The 2021 Cambridgeshire County Council election took place on 6 May 2021 as part of the 2021 local elections in the United Kingdom. All 61 councillors were elected from 59 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The election was held alongside a full election for Cambridge City Council, the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and one-third of Peterborough City Council.

Previous composition 2017 election Party Seats 36 15 7 St Neots Independents 2 1Total61

Composition of council seats before election Party Seats 34 16 6 St Neots Independents 2 2Vacant (Conservative) 1Total61

Changes between elections

In between the 2017 election and the 2021 election, the following council seats changed hands:

Division Date Previous Party New Party Cause Resulting Council Composition Con LDem Lab SNI IndTrumpingtonMay 2018 Sitting councillor loses Whip. 36 14 7 2 2Trumpington2 May 2019 Independent incumbent resigned. Liberal Democrats won by-election. 36 15 7 2 1Duxford27 February 2020 Conservative incumbent resigned. Liberal Democrats won by-election. 35 16 7 2 1Cherry Hinton7 December 2020 Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member.35 16 6 2 2Sawston and Shelford26 February 2021 Sitting councillor resigned.No by-election was held as the resignation was sufficiently close to the upcoming County election.34 16 6 2 2

The campaign The Hickford Inquiry (that had come to be known in the press as 'Farmgate') into the tenancy of a county council owned farm by sitting Conservative councillor Roger Hickford and the delay in releasing the report was widely discussed in social media and covered in the local press election campaign coverage. Allegations of bullying and insider trading were made against the Conservative deputy-leader. Following the suspension of another Conservative councillor Simon King by his local party, over expenses submitted to Fenland District Council and the prime minister's flat refurbishment, there was a risk of allegations of sleaze dominating the campaign. Both the seats in Roger Hickford's Sawston & Shelford ward were lost to the Liberal Democrats in the election, contributing to the Conservatives' loss of control of the council.

Results summary Party Councillors Votes Of total Net Of total Net Conservative Party 28 -8 77,068 39.0% -1.6% Liberal Democrats 20 +5 56,465 28.6% -1.2% Labour Party 9 +2 37,783 19.1% +0.8% Green 0 0 18,572 9.4% +5.6% Independents 2 +1 5,150 2.6% +0.3% St. Neots Independents 2 0 2,283 1.2% -0.6% UK Independence Party 0 0 343 0.2% -3.5% Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 0 0 55 0.0% - Workers Party of Britain 0 0 48 0.0% -

In the 2021 local government elections the Conservatives nationally had a net gain of 13 councils in England. Cambridgeshire, however, was one of the few Conservative-held councils that was lost.

Only the Conservative Party contested all 61 seats on the council. The Labour Party stood 55 candidates, not standing in six divisions in South Cambridgeshire. The Liberal Democrats stood 53 candidates, not standing in three divisions in Fenland nor in five divisions in Huntingdon District. The Green Party stood 49 candidates, including in all divisions in both Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. The UK Independence Party stood four candidates, with their best vote share coming in Wisbech West (one of two divisions where turnout was below 25%). The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition stood two candidates in Huntingdonshire divisions. The St Neots Independents Group's two candidates both retained their seats, as did the Independent Tom Sanderson in Huntingdon West; Independent candidate Stephen Ferguson gained the St Neots East & Gransden seat. Including these, a total of 13 Independent candidates stood: 6 in Huntingdonshire divisions, 6 in Fenland divisions, and 1 in Fulbourn division in South Cambridgeshire. The Workers Party of Britain stood one candidate, in Wisbech East division in Fenland.

The Conservatives retained all 9 Fenland seats and gained one seat overall in Huntingdonshire, but their losses of 2 seats in East Cambs and 7 in South Cambs meant that they lost overall control.

Aftermath On 7 May Conservative county councillor Josh Schumann told the Cambridge Independent: "It is an indication we are going to have to work with others to ensure that the council delivers a lot of what it has done over the last four years." A week later the BBC reported that the leaders of the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Independent groups had signed an agreement for control of the council.

Election of group leaders Steve Count (March North & Waldersey) was reelected leader of the Conservative Group with Joshua Schumann (Burwell) as the deputy leader, Lucy Nethsingha (Newnham) was reelected leader of the Liberal Democrat Group with Lorna Dupré (Sutton) as the deputy, and Elisa Meschini (King's Hedges) was reelected leader of the Labour Group with Richard Howitt (Petersfield) becoming deputy leader.

Election of leader of the council Lucy Nethsingha, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, was duly elected leader of the council and formed a coalition administration, with Labour leader Elisa Meschini as her deputy leader.

