Afternoon summary
Voters in England, Scotland and Wales have been voting in elections likely to have a transformative effect on British politics. (See 3.21pm.) The polls close at 10pm, and there will be full cover of the results, and the reaction to them, overnight and tomorrow at the Guardian here.
Kemi Badenoch has pulled back from her suggestion that she would be happy to see Conservative and Reform UK councillors in coalition together in local government. (See 10.23am.)
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Polly Toynbee says Labour needs to embrace PR. Here is her column.
And here is an extract.
I have no crystal ball to show me what Labour will do in its paroxysms of misery when the results pour in. But if at some point, in some mode, [Keir] Starmer leaves Downing Street, sooner or later contestants for his post are all likely to promise the electoral reform the Labour party membership wants. Andy Burnham, a very long-time reformer, has set the pace and other contenders will have to follow. (If they dare continue blocking Burnham, his voice as king of the north would still overshadow the winner, forcing this and other policies to the fore.)
Of course, Labour doesn’t need to wait for a new leader. Starmer himself could set up a national constitutional commission to report well ahead of the next election, for Labour to put electoral reform into its next manifesto, with no need for a referendum (after Brexit, please, never again). Get out on the front foot, since the next election may result in a situation whereby to keep out Farage and the Tories, Labour needs to be part of a grouping of progressive parties, with all the others committed to PR as the absolute sine qua non of cooperation; they know the lesson of Nick Clegg’s failure to change the course of history.
Whatever the results today, it’s a solid-gold bet that first past the post will do even worse damage to trