Those who will be temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) are also entitled to vote in the local elections,[2] although those who have moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections.

[6] The Conservatives retained control of the Solihull and Trafford councils, the only two metropolitan boroughs that it held before the election, slightly increasing its majority on both.

[6] Among the unitary councils, the Conservatives won control of Bath and North East Somerset for the first time.

[6] As was the case in the general election, the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats performed poorly.

[6][9][10] According to an analysis by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, more than three-quarters of councils across the UK are now under the majority control of the two largest parties, Conservative and Labour—the highest percentage since the 1970s local government reform.

[11] Rallings and Thrasher found that the decline of the Liberal Democrats accounted for part of this trend.

These councils are either being merged into larger districts, specifically those in Somerset and Suffolk at the 2019 local elections, while those in Northamptonshire and Dorset are due to have their county councils abolished and converted into 4 unitary authorities, with the new Dorset authorities electing in 2019 and the Northamptonshire authorities electing in 2020 - thus meaning all of the district and borough councillors in Northamptonshire have their terms extended for one year.