Everything you need to know about the Local Elections in your area as polls open
Polls have opened on Thursday as every council seat in Scotland, Wales and London is up for grabs with many more across the rest of England - adding up to total of 200 local authorities.
Many of the seats being contested this year were last elected in 2017 and 2018, when the UK was still in the European Union, the prime minister was Theresa May and Labour was led by Jeremy Corbyn.
The political landscape of the UK has undergone huge changes in the past few years, but many of the issues that can decide local elections remain the same.
These include when bins are collected, the state of parks and pavements, and access to libraries and hospitals.
This year’s elections are also likely to be a verdict on Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, in particular their handling of such national issues as Covid and the cost of living.
Here are some of the key contests to look out for in each region of England, as well as in Wales and Scotland.
Firstly, why are local elections important?
Local elections aren't just a Westminster temperature check.
Councils and unitary authorities are responsible for delivering services that pretty much all of us rely on every day - including social services, bin collections, recycling, housing, education, and planning.
Coronavirus brought us all even closer, with councils at the heart of emergency measures like the track and trace programmes.
North-west England
Bury is one to watch, with all of its 51 seats up for grabs this year.
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. (Estimated declaration time: 8.30pm, Friday 6 May)
Bolton is another key test for Labour in Greater Manchester, but here it is hoping to take back control from the Conservatives who have run a minority administration since 2019.
A third of the council’s 60 seats are being contested. (12.30am)
Pendle is being defended by the Conservatives, who won a slim majority last year.
If the Tories lose just two seats, the council will slip back into no overall control. Elections are taking place for 12 of the 33 seats. (4.30pm)
Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness are two new unitary authorities that will elect councillors for the first time this year. The two authorities cover the whole of Cumbria.
All the main parties will be jostling for prominence in these new so-called super-councils and the outcome in both contests could be close. (Cumberland 2.30am, Westmorland & Furness 1pm)
North-east England
Sunderland is a key battleground this year, having been run by Labour since 1973 but with both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats making advances in recent years.
A third of the council’s 75 seats are up for grabs this year, and if Labour suffers six or more losses it will lose overall control.
Although Sunderland is part of Labour’s so-called “Red Wall” – areas of the country that saw many Tory gains at the 2019 general election – all three Sunderland MPs are Labour and the party defied predictions in 2021 when it retained its majority on the council. (2am)
Click here for more on the key battlegrounds in the north-east of England
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.
The Tories won the parliamentary seat of Hartlepool from Labour at a by-election in May 2021. A strong showing by independent candidates could spice up the outcome of this year’s contest. Some 13 of the council’s 36 seats are being contested. (2am)
Yorkshire & the Humber
Kirklees is currently run by Labour but the party does not have a majority. A third of seats are being elected and just two gains by Labour would give it overall control.
Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are also hoping to do well. (6.30pm)
Wakefield is a Labour stronghold and is not likely to change hands, but the party will be hoping for a solid performance ahead of the expected parliamentary by-election in the city later this year, after Conservative MP Imran Khan was convicted of sexual assault. A third of seats are being contested. (5pm)
Everything you need to know about the local elections in Yorkshire
Hull is a two-way fight between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Labour’s majority has been whittled away in recent years and the party goes into this year’s election defending a majority of one.
A third of the council’s seats are in play and the Lib Dems are hopeful of victory. (3.30am)
West Midlands
Dudley is a crucial test for both the Conservatives and Labour.
The Tories hope to build on the slim majority they secured at the 2021 local elections, while Labour will want to halt the blue advance and make gains themselves. A third of the council is up for grabs. (4am)
Solihull is another West Midlands metropolitan council under Conservative control, but the main opposition there is the Greens.
The party has been slowly eating into the Tories’ majority and will hope to take a few more bites this year. One third of Solihull’s seats are being contested. (1pm)
For more from the Midlands:
Nuneaton & Bedworth is dominated by the Conservatives after a bumper performance in last year’s elections.
Labour will hope to demonstrate it is making a comeback, having controlled the council as recently as 2018. Half of the 34 seats are holding ballots. (4am)
Newcastle-under-Lyme will be a battle royal between Labour and the Conservatives, with every council seat up for grabs and the Tories defending a tiny majority.
