Local Elections in England, 2013

The English local elections of 2013 took place at the centre of a furore of media speculation over the collapsing Liberal Democrats, in government for the first time, and the rising vote for UKIP. Both factors were reflected in the election, though ironically UKIP throwing a wrench into the politics of many areas led to individual Lib Dems hanging on as votes were taken from their Conservative or Labour challengers. UKIP mostly broke through along the coastline, often drawing votes from fading seaside resorts which had suffered due to cheap international holidays. UKIP strength in particular seems to radiate outward into Lincolnshire and East Anglia from the Wash. Ed Miliband's Labour made considerable gains at this election, though were impaired both by the distraction of UKIP and the fact they had fallen so far under Gordon Brown at the last round of these elections in 2009. The UKIP challenge created unusually pale blue Tory majorities in many places even where UKIP did not win, while areas that had formerly been made pale blue by Lib Dem challenges turned darker blue as the Lib Dems faded. This map roughly represents the battlefield of the 2017 elections, which are being held right now at the time of writing.