section_path: Europe/The United Kingdom/Local elections
section_name: Local elections
paragraph_text: Local elections
  
  The introduction of directly elected mayors in several parts of England has witnessed the election of independents to run councils in Stoke-on-Trent, Middlesbrough, Bedford, Hartlepool and Mansfield. The first Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was first elected as an independent, having run against the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson. He was subsequently re-admitted to the Labour Party in December 2003 before his first re-election campaign.
  
  Independent candidates frequently stand and are elected to local councils. There is a special Independent group of the Local Government Association to cater for them. A number of local authorities have been entirely or almost entirely composed of independent members, such as the City of London Corporation, the Isles of Scilly Council, Orkney Islands Council, Shetland Islands Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) in the Outer Hebrides.
  
  In 2023, Central Bedfordshire became the first unitary authority in England to have an independent administration.
  
  Roughly a quarter of the police and crime commissioners elected in England and Wales in the 2012 election were independents.