Success here for Labour would suggest the party is winning back support in one of its target areas of country.
The parliamentary seat of Newcastle-under-Lyme was won by the Conservatives in 2019 after being held by Labour for the previous 100 years. (3pm)
East Midlands
Derby is currently run by the Tories as a minority party. Labour will be looking to make gains in another test of party’s ability to win back support in urban areas of central England.
Read more on what's at stake in Derby
An unknown factor is the popularity of the Reform Derby party, based on the former Brexit Party, which is standing candidates in all the seats being contested.
There are 17 of the council’s 51 seats up for grabs. (5am)
Eastern England
St Albans saw the Liberal Democrats make enough gains in 2021 to take overall control, but with a slim majority.
The party will want to improve its numbers this year as an example of how it is now the main opposition to the Conservatives in parts of the so-called “Blue Wall” of southern England.
The entire council is up for election. (4pm)
Peterborough is a long-running Conservative-Labour battleground and for decades the council has see-sawed between a Tory majority and no overall control.
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.
For more from the east of England:
A third of seats are being contested. (2.30am)
Basildon in Essex could provide clues to how the Conservatives are doing in the commuter belt around London.
The party won control of the council last year and will hope to consolidate its position in elections for a third of its 42 seats. (1am)
Stevenage in Hertfordshire is another commuter-heavy area but this time it is Labour who will be hoping to make progress.
The party has controlled the council continuously since its creation in 1973 but will want to show it can reverse the losses it made last year. A third of the seats are up for grabs. (2.30am)
London
Barnet is Labour’s top target in London for the third election in a row.
The party failed narrowly to win control in 2014, while 2018 saw the council swing further towards the Conservatives, with local Labour members blaming the row over antisemitism in the national party.
Labour needs to gain nine seats to form a majority. As with every council in London, all seats are being elected. (7am)
Wandsworth is another long-standing Labour target, but here the party managed to increased its number of councillors in both 2014 and 2018.
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. (5.30am)
Hillingdon contains the constituency of Boris Johnson and has been controlled by the Conservatives since 2006.
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. (4am)
Westminster has been held by the Tories continuously since its creation in 1964.
Labour has slowly increased its number of councillors at recent elections and will want to make more progress this time.
Given the current volatile political climate, plus a reduction in the size of the council from 60 to 54 seats, the final result could be close. (3am)
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 won a narrow majority in both 2014 and 2018 but the borough’s electoral districts have been substantially redrawn for 2022 and both parties could profit from the new-look map. (5pm)
Sutton is a Liberal Democrat-Conservative battleground that has been run by the Lib Dems since 1990.
The party should retain control again this year, but the Tories will hope to make gains and chip away at the Lib Dems’ small overall majority. (4am)
South-east England
Crawley has tilted between Conservative and Labour control in recent years but neither party has an overall majority.
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. (2pm)
Gosport sees the Conservatives, who have only a small majority on the council, under pressure from the second-place Lib Dems.
All the seats are up for grabs and boundary changes across the borough means the outcome will be even more unpredictable. (5pm)
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Worthing is a top Labour target and the party goes into the election level-pegging with the Conservatives on 17 seats each.
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 third of seats are being elected. (2pm)
Southampton is another Labour target and winning control from the Conservatives would help demonstrate the party is building back support in southern towns and cities.
The Tories are defending a majority of two and a third of the seats are being contested. (5am)
South-west England
Somerset is undergoing major changes this year in its system of local government.
Until now the area has had a county council and four district councils (Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset and Somerset West & Taunton) but these are being scrapped and replaced with a single unitary authority.
Elections are taking place for all 110 seats in the new-look organisation, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats fighting for control. (4pm)
Wales
Blaenau Gwent has been run by a group of Independent councillors since 2017, some of whom used to be in the Labour Party.
Labour is keen to take back control and might be helped by a reduction in the number of seats from 42 to 33. (3pm)
Follow ITV Wales' coverage for more on the Local Elections:
Cardiff is a key council for Labour, where the party will hope to defend its slim majority.
