Overview
Curious Party
A curious, plain-English way to explore whether area-level characteristics, such as age, education, housing, income and deprivation, move with UK local election results.
Loading data
Preparing dashboard
Quick read
What stands out so far?
These are simple summaries comparing 2026 local-election results with area characteristics. They describe places, not individual voters.
How to read this section
rho is the correlation strength from -1 to +1. Positive means the result tends to be higher where the factor is higher; negative means it tends to be lower. n is the number of comparable places.
Interactive analysis
Explore a specific party and factor
Use the controls to test your own question against the 2026 local-election comparison dataset. This part changes when you choose a different party, result measure or area factor.
How to use the filters
Choose a party, result measure, and area factor. Changing one filter keeps the others exactly as you set them. If a chart says there is not enough data, try another result or factor.
Plain English read
Loading relationship
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Spearman correlation
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Comparable areas
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Passes p < 0.05 screen
How to read this chart
Each dot is one authority in the 2026 comparison data. Left-to-right shows the selected area factor; up-and-down shows the selected election result. The dashed line shows the broad trend.
Party-balanced
Top patterns by party
Each party gets equal space in the 2026 comparison data, so the dashboard does not over-focus on whichever party has the single largest correlation.
How to read this section
Cards show the strongest 2026 patterns for the currently selected result within each party. Click View to switch to that party without changing your selected area factor.
Compare factors
Which characteristics are most connected?
Bars show the strongest 2026 relationship found for each readable factor, after filtering by the selected party/result.
How to read this section
Longer bars mean stronger relationships. The number on the right is rho. Click a bar value to use that factor in the main chart.
Map view
Where each party is ahead
The full UK local-authority map is shown for context. Switch between 2026-only results and the latest available local result loaded for each area.
How to read this map
Strong colours show the selected result layer. In Latest available, colours use 2026 Guardian results where available, then council composition/control data. Northern Ireland is outlined, but local election results are not loaded yet because they use separate data sources and election cycles.
Northern Ireland
Boundaries are shown, but results are not loaded yet. NI local elections use separate sources and were not part of the Guardian 2026 feed.
Places
Similar places by demographics
The layout groups authorities with similar Census profiles. Dot colour shows the selected party/result, so you can see whether similar places also had similar outcomes.
How to read it
Nearby dots = similar area characteristics. Darker dots = higher selected 2026 result. Grey dots = no result for that party/place.
Ranked areas
Selected result
How to read this list
These are the top places for the selected party and result. It updates when you change the party or result measure.
Read before sharing
What this can and cannot say
Correlation is not causation. These charts show area-level associations, not proof that one thing caused another.
Places are not people. An area with many students voting a certain way does not tell us how individual students voted.
Analysis scope. The correlation charts compare 2026 local-election results with area characteristics. The map also uses historical/control fallback data where no 2026 result is loaded.
Census timing matters. Census 2021 characteristics may not perfectly describe the electorate in 2026.
Contact
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Questions, corrections, data suggestions, and feedback all help make Curious Party clearer.