Local elections

Voters are heading to the polls to have their say in a host of local elections across the UK on Thursday.

Londoners are going to the polls in the local elections on May 5. The Tories currently run the council as a minority administration but Labour has made steady gains in recent years and is hoping to take full control this year. A poor result for the Tories nationwide is likely to raise fresh questions over his leadership of the party. - Crawley has tilted between Conservative and Labour control in recent years but neither party has an overall majority. Polls are open until 10pm. oters are heading to the polls to have their say in a host of local elections across the UK on Thursday.

Voters will be choosing local representatives in England, Scotland and Wales and there will also be an election for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In other parts of the country, Hartlepool will be hotly contested. Wokingham, St Albans and Sutton are some of the key Conservative-Liberal Democrat battlegrounds. More than 4,000 councillors in 146 councils will be standing for election in major cities including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and all 32 London boroughs. I’m conscious that we’ve got to earn every vote, I’m taking nothing for granted.” The latest is likely to be around 5pm on Saturday from Tower Hamlets. Voters will be choosing local representatives in England, Scotland and Wales and there will also be an election for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm – after that, the votes start being counted.

If you have misplaced or not received your card, you can check on the Electoral Commission website by entering your postcode here. - Tower Hamlets in London due to declare the result of its mayoral election - In Wales, Labour looking to take control of Blaenau Gwent from a group of Independents

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There are also some areas where the existing two-tier district and county council system is being replaced by new unitary councils. Some authorities are holding elections for all their seats, while at others only a third of seats are up for grabs. But voters will be taking to the polls to elect people to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the nation’s devolved government. Every seat on all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities are up for election this year. This map shows which political parties were in control of all the local authorities where voting is taking place. There are a variety of different local elections across England on May 5.

Latest updates: elections take place in many areas across the UK with polling stations open from 7am to 10pm BST.

Its Rwanda plan is designed to show Tory and Leave voters – who regard immigration as one of the three most important issues facing the country – that it is taking the small boats issue seriously. There are suspicions that ministers would not be surprised if the deportations never actually happen for this very reason, and that the initiative is at least in part about allowing Johnson to go into the next election claiming that the judicial arm of the liberal elite (or remainers, as they were called in 2019) is thwarting the will of the people. The borough should give a good early indicator as to whether Labour is making any comeback in the north of England. The opposition party leaders have been explaining why people should not vote Conservative (see 12.40pm), but none of them have put it quite so bluntly as Dominic Cummings, who only 18 months ago was working for Boris Johnson as his chief adviser. At that point we will immediately launch a new results blog, which will be full of great reporting even though it won’t have any results in it until about midnight or later, when the first ones are declared. The full story is here. My colleague Mark Sweney has the story here. The Conservatives currently hold 33 of its 60 seats, but Labour has been hoping to make gains in the borough. Polls in Thursday’s local election will close at 10pm, with the first results expected to come in about or after midnight. James Forsyth, the Spectator political editor, who has a good insight into No 10’s thinking, suggested as much in a recent Spectator column. Catherine Neilan, from Insider, has heard the same speculation, and she has published a good story with new insight into why some Conservative MPs privately think this could happen. Also expected to announce after 2am is Wirral, where there is currently no overall control.

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From the North and Midlands, to London and the South, Scotland and Wales, today's local elections represent a critical juncture that could determine Boris ...

Results from Wales and Scotland will also start to filter in at about this time. Activists have been told the area is a priority for door-knocking and results are expected from about 5am tomorrow. Westminster has been held by the Tories continuously since 1964, but in key wards only a few votes could be decisive. That said, the most important context in which these local elections are taking place is Boris Johnson’s waning popularity. Yet for Labour and Sir Keir Starmer, the polls will also be a barometer of whether his party can regain ground in Scotland and key red-wall seats which, if anything, have moved further towards the Conservatives since they were last contested in 2018. It is hard to think of a time in recent years when a set of midterm local elections has been so consequential.

Every council seat in Scotland, Wales and London is up for grabs and there are polls across much of the rest of England. Many of the seats being contested this ...

