Voters in Tyne and Wear go to the polls on Thursday in what promises to be a fascinating set of local elections.
Dozens of council seats across five different areas are up for grabs and at least one local authority will have a change of leader.
Below is a guide to what is happening in the North East on polling day, Thursday May 5:
Read more about local elections in the North East and all the latest stories from the campaign trail
Which elections are being held here?
Local councillors will be elected in all five areas of Tyne and Wear – Newcastle, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, and Sunderland. All of those Labour-run councils hold their elections on a rolling basis, with only a third of their seats up being contested each time – one in each ward, plus any other vacancies that have arisen if councillors have resigned before the end of their term.
There are 27 seats up for grabs in Newcastle, 22 in Gateshead, 20 in North Tyneside, 19 in South Tyneside, and 24 in Sunderland. One of the original 25 scheduled Sunderland polls, in the Copt Hill ward, has been postponed after one of the candidates died.
There are no elections happening in either County Durham or Northumberland, which both hold elections every four years for the entire council and did so in 2021.
When are the counts being held and when will we know the results?
Newcastle, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, and Sunderland will be counting ballots overnight from Thursday into Friday, after the polls close at 10pm. It is hoped that all results will be declared by roughly 2am.
Election fanatics who only have their eyes on Gateshead, however, have the luxury of enjoying a full night’s sleep – with the count at Gateshead Leisure Centre not starting until 9.30am on the Friday morning. All results are expected to be announced there by around 12.30pm that lunchtime.
Read more: Local elections LIVE 2022
Who is standing in my ward?
You can find full details of all the candidates standing in every seat, plus more information about each council, by clicking these links: Newcastle; Gateshead; North Tyneside; South Tyneside; Sunderland.
Where is my polling station?
The local of your polling station will be printed on your polling card, which you should have received through the post. You can also find out by clicking here.
When do polls open?
Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday, May 5. You can only cast your vote at the polling station you are registered at, the details of which will be printed on your poll card.
The deadlines for registering to vote, applying for a postal vote, and applying for a proxy vote have now passed.
What are the stories to watch out for?
Most eyes will be on Sunderland, where there is a real prospect of Labour losing control of the council for the first time since it was formed in the 1970s. Labour’s hold on the council has loosened over recent years in what was once a red stronghold and local Conservatives have been talking up the prospect of taking the authority into no overall control.
Sunderland’s council leader Graeme Miller is battling to hang onto his seat in Washington South, a ward where the Tories won last year, and a total loss of six for Labour would eliminate their majority.
While there is no realistic prospect of Labour losing power in any of the other four Tyne and Wear councils, there will be no shortage of interesting stories to watch out for.
In Newcastle, a change of council leader is guaranteed. That is because Nick Forbes’ term of office is coming to an end, having lost a selection race in his Arthur’s Hill ward earlier this year amid bitter divides within the city’s Labour establishment.
Byker councillor Nick Kemp was chosen last month as his successor and is already faced with challenges to a number of Labour seats across the city from Liberal Democrats, Greens, the Newcastle Independents, and a Conservative Party that has gone 30 years without an election win in Newcastle. It will also be intriguing to see whether former deputy council leader Joyce McCarty, suspended by Labour after alleging a “Muslim plot” against her friend Coun Forbes, will be re-elected in the usually safe Wingrove ward.
Battles between Labour and the Tories on the North Tyneside coastline tend to be tight affairs, made even more intriguing this year amid accusations that local Conservatives abused the furlough scheme and with former Tories now standing against the party as independents.
Opposition parties will also hope to chip away at the commanding Labour majorities in Gateshead and South Tyneside.
