Nuneaton and Bedworth: Key general election bellwether area falls to Labour

Labour has gained Nuneaton and Bedworth council from the Conservatives – the local authority that covers the bellwether constituency of Nuneaton.

According to the BBC, Labour gained a remarkable 15 seats on the council to take its total to 20, while the Conservatives lost 14 councillors, ending the day on 16.

Nuneaton has traditionally been considered a bellwether seat, having elected representatives of the winning party in every general election since 1997. It was held by Labour’s Bill Olner throughout the New Labour years before being gained by the Tory Marcus Jones in 2010. Jones’ most recent majority was 13,144 votes.

Labour Together’s director of research Christabel Cooper described the result as “enormously positive”, writing in a post on X: “This was one of the councils I was looking out for.

“Nuneaton is a bellwether parliamentary seat. When it went to the Tories in GE2015 around 2am, I realised that the exit poll was probably right, Labour would lose, and I went to bed. So it’s enormously positive that Lab have won.”

Labour’s general election candidate in Nuneaton will be Jodie Gosling, who is the leader of the Labour group on North Warwickshire Borough Council.

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