The Tories have run Aberdeenshire in partnership with the Lib Dems and a group of Independents. Their success this year may hinge on the popularity in Scotland of the Tories’ UK leader Mr Johnson. (3pm) – Glasgow council has been run by the SNP since 2017 in what has been their first stint in control of the city, albeit as a minority administration. (Cumberland 2.30am, Westmorland & Furness 1pm) The Tories are defending a majority of two and a third of the seats are being contested. It would take only a couple of gains for either the Tories or Labour to take full control of a council deep in the commuter belt of West Sussex. A third of seats are being contested. – Harrow is a council where the reduction in the number of seats from 63 to 55 could work in either Labour or the Conservatives’ favour. Labour is hoping to make gains, but the outcome is hard to predict as the size of the council is being cut from 65 to 53 seats. The Tories have held the council since 1978 and have made a point of charging residents one of the lowest average levels of council tax in the country, so a Labour victory would be of symbolic significance. It is currently run by a minority Conservative administration and Labour will want to make gains to show it is recovering in a city it lost to the Tories at the 2019 general election. A third of the council’s seats are in play and the Lib Dems are hopeful of victory. – Hartlepool sees the Conservatives and Labour fighting to be in with a chance of taking overall control of the council – or failing that, end up the largest party and lead a minority administration or a coalition. Labour has run the council since 2011 but has only a small majority and will want to improve its position in what is the party’s traditional heartland of Greater Manchester. Bury’s status in this year’s elections was reflected by the fact Sir Keir and Mr Johnson both visited the town during the campaign.

We are live on what will be a hugely important day of voting across Merseyside and the country.

The latest is likely to be around 5pm on Saturday from Tower Hamlets. The latest is likely to be around 5pm on Saturday from Tower Hamlets. Providing you have registered to vote in time, the team at the polling station will have your details and provide you with a ballot paper listing the parties and candidates up for election in your local area. More than 4,000 councillors in 146 councils will be standing for election in major cities including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and all 32 London boroughs. The Tories are just four seats behind labour here. These are crucial elections that could make huge differences in communities across the land. These local elections could have a profound impact on the national political picture. You do not need to take your polling card to vote. If you have misplaced it, you can easily find your allocated polling station by searching your post code here. These are crucial elections that could make huge differences in communities across the land. We will have live updates running through today as voting gets underway. Equally, the Labour leader will be keen to show that his party have the confidence of the country as they prepare for a General Election in the next couple of years.

The composition of hundreds of councils in England, Scotland and Wales is at stake in the 2022 local elections.

- Tower Hamlets in London due to declare the result of its mayoral election - In Wales, Labour looking to take control of Blaenau Gwent from a group of Independents - Labour is hoping to retake Southampton from Conservative control and make gains in Derby

Millions of people across England, Scotland and Wales are heading to the polls in a crunch day for Boris Johnson.

Everything is to play for in this race, with both parties hoping to post a big win in the North West. All 51 seats on Bury Council are up for grabs in an area which has some of the most marginal parliamentary seats in the country. Labour suffered a huge blow to the Tories in the Hartlepool byelection last year. Labour activists launched a massive doorstep campaign to win the council in the hope of delivering a crushing blow to Mr Johnson. It has the capital’s lowest council tax rates, but the Tories are in for a fight to stop Labour capitalising on the woes of their scandal-hit leader in Downing Street. There are thousands of council seats up for grabs and the results could paint a significant picture of the national mood following the pandemic.

Boris Johnson's Conservatives may face electoral drubbing amid Partygate and cost of living crisis. Follow latest news and reaction as counting begins.

And in Scotland, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is confident of gains in the May elections, amid earlier predictions the party could come second to SNP. The polls have just closed in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Counting now begins to elect over 4,300 councillors in more than 140 local authorities. Margaret Howard, standing for re-election in the Broadwater ward in the east of the town, said. “It’s about people wanting green spaces for them and their families, and a town to be proud of. It includes everything from bringing the lido back into use to consulting on providing more dog-poo bins. Scotland also uses the single transferrable vote system of proportional representation, which makes it much harder for a single party to win an outright majority. Labour hopes to regain that lost ground and see its support reach around 25%, up from 20% in 2017. Labour on the other hand is hoping to take a number of council seats from the Tories - with Conservative jewels Wandsworth and Westminster in London looking on a knife edge. A Labour organiser predicted the council would fall into no overall control. Both were hoping for late turn out surge,” Jessica says. Because we believe Britain deserves better. A victory would not change the balance of power – the office of first minister and deputy are equal – and Sinn Féin is unlikely to gain a majority but it would be an important symbolical win for a party that was once regarded as the political arm of the IRA.

