The 2002 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 2 May 2002. All London borough council seats were elected as well a third of the seats on each of the Metropolitan Boroughs. Many unitary Authorities and District councils also had elections. There were no local elections in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This was the last time that Labour was the majority in local government until 2023.

Quick Facts All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs,18 unitary authorities, 88 English districts and 7 directly elected mayors, Majority party ...

2002 United Kingdom local elections

← 2001 2 May 2002 2003 →
All 32 London boroughs, all 36 metropolitan boroughs, 18 unitary authorities, 88 English districts and 7 directly elected mayors
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Tony Blair Iain Duncan Smith Charles Kennedy Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader since 21 July 1994 13 September 2001 9 August 1999 Percentage 33%[lower-alpha 1] 34% 27% Swing 2% 6% 2% Councils 64 42 15 Councils +/- 7 9 2 Councillors 2,416 2,007 1,250 Councillors +/- 334 238 37
Colours denote council control following elections, as shown in the main table of results.

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Simon Parker of The Guardian described the elections as "a round of embarrassing [sic] defeats for Labour in a set of council elections that also saw opposition parties making minor inroads into the party's dominant position in local government. [...] But the night really belonged to independents and the smaller parties, who made some high-profile gains as the voters expressed their dissatisfaction with mainstream politics."^[1]