow legislation and compare public finances.
Wales
Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament
Examples of devolved powers
Health, education, housing, planning, agriculture, and devolved taxes. Justice and policing are generally reserved.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Assembly
Examples of devolved powers
Health, education, housing, agriculture, social security, justice and policing. Powers are classified as transferred, reserved or excepted.
Revenue & public spending
Financial year 2024/25 · £ billion · Common scale from £0 to £120 billion
RevenuePublic spending
Scotland
Net fiscal balance: −£25.86bn
Wales
Net fiscal balance: −£22.78bn
Northern Ireland
Net fiscal balance: −£15.84bn
These are estimates for each country's whole public sector, including allocated UK Government spending and devolved services. They are not the budgets or borrowing of the devolved governments. North Sea revenue is allocated geographically. Values are rounded; bars use the same scale.
Source: ONS country and regional public sector finances, 2024/25, released 26 May 2026. Figures transcribed from the Scotfact summary of the ONS tables. Published annual snapshot; checked 6 October 2026.
Scotland's GERS: Read the official 2025/26 report. GERS is a Scotland-only publication. The comparison above uses the same ONS year for all three countries.
UK Politics Data
Official statistics3.1%CPI / inflation
0.5%GDP growth / quarter on quarter
4.9%Unemployment