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Local election results are frequently scrutinised for what they reveal about the national political mood. After all, electors themselves often vote (or decide not to vote) in order to send clear signals to national politicians.This time, the messages were especially clear and have led to furious debates in Westminster about what, or who, to blame.Other analysis might instead highlight the arrival, for now at least, of a more complex multi-party political landscape – characterised by fragmentation, the rise of ‘challenger' parties and regional variations.Whereas once, Conservatives and Labour together captured around four-fifths of the projected national vote in England, this time they managed just one-third between them. Even the first-past-the-post voting system failed to bolster the two-party domination of the past.For officers, even identifying whom to talk with may be unclear whilst internal party structures emerge.Away from a heated Westminster, the focus now will be on identifying arrangements enabling local authorities to function and deliver services for communities amid a very different local political landscape.There are two particular challenges – first, the huge number of new councillors entirely unversed in the workings of local government and second, the implications of being a council without an overall majority. In many cases, both factors will be at play.Whenever councils change control, it takes time for new leaderships to settle in. This will be exacerbated where so many members lack prior knowledge or even access to guidance from longer-serving colleagues. In some places, notably those having all-out elections this time, groups have been propelled from virtually zero to becoming the largest or controlling group.For officers, even identifying whom to talk with may be unclear whilst internal party structures emerge.Councils without overall control (NOC) are, by no means, unknown. Over the past two decades, an average of 22% of authorities lacked an overall controlling group. This figure has increased over the last five years and now totals more than 45%.Statistically, NOC describes any council without a single group possessing ‘50% plus one' of the council membership. In practice, where one party just falls short of this threshold, and with little likelihood that other groups will combine to form a durable majority, ‘minority control' of some form is manageable.Where the arithmetic is more difficult, other options range from formal coalitions, through power-sharing (designated or accidental), to purely technical ways of getting essential business done.Previous studies of ‘hung' or ‘balanced' councils – the descriptors reflect political perspectives – suggest that a number of factors, and interplay between them, shapes what happens.Institutional-Arithmetic: If only marginally short of a majority, the leading party often assumes control with others seeking to maximise policy victories, as and when appropriate.-Electoral cycles: Where balances are likely to continue over a four-year period (all-out), pressures will be to identify some form of cross-party co-operation. For others (elections by thirds) there may be the hope of a decisive outcome next time. Going back to the electorate is not an option. Restructuring has increased the proportion of authorities with all-out elections.-Legal and governance: Committee-based governance models have facilitated power-sharing, but few remain and numbers will decrease further with reorganisation and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.-How places are allocated on external bodies can be a helpful mechanism.Historical-Local traditions: Councils (often smaller, rural ones) with low partisanship and traditions of cross-party working are easier than those with high partisanship and established rivalries.-Control: Where one party has dominated hitherto and, irrespective of size, is regarded as ‘losing' this time, other groups have increased dispositions to combine against it.Motivational-Prizes and risks: NOC provides two forms of potential ‘payoff' – securing portfolios/offices and/or influencing policies. Both have risks.-Portfolios: In national governments, there is a strong temptation, especially for leaders, less so for backbenchers, to participate in government through a formal coalition. Despite fulfilling personal ambitions, however, formal coalitions bring the danger that if the alliance is perceived successful, the leading party will enjoy subsequent electoral credit but, if deemed unsuccessful, supporting parties may well experience the electoral pain.-Policies: At local level, given the dangers of formal pacts, there might be advantage in looser and fluid policy-based alliances, although these bring their own risk that such agreements might not be honoured. Instead, groups might choose a ‘confidence and supply' approach accompanied by issue-by-issue voting.Party and policy-Strategies: National party leaderships sometimes restrict local discretion about joint working – what is ‘within scope' and 'with whom' – also, local group cohesion and discipline varies.-Policy proximity: Voting patterns broadly reflect policy preferences, making centre-right agreements more common in respect of finance, enterprise and planning, and centre-left ones for education, housing and welfare.Socio-political-Levels of partisanship, volatility, and trust: All inform the likelihood, and shape, of any deal.The absence of an overall majority does not, in itself, prevent NOC councils working perfectly satisfactorily, especially where the balance is stable and relationships – political, personal and with officers – are respectful and strong. They might even herald more consensual and informed decision-making, albeit generally slower. In others, however, they can result in paralysis and inconsistency.The interests of communities should be paramount, not least because individual electors did not vote to be NOC as such – it was simply the consequence of aggregate voting patterns.If councillors themselves cannot agree a way forward, they can allow chief executives to act as intermediaries helping them to navigate through the political uncertainty and ambiguity in order to deliver for their communities.According to one chief: ‘You get two sorts of chief executive in a NOC council… those who can either lead from the front or push from the back and those where members cannot decide but will not allow the chief executive to decide for them. They are the ones who get frustrated… or ill.'Over the coming months, officials in NOC councils will require high levels of political nous, personal acumen, trust and brokering skills. Being a local authority chief executive is never easy, and for some, it may have become even tougher.Colin Mellors is emeritus professor at the University of York

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GOVERNANCE

Managing councils without a majority

By Colin Mellors | 27 May 2026

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