The results of the 2022 local elections are filtering through from a few hours after polls close on Thursday until Friday evening.

- Tower Hamlets in London due to declare the result of its mayoral election - In Wales, Labour looking to take control of Blaenau Gwent from a group of Independents - Labour is hoping to retake Southampton from Conservative control and make gains in Derby

MAILONLINE LIVEBLOG: Boris Johnson is bracing for a battering over Partygate as voters go to the polls in local elections - with the outcome in key ...

The Liberal Democrats could make gains in West Oxfordshire. East Renfrewshire is a three-way battle between the Conservatives, Labour and the SNP. First results are due from Wales. From 2am: Sunderland has been run by Labour since 1973 but the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are hoping to make enough gains to leave the council in no overall control. Good evening and welcome to MailOnline's live coverage of the 2022 local elections. In all, the Tories could lose more than 500 seats in a generational battering at the ballot box. From 3am: First key results from London. Westminster is a Labour longshot and has been run by the Conservatives continuously since 1964. Hillingdon is another Labour longshot in London and contains within its boundary the constituency of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Labour is a renewed and confident party, making headway in England, Scotland and Wales. As we have shown throughout this campaign: Labour is your side, and we have the plan to deliver the security, prosperity, and respect that the British people deserve.' The first provisional results are expected to start trickling in just after midnight. Sunderland's results are expected to be among the first to come in from around 2am. Anneliese Dodds MP, Chair of the Labour Party, commenting on the close of polls, said: 'We are proud of the positive campaign we have run, based on a practical plan to tackle the cost of living crisis and the crime blighting our communities. It’s going to be a long night and there will be ups and downs - we hold the majority of the seats up for election in England, so never expected big gains. Sources have warned that Barnet and Westminster could both join in the fracturing of once-safe Tory seats.

Votes are starting to be counted in a set of elections that will help us gauge the political fortunes of Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer. Although people ...

Labour retaining the eight seats it holds that are being contested this year will be considered a good result. Labour needs a good result here after slipping back in the previous two election rounds. There will be keen interest in whether Labour can put in a strong performance and reassert its presence. Hartlepool (0200) Sunderland (0200) Sandwell (0200) Bolton (0200) Labour polled just over 50% of the vote four years ago and will be expecting to match this strong performance. One of the boroughs that showed a sharp decline in Labour's vote share between 2018 and 2019. But like with Bexley, Labour will be hoping to make some inroads. Any Labour gains will be encouraging for the party. Labour will be hoping to run the Tories close.

Polls have closed in Britain's local elections. All councils in Scotland, Wales and London, and many in the rest of England were up for election.

Lastly, there are frequent changes in ward boundaries and the number of councillors per ward, to maintain equality of representation. The data on councillor numbers comes from PA Media. Because PA only reports on complete councils, the numbers for councillor change may differ from those reported by other sources who report each council seat as it comes in. In other areas there is a “unitary” council, being elected in its entirety.

The votes have been cast and polling stations up and down the country are now closed. Brits have headed out to decide who will lead their local councils in ...

A Tory source said: “The battleground for these elections was firmly in Labour’s favour. A Tory source said: "The battleground for these elections was firmly in Labour's favour. Hillingdon is another Labour long shot in London and contains within its boundary the constituency of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Get a bit of kip - if you can. – From 2am: Sunderland has been run by Labour since 1973 but the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are hoping to make enough gains to leave the council in no overall control. – From 3am: First key results from London. Westminster is a Labour long shot and has been run by the Conservatives continuously since 1964. The bulk of the overnight counts will be through and there will be a bit of a break before results start to pour in again in the afternoon. Simply enter your postcode. "And the Conservatives are behind in the national polls - so we expect these elections to be tough." – Friday May 6, from 12am: First results expected. Elsewhere, Hull is a two-way fight between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Here is a guide to when to expect the key results and events after polls closed in the local elections.