Results by district All electoral divisions elected one councillor unless stated otherwise.

(* denotes sitting councillor)

Cambridge (12 seats)

District summary

Labour gained seats in Chesterton and Market divisions from the Liberal Democrats, as well regaining the Cherry Hinton seat previously held by a former Labour member who had quit the party to sit as an Independent, and who did not stand for re-election.

PartySeats+/−Votes%+/− 9 2 16,325 41.9 +4.8 3 2 10,705 27.5 −9.7 0 6,418 16.5 +8.3 0 5,501 14.1 −0.7 0 27 0.1 −0.6

Division results

East Cambridgeshire (8 seats)

District summary

The Liberal Democrats gained both Ely seats from the Conservatives, and held on to their Sutton seat. Elsewhere, East Cambs remained blue.

PartySeats+/−Votes%+/− 5 2 10,480 44.2 −10.0 3 2 8,113 34.2 +3.4 0 3,614 15.2 +2.6 0 1,514 6.4 +4.0

Division results

Fenland (9 seats)

District summary

It was a clean sweep for the Conservative Party in Fenland. Despite some very low turnouts and swings against some candidates, they held every seat. Among those returning was Conservative group leader Steve Count.

PartySeats+/−Votes%+/− 9 17,030 63.0 +8.3 0 4,411 16.3 +2.7 0 2,077 7.7 +1.2 0 1,946 7.3 -2.2 0 1,299 4.8 +1.8 0 97 0.4 −11.8 0 48 0.2 +0.2

Division results

Huntingdonshire (17 seats)

District summary

The Conservative Party gained a couple of seats in Huntingdonshire from the Liberal Democrats, strengthening their hold on the area, losing by just 11 votes in St Neots East and Gransden to Stephen Ferguson (Independent).

PartySeats+/−Votes%+/− 12 1 23,249 49.8 +1.0 2 1 2,888 6.2 +2.9 2 2,283 4.9 −2.4 1 2 7,711 16.5 −4.8 0 7,566 16.2 +3.9 0 2,762 5.9 +5.9 0 219 0.5 −6.5 0 55 0.1 +0.1

Division results

South Cambridgeshire (15 seats)

District summary

The Liberal Democrats in South Cambridgeshire gained six new seats from Conservatives across five divisions, and retained a seat that had been won in a 2020 by-election. The closest battle was in Hardwick, where Michael Atkins (Lib Dems) beat incumbent Lina Nieto (Con) by just five votes.

PartySeats+/−Votes%+/− 13 7 27,990 45.7 +5.7 2 7 20,808 34.0 −6.2 0 6,442 10.5 +6.6 0 5,867 9.6 −4.3 0 185 0.3 −1.1

Division results

Peter McDonald had gained the Duxford seat from Conservatives in a by-election in February 2020. The by-election, in which only two candidates stood, had resulted from incumbent and Conservative District Council leader Peter Topping standing down to relocate.

One of the two Sawston & Shelford seats was vacant as Roger Hickford had resigned, the other incumbent did not stand for re-election.

Changes 2021–2025

November 2022: Derek Giles (St Neots Independents) dies - by-election held February 2023 January 2023: Douglas Dew (Conservative) joins Liberal Democrats February 2023: Geoffrey Seeff (Liberal Democrats) gains by-election from St Neots Independents March 2023: Hilary Cox Condron (Labour) and Dan Schumann (Conservative) resign - by-elections held May 2023 April 2023: Josh Schumann (Conservative) leaves party to sit as an independent May 2023: Mike Black (Labour) and Bill Hunt (Conservative) win by-elections January 2024: Mac McGuire (Conservative) dies - by-election held March 2024; Ryan Fuller (Conservative) leaves party to sit as an independent February 2024: Jonas King (Conservative) and Keith Prentice (Conservative) leave party to sit as independents March 2024: Andrew Wood (Liberal Democrats) gains by-election from Conservatives May 2024: Keith Prentice (independent) joins Labour February 2025: Kevin Reynolds (Conservative) leaves party to sit as an independent

By-elections St Neots The Eatons

The by-election was triggered by the death of St Neots Independents councillor Derek Giles.

Arbury

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Hilary Cox Condron, who cited her mental health.

Soham South and Haddenham

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Conservative councillor Dan Schumann.

Yaxley and Farcet

The by-election was triggered by the death of Conservative councillor Mac McGuire.

See also 2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election 2021 Cambridgeshire police and crime commissioner election

References