Polling stations have opened throughout England, Scotland, and Wales for a series of local, mayoral, and parliamentary elections, marking the most significant electoral challenge faced by Keir Starmer and the Labour government since the 2024 general election.
As millions of citizens head to the polls on Thursday, party leaders are bracing for results that could reshape the political scene in Scotland, Wales, and various local councils in England.
These elections, deemed a crucial political assessment in an increasingly multiparty environment, follow a period of stagnant polling figures for both Labour and the Conservatives, alongside the rising support for smaller parties like Reform UK, the Greens, and the Liberal Democrats.
This electoral event includes elections for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, as well as contests for 136 local councils in England, where a total of 5,014 seats are up for grabs. This encompasses every seat across all 32 borough councils in London, over a dozen additional borough councils, six unitary councils, six county councils, and three district councils. Furthermore, 73 councils will be electing either half or a third of their available seats.
In addition, there are six mayoral elections taking place in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Watford.
Polling hours for the local elections are from 7 AM to 10 PM, with initial results anticipated around 12:30 AM on Friday, followed by a wave of additional results starting at approximately 3 AM.
By around 7 AM, approximately one-third of councils are expected to report their results, with key announcements—including mayoral outcomes in London boroughs and council results in Manchester and Leeds—beginning around lunchtime.
By the close of Friday, roughly 80 more councils should have reported their results, though the final announcements from councils such as Croydon, Tower Hamlets, and Hastings are not expected until Saturday afternoon.
Results from Scotland and Wales are anticipated by around 4 PM on Friday, with further local election results being revealed in the late afternoon and evening.
The counting process for mayoral elections will commence on Friday, with Hackney and Newham likely to disclose results by 1 PM, Watford at 2 PM, Lewisham at 3 PM, Croydon at 4 PM, and Tower Hamlets at 6 PM.
In the previous local elections held in May 2025, Labour secured 34% of council seats in England, a decrease of 2% from the previous year. The Conservatives dropped to 26%, down 4%, while the Liberal Democrats increased their share to 19%, up 1%. The representation of other parties rose from 11% to 12%. The Greens maintained 5% of the seats, consistent with their share in 2024, while Reform UK made significant gains, achieving 5% of seats with the election of 677 councillors.
In Scotland, voters will choose 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to serve at Holyrood, where they will discuss and legislate on devolved matters such as education, health, and transportation. Issues with broader implications, including defense, foreign policy, and immigration, will be addressed at Westminster.
During the last Scottish parliamentary election in 2021, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won 64 seats, falling just short of a majority, with the Scottish Conservatives securing 31 seats. Scottish Labour placed third with 22 seats, followed by the Scottish Greens with eight and the Scottish Liberal Democrats with four.
Polling in Scotland will take place from 7 AM to 10 PM. In a departure from previous years, the counting of votes will occur on Friday morning, with initial declarations expected around lunchtime and most results available by the evening.
Welsh voters will elect 96 representatives across 16 constituencies, with six members in each. Due to electoral reforms, a new proportional voting system will be implemented, asking voters to support a party rather than an individual candidate, with the allocation of six Senedd members largely determined by the proportion of votes received in each constituency.