Local government councillors in England and Wales are elected using the First Past the Post system. You vote for one candidate in your local area and the ...

The ballot paper will tell you the number of candidates you can vote for.” website to see how many candidates you can vote for. For example, if you are represented by three councillors and there are three vacancies, you can vote for three candidates. However, in the local elections, the number of candidates you can vote for depends on how many councillor vacancies there are for your area. It was flagged and corrected on the morning of 5 May 2022, as voting in local elections was underway. Until the morning of 5 May, it said: “Local government councillors in England and Wales are elected using the First Past the Post system.

Results for every borough of Greater Manchester as votes are counted - and the latest on the key elections across the rest of the UK.

Last year, the Tories hoped to win all three council seats in this ward which is home to a large Orthodox Jewish community, but only managed to retain two. Bolton is the only Greater Manchester borough currently led by the Conservatives although they do so by relying on an agreement with smaller parties. When it comes to issues, the Tories put clear blue water between themselves and Labour and the Liberals by calling for a freeze on council tax funded by reserves - and they’ll hope that will resonate with hard up Stockport voters. Labour have a tight grip on the socialist stronghold that is Salford council – but some close contests are expected. In other parts of the country, Hartlepool in the north east will be one to watch after the Conservatives won the parliamentary seat from Labour at a by-election this time last year. Stepping Hill looks set to be another three-way dogfight between Labour, Lib Dems and the Tories. Labour came out on top last year, but it’s a very difficult one to call. It’s going to be tightly fought again and this is the obvious ‘bellwether’ seat. The contentious Godley Green garden village plans could also cause a headache for Labour in the Hyde wards. A Tory source said: “The battleground for these elections was firmly in Labour’s favour. The mood inside Labour is less good. Bury Council, which has all of its 51 seats up for grabs this year, is not expected to declare its results until Friday evening. In Greater Manchester, councillor seats are up for grabs in every borough, including Rochdale and Bury, which are both electing an entire council.

Thousands of council seats were up for grabs in the UK and in Northern Ireland people have been voting to elect new Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) ...

As polls closed, the leader said he was hopeful about making inroads in Tory-held areas of southern England- the so-called “Blue Wall”. Because we believe Britain deserves better. "It’s going to be a long night and there will be ups and downs - we hold the majority of the seats up for election in England, so never expected big gains." Millions of people are thought to have cast their ballot in the latest polls and the result will have a huge impact both at a local and national level, despite turnout being significantly lower than it would be at a general election. He wrote: “I’d like to thank all those who voted in today’s local elections, and to Conservatives supporters and activists across the country for their hard work to support our plan to keep council taxes low.” The polls are closed and the votes are in - so who won the 2022 local elections?

Voters have been taking to the polls across the Black Country throughout the day in the latest swathe of local elections.

Thousands of seats have been up for grabs across England, Scotland and Wales while mayoral elections and Northern Ireland assembly votes have been taking ...

In England, around half of councils are expected to begin their vote counts overnight, with the remaining local authorities starting on Friday morning. After polls closed at 10pm, Labour chair Anneliese Dodds sounded a cautious note about the party's prospects, saying: "It's going to be a long night and there will be ups and downs - we hold the majority of the seats up for election in England, so never expected big gains." The elections decide who will be responsible for handling local issues such as planning, housing and rubbish collections - but wider national issues such as the surge in the cost of living have also come to the fore. Results, coming in over the next couple of days, could also prove key to the future of the prime minister - and whether rumblings of backbench discontent escalate into a chorus of opposition triggering a no-confidence vote. Voting has been taking place for councils in some parts of England, with more than 4,000 seats up for grabs, as well as across the whole of Scotland and Wales, each with more than 1,000 seats at stake. Meanwhile, in Wandsworth - a favourite council of Margaret Thatcher's which has been held by the Conservatives for 44 years - the mood is also bleak.