National census of local authority councillors 2022

The Local Government Association (LGA) has carried out the ninth Census of Local Authority Councillors in England. This census provides the most comprehensive, timely overview of local government representation and, with previous years’ data, how that has changed over time. The results will help to inform central and local government and political groups in the development of strategies and policies for local government. The 2022 Census was conducted in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on local communities, and recent prominent issues of personal safety.

The 2022 Census collected data between January and February 2022 and updates previous censuses conducted over 1997-2018.

The 2022 Census was the second to be conducted entirely online. All 16,9301 councillors in England were emailed a unique link to the questionnaire. A total of 5,055 councillors responded, a response rate of 30 per cent. This is markedly higher than in 2018 (15 per cent), but lower than those in 2013 (38 per cent) and earlier.