After May 7
No overall control. Labour largest party
Council size: 36 seats · 12 up on May 7
Council · Unitary authority
Hartlepool
No overall control. Labour largest party after May 7 2026. (Majority lost, previously Labour)
What happened on May 7
Seats won and overall control
Reform UK
13 of 36 seats
Won 12 on May 7 · had 1 before
Next election
May 2030
Whole council every 4 years.
Post-May 7 composition
Every party's seat count on the new council
Pre-May-7 composition is the latest OCD snapshot of who held each seat; post is pre minus seats up plus actual winners.
How accurate was the model here?
Our 7 May 2026 forecast for Hartlepool
Locked, sha256-witnessed forecast scored against the actual count. See the full national accuracy audit →
Our locked May 7 forecast
The pre-election prediction
This is the seats-on-the-ballot projection we published before polls opened, used here for accuracy comparison only.
All wards
Per-ward forecast vs actual
| Ward | Our top pick | Actual winner | Predicted share | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burn Valley | Reform UK | Reform UK | 49.4% | high |
| De Bruce | Reform UK | Reform UK | 41.2% | high |
| Fens & Greatham | Reform UK | Reform UK | 40.6% | high |
| Foggy Furze | Reform UK | Reform UK | 40.9% | high |
| Hart | Reform UK | Reform UK | 40.1% | high |
| Headland & Harbour | Reform UK | Reform UK | 41.2% | high |
| Manor House | Labour | Reform UK | 44.6% | high |
| Rossmere | Reform UK | Reform UK | 41.3% | high |
| Rural West | Reform UK | Reform UK | 40.0% | high |
| Seaton | Reform UK | Reform UK | 39.6% | high |
| Throston | Reform UK | Reform UK | 53.2% | high |
| Victoria | Labour | Reform UK | 43.3% | high |