Council leadership positions for the coming year are to be confirmed at a meeting next week after Reform UK's success at the local elections.

Hartlepool Borough Council’s annual meeting is to be held at 6.30pm on Thursday, May 21, marking the first gathering of councillors for the 2026-27 municipal year.

It comes after the local elections saw Reform UK become the biggest party on the local authority with 15 councillors after winning all 12 available seats in the polls.

The meeting will see key positions on the council confirmed for the coming year including leader, deputy leader and ceremonial mayor.

Reform UK councillors and supporters after their landslide victory at the 2026 Hartlepool Borough Council elections.

placeholder image — Reform UK councillors and supporters after their landslide victory at the 2026 Hartlepool Borough Council elections.

It will also be revealed who will chair each council committee and which elected representatives will sit on them.

Labour has had control of the council since May 2024 although the party lost six councillors at the latest polls, including local authority leader Pamela Hargreaves, to leave them with 14.

The council is now in a state of “no overall control” – as no group or party has the 19 seats needed out of the 36 total to hold an overall majority.

Hartlepool Labour Party bosses have already signalled they “will not seek to form a coalition” with any of the seven independent councillors, paving the way for Reform to try to do so.

Councillor Graham Harrison, chairman of the Reform group in Hartlepool, speaking shortly after the local election results were announced, said they will “take stock” and “stop and have a look at the situation and see what we can do”.

He added: “We’re not politicians, we’re just normal people, we’re here to help Hartlepool.”

Alongside the council’s annual meeting on May 21, the local authority also has pencilled in a mayoral investiture ceremony for Tuesday, May 26.

This would see the new ceremonial mayor and their deputy formally welcomed to the roles – with tributes paid to the departing position holders.

Labour’s Cllr Carole Thompson, who represents Foggy Furze, has been mayor for the past two years since May 2024, with the former Labour and now independent Cllr Quewone Bailey-Fleet serving as deputy for the last 12 months.