Read about the 2006 local government elections which were held on Thursday 4 May.

The contests included four directly elected Mayors, all the seats in the London borough councils, a third of the seats in the Mets and a third of the seats in some district and unitary councils. Several councils also elected half of their seats.

The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, made large seat gains. This was at the expense of the Labour government, under Tony Blair. It lost seats heavily.