Voters heading to the polls in the 2026 local elections in England should expect to again see more candidates and longer ballots, new analysis shows.
People will be faced with more complex choices, particularly in multi-member wards, and this may lead to more split-ticket voting, or citizens not using all their available votes, researchers have warned.
Results could follow the increasing trend of people winning council seats with small majorities, and victories on lower vote shares.
Dr Hannah Bunting, Co-director of the University of Exeter Elections Centre, says this year's contests will show more evidence of the increasing political fragmentation in England, with more parties and independent candidates, both standing and posing credible challenges.
Her analysis shows in 2026 there are on average around five candidates per seat, roughly the same as in 2025, showing the country may be approaching a ceiling in terms of how many candidates realistically contest each individual seat.
Dr Bunting calculates that fewer than one-third of 2026 candidates are women or non-binary, and if Labour performs badly, and Reform make gains, the gender balance among English councillors could fall backwards.
In the council by-elections held so far in 2026, the winner's vote share has averaged at just 39 per cent. This has fallen sharply since 2022.
In 2026 there is an average of around four parties contesting each seat, similar to 2021. This could be a sign of a strategic shift, or simply not being able to find enough willing volunteers to run for office. Many parties appear to be making sure they are visible in every ward rather than contesting all available vacancies in a ward.
In 2026, Reform are present in the most wards (almost 100 per cent) but don't contest the most seats - that title goes to Labour (96.5 per cent compared to Reform's 94.7 per cent). The Conservatives come in third and the Greens are standing in 88.5 per cent of seats. The Liberal Democrats field candidates in 77.8 per cent of seats.
Dr Bunting estimated the gender of 93 per cent of candidates through her own analysis and data from Democracy Club. Of that 93 per cent around 61 per cent of candidates are male and 31 per cent female.
This represents the lowest level of gender balance since 2021, although the final figure may shift slightly once more is known about the 7 per cent of candidates for which gender information is missing.
This imbalance is not uniform across parties. Labour and the Green Party consistently field the highest proportions of women and non-binary candidates, at over 40 per cent. The Liberal Democrats sit at around a third, while the Conservatives fall slightly below that level. By contrast, Reform has fewer than a quarter of its candidates who are women.
Traditionally, election cycles dominated by urban, Labour-leaning areas, as in 2026, tend to produce better gender balance among elected councillors.
