Local elections will take place on Thursday (May 5) this week - and votes will be cast in all four regions of the UK. More than a third of local authorities will be holding contests for new councillors, while some areas will also be electing regional mayors.
In England, there will be elections held in all 33 London boroughs, 34 metropolitan boroughs, 21 unitary authorities and 64 district councils. In Scotland and Wales, every local authority will be holding elections - that's 32 councils in Scotland and 22 in Wales.
Local councillors usually serve a four-year term. Some councils elect all of their councillors at the same time every four years, while other councils elect just a portion of their councillors each time and hold elections more regularly.
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Councillors are elected using the First Past the Post system in England and Wales, the same system used in general elections. In local elections, you can vote for as many candidates as there are vacancies, so where more than one councillor is being elected, you can cast more than one vote.
With so many elections taking place this May, you may be wondering whether you will have the opportunity to head to the polls where you live. To find out whether there is a local election coming up in your area, you can enter your postcode on the Electoral Commission website here.
Below, you can find a full list of all the local authorities holding elections this week. Here are all the elections in England, Scotland and Wales taking place on May 5
London Borough Councils holding elections on May 5:
Entire council to be elected
- City of London
- Barking and Dagenham
- Barnet
- Bexley
- Brent
- Bromley
- Camden
- Croydon (local mayoral election will also take place)
- Ealing
- Enfield
- Greenwich
- Hackney (local mayoral election will also take place)
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Haringey
- Harrow
- Havering
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Islington
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Kingston upon Thames
- Lambeth
- Lewisham (local mayoral election will also take place)
- Merton
- Newham (local mayoral election will also take place)
- Redbridge
- Richmond upon Thames
- Southwark
- Sutton
- Tower Hamlets (local mayoral election will also take place)
- Waltham Forest
- Wandsworth
- Westminster
Metropolitan boroughs in England holding elections on May 5:
A third of councillors to be elected, unless otherwise stated
- Barnsley
- Birmingham (entire council to be elected)
- Bolton
- Bradford
- Bury (entire council to be elected)
- Calderdale
- Coventry
- Dudley
- Gateshead
- Kirklees
- Knowsley
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Newcastle Upon Tyne
- North Tyneside
- Oldham
- Rochdale (entire council to be elected)
- Salford
- Sandwell
- Sefton
- Sheffield
- Solihull
- South Tyneside
- St Helens (entire council to be elected)
- Stockport
- Sunderland
- Tameside
- Trafford
- Wakefield
- Walsall
- Wigan
- Wirral
- Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities in England holding elections on May 5:
A third of councillors to be elected, unless otherwise stated
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Cumberland (entire council to be elected)
- Derby
- Halton
- Hartlepool
- Hull
- Milton Keynes
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Yorkshire (entire council to be elected)
- Peterborough
- Plymouth
- Portsmouth
- Reading ( entire council to be elected)
- Slough
- Somerset (entire council to be elected)
- Southampton
- Southend
- Swindon
- Thurrock
- Westmorland and Furness (entire council to be elected)
- Wokingham
District councils in England holding elections on May 5:
A third of councillors to be elected, unless otherwise stated
- Adur (half of councillors to be elected)
- Amber Valley
- Basildon
- Basingstoke and Deane
- Brentwood
- Broxbourne
- Burnley
- Cambridge
- Cannock Chase
- Carlisle
- Castle Point
- Cheltenham (half of councillors to be elected)
- Cherwell
- Chorley
- Colchester
- Craven
- Crawley
- Daventry
- Eastleigh
- Elmbridge
- Epping Forest
- Exeter
- Fareham (half of councillors to be elected)
- Gosport (entire council to be elected)
- Harlow
- Hart
- Hastings (half of councillors to be elected)
- Havant
- Huntingdonshire (entire council to be elected)
- Hyndburn
- Ipswich
- Lincoln
- Maidstone
- Mole Valley
- Newcastle-under-Lyme (entire council to be elected)
- North Hertfordshire
- Norwich
- Nuneaton and Bedworth (half of councillors to be elected)
- Oxford (half of councillors to be elected)
- Pendle
- Preston
- Redditch
- Reigate and Banstead
- Rochford
- Rossendale
- Rugby
- Runnymede
- Rushmoor
- South Cambridgeshire (entire council to be elected)
- South Lakeland
- St Albans (entire council to be elected)
- Stevenage
- Tamworth
- Tandridge
- Three Rivers
- Tunbridge Wells
- Watford (local mayoral election will also take place)
- Welwyn Hatfield
- West Lancashire
- West Oxfordshire
- Winchester
- Woking
- Worcester
- Worthing
Other votes taking place in England on May 5:
- South Yorkshire: South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority will elect a new regional mayor
- Bristol: Referendum to decide whether the city should keep or abolish its elected mayor
Local authorities in Scotland holding elections on May 5:
- Aberdeen City Council
- Aberdeenshire Council
- Angus Council
- Argyll and Bute Council
- City of Edinburgh Council
- Clackmannanshire Council
- Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
- Dumfries and Galloway Council
- Dundee City Council
- East Ayrshire Council
- East Dunbartonshire Council
- East Lothian Council
- East Renfrewshire Council
- Falkirk Council
- Fife Council
- Glasgow City Council
- Inverclyde Council
- Midlothian Council
- North Ayrshire Council
- North Lanarkshire Council
- Orkney Islands Council
- Perth and Kinross Council
- Renfrewshire Council
- Scottish Borders Council
- Shetland Islands Council
- South Ayrshire Council
- South Lanarkshire Council
- Stirling Council
- The Highland Council
- The Moray Council
- West Dunbartonshire Council
- West Lothian Council
Local authorities in Wales holding elections on May 5:
- Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent)
- Bridgend County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr)
- Caerphilly County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili)
- Cardiff Council (Cyngor Caerdydd)
- Carmarthenshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin)
- Ceredigion County Council (Cyngor Sir Ceredigion)
- Conwy County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy)
- Denbighshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Ddinbych)
- Flintshire County Council (Cyngor Sir y Fflint)
- Gwynedd Council (Cyngor Sir Gwynedd)
- Isle of Anglesey County Council (Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn)
- Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful)
- Monmouthshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Fynwy)
- Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot)
- Newport City Council (Cyngor Dinas Casnewydd)
- Pembrokeshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Penfro)
- Powys County Council (Cyngor Sir Powys)
- Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Rhondda Cynon Taf)
- City and County of Swansea (Cyngor Sir a Dinas Abertawe)
- The Vale of Glamorgan County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Bro Morgannwg)
- Torfaen County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen)
- Wrexham County Borough Council (Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam)
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