Details on election 2026 exit poll and when first results declared | UK | News
Thousands of voters go to the polls today in local elections, and the first results are expected very soon.
Vote counting will begin after the voting centers close their doors at 22:00. A total of 136 local authorities across England held elections today, with six areas electing a new local mayor. Votes were also cast in Scotland and Wales.
Vote counting will begin Thursday night, and local officials will announce the winners at different times throughout Friday and Saturday.
While a handful of local councils will begin counting as soon as the polls close and announce their winners early Friday morning, others will wait until Friday morning or even Saturday morning to begin.
Local elections can have important consequences for major political parties; This comes at a crucial time for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who has had a turbulent start to office following his victory in the 2024 general election.
With several contests marking a change in leadership, Brits will be keen to discover who emerges victorious.
Unlike general elections, there is no exit poll in local elections. This means the picture will remain unclear until the votes start being counted and the first results are announced.
Exit polls are collected through interviews with voters as they leave polling stations, providing predicted results as soon as voting ends.
However, in the United Kingdom, these are only used during general elections where MPs are elected to the House of Commons. They tend to be extremely reliable in indicating whether a majority government or a hung parliament will emerge.
During local elections, voters need to wait for the actual results to understand how the political landscape changes after the contests. Local elections generally have very low turnout, rarely exceeding 40 percent, making them much more difficult to predict.
The opening wave of results of the 2026 local elections is expected to be announced shortly after midnight, when the polls close. Broxbourne in Hertfordshire and Halton in the North West are expected to be among the first councils to announce their results.
This year’s final results are expected to be received from Tower Hamlets at around 6pm on Saturday 9 May.
