Local elections: What time will results be announced in England, Wales and Scotland?

Voters will head to the polls on May 7 for the biggest ballot box test for political parties since Labor won the general election in July 2024.

Nearly 25,000 candidates are running for election to more than 5,000 seats on 136 councils across England; Reform UK has around 4,800 seats; Less than 100 more than Labor and around 50 more than the Conservatives.

The Greens have around 4,500 candidates; The Liberal Democrats number just under 4,000 and there are more than 2,000 candidates from smaller parties or independent or local groups.

Labor is defending around 2,500 of the contested seats, meaning potential problems for prime minister Sir Keir Starmer if the party loses a large number of councillors.

The Conservatives are defending 1,236 seats, the Liberal Democrats 706, the Greens 194 and Reform UK just 83; this is mostly as a result of by-election victories or defections since the councils went to the polls.

Elections are being held in some of the country’s largest cities and throughout London, as well as in rural areas and various county councils.

This is the biggest local election in the UK in three years and an important test for all political parties.

While more than half of the seats up for grabs this year are defended by Labour, reflecting the party’s current strength in London and the Metropolitan boroughs, just over a quarter are made up of Conservative defences.

This is a different scenario to last year’s local elections, when the Conservative Party defended the largest number of council seats, as most of the contests were for county councils where the party dominated.

There are also mayoral contests in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets in London and Watford in Hertfordshire.

Voting centers will be open between 07.00 and 22.00 on May 7, and the first results are expected to be announced within a few hours, and the final results are expected to be announced on Saturday evening, May 9.

All mayoral elections are counted on Friday 8 May, with Hackney and Newham expected to hold elections at 1pm, Watford at 2pm, Lewisham at 3pm, Croydon at 4pm and Tower Hamlets possibly at around 6pm.

Elections are being held in the Welsh and Scottish parliaments on the same day.

Will there be an exit poll in local elections?

No authoritative pollster has announced an exit poll for this election series, but most have released national polling intention-based polls ahead of the event. Independent There is a tour here.

Welsh Parliament results forecast deadlines

Scottish Parliament results forecast deadlines