The number of councillors is being increased slightly from 75 to 79, which might make the outcome more unpredictable. (5pm)
Flintshire sits in an area of Wales, the north-east, where the Conservatives did well at the 2019 general election.
The party won only six council seats in 2017 compared with Labour’s 34, so they are hoping to make an advance this year.
For its part, Labour will want to remain the largest party and even win a majority, although the total number of seats is being cut from 70 to 67. (3pm)
Scotland
Aberdeenshire is a Conservative stronghold, but like many councils in Scotland, power is shared between several parties.
All councils in Scotland are elected using the single transferable vote (STV) system, where voters rank candidates and results are based on preferences rather than the winner-takes-all method used in England.
This leads to many councils ending in no overall control, but encourages parties to work together either informally or as part of a coalition.
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)
East Renfrewshire is a three-way battle between the Conservatives, Labour and the SNP with each hoping to end up the largest party. (2pm)
Edinburgh has been run by a joint SNP-Labour administration for the last five years, but the Conservatives head into this election as the largest party on the council.
The Lib Dems and Greens have a smaller number of councillors but both will hope to make gains from the larger parties. (3.30pm)
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.
The party needs only a few gains to take full control, but Labour – which had previously run the city since 1980 – is keen to stop them. (4pm)
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, voters will be electing 90 members, representing 18 constituencies, to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The last Assembly election, a snap poll in March 2017, was held as crisis engulfed the powersharing institutions, which had collapsed two months earlier amid a row about a botched green energy scheme.
Fast forward five years and voters will cast their ballots in the single transferable vote (STV) election with a similar cloud of uncertainty hanging over Stormont.
The ministerial executive imploded in February when the DUP withdrew its first minister Paul Givan in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol – a post-Brexit trading arrangement that has enraged unionists by creating economic barriers between the region and the rest of the UK.
There is the real possibility Sinn Fein could emerge as the largest party but be prevented from taking up the first minister’s post – certainly in the short to medium term – due to a lack of a willing partner in government.
Somewhat confusingly for outside observers, there is no legal difference or power disparity between Stormont’s first and deputy first ministers – their co-equal status is a cornerstone of the region’s power-sharing structures.
Under current rules, the largest unionist party occupies one of the posts and the largest nationalist party occupies the other, with the first minister’s job going to the one that has more seats. A properly functioning ministerial executive cannot be formed without both roles being filled.
What time will we know the results?
Each council will declare when ready in the early hours of Friday morning, throughout Friday and even some on Saturday.
In Northern Ireland, counting starts on Friday morning and could run into Saturday.
Here’s when we can expect each council to declare:
Local authorities
(all times are for Friday 6 May except where stated)
Halton 12.05am
Bolton 12.30am
Broxbourne 12.30am
Basildon 1am
Brentwood 1am
Exeter 1am
Hart 1am
Rushmoor 1am
Tameside 1am
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1.30am
South Tyneside 1.30am
Tamworth 1.30am
Wigan 1.30am
Worcester 1.30am
Amber Valley 2am
Chorley 2am
Croydon 2am
Harlow 2am
Hartlepool 2am
North Tyneside 2am
Plymouth 2am
Redditch 2am
Rochford 2am
Sandwell 2am
Sefton 2am
Sunderland 2am
Thurrock 2am
Wirral 2am
Oldham 2.15am
Cumberland 2.30am
Fareham 2.30am
Ipswich 2.30am
Lincoln 2.30am
North East Lincolnshire 2.30am
Peterborough 2.30am
Preston 2.30am
Stevenage 2.30am
Eastleigh 3am
Epping Forest 3am
Hammersmith & Fulham 3am
Oxford 3am
Portsmouth 3am
Sheffield 3am
Southend-on-Sea 3am
Tandridge 3am
Waltham Forest 3am
Westminster 3am
Wolverhampton 3am
Colchester 3.30am
Kingston-upon-Hull 3.30am
Redbridge 3.30am
Barking & Dagenham 4am
Coventry 4am
Dudley 4am
Ealing 4am
Hillingdon 4am
Nuneaton & Bedworth 4am
Salford 4am
Sutton 4am
Bexley 4.30am
Hounslow 4.30am
Derby 5am
Havering 5am
Kensington & Chelsea 5am
Merton 5am
Southampton 5am
Southwark 5am
Richmond-upon-Thames 5.30am
Wandsworth 5.30am
Enfield 6am
Stockport 6am
Brent 6.30am
Barnet 7am
Barnsley 7am
Gateshead 12.30pm
Moray 12.30pm
Cambridge 1pm
Cannock Chase 1pm
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 1pm
Huntingdonshire 1pm
Orkney Islands 1pm
Perth & Kinross 1pm
Shetland Islands 1pm
Solihull 1pm
Walsall 1pm
Westmorland & Furness 1pm
Calderdale 1.30pm
Carmarthenshire 2pm
Castle Point 2pm
Cheltenham 2pm
Conwy 2pm
Crawley 2pm
Dumfries & Galloway 2pm
Dundee 2pm
East Renfrewshire 2pm
Elmbridge 2pm
Inverclyde 2pm
Maidstone 2pm
Rossendale 2pm
Runnymede 2pm
Slough 2pm
West Oxfordshire 2pm
Worthing 2pm
Wrexham 2pm
Argyll & Bute 2.30pm
Burnley 2.30pm
Clackmannanshire 2.30pm
East Lothian 2.30pm
Fife 2.30pm
Havant 2.30pm
Reigate & Banstead 2.30pm
Scottish Borders 2.30pm
Three Rivers 2.30pm
Woking 2.30pm
Aberdeen 3pm
Aberdeenshire 3pm
Angus 3pm
Blaenau Gwent 3pm
Bromley 3pm
Caerphilly 3pm
Camden 3pm
Denbighshire 3pm
East Ayrshire 3pm
Flintshire 3pm
Hyndburn 3pm
Knowsley 3pm
Manchester 3pm
Merthyr Tydfil 3pm
Newcastle-under-Lyme 3pm
North Ayrshire 3pm
Reading 3pm
South Ayrshire 3pm
South Cambridgeshire 3pm
Stirling 3pm
Torfaen 3pm
Trafford 3pm
Welwyn Hatfield 3pm
West Dunbartonshire 3pm
West Lothian 3pm
Ceredigion 3.30pm
East Dunbartonshire 3.30pm
Edinburgh 3.30pm
Falkirk 3.30pm
Isle of Anglesey 3.30pm
North Lanarkshire 3.30pm
Rochdale 3.30pm
West Lancashire 3.30pm
Highland 3.30pm
Adur 3.30pm
Birmingham 3.30pm
Blackburn with Darwen 4pm
Glasgow 4pm
Haringey 4pm
Hastings 4pm
Midlothian 4pm
Milton Keynes 4pm
Mole Valley 4pm
Norwich 4pm
Rhondda Cynon Taf 4pm
Rugby 4pm
Somerset 4pm
South Lanarkshire 4pm
St Albans 4.30pm
Leeds 4.30pm
Pendle 4.30pm
Tunbridge Wells 4.30pm
Basingstoke & Deane 5pm
Bridgend 5pm
Cardiff 5pm
Gosport 5pm
Gwynedd 5pm
Harrow 5pm
North Yorkshire 5pm
Powys 5pm
St Helens 5pm
Swansea 5pm
Swindon 5pm
Wakefield 5pm
Watford 5pm
Wokingham 5pm
Pembrokeshire 5.30pm
Renfrewshire 5.30pm
Bradford 6pm
Greenwich 6pm
Islington 6pm
Lambeth 6pm
Lewisham 6pm
Monmouthshire 6pm
Neath Port Talbot 6pm
Newport 6pm
Winchester 6pm
Kingston-upon-Thames 6pm
Kirklees 6.30pm
North Hertfordshire 6.30pm
Hackney 7pm
Newham 7pm
Cherwell 7.30pm
Vale of Glamorgan 8pm
Bury 8.30pm
Tower Hamlets Saturday May 7 5pm
Mayors(all times are for Friday 6 May)
Hackney 12pm
Newham 1pm
Lewisham 1pm
Watford 1pm
South Yorkshire 4pm
Tower Hamlets 5pm
Croydon 10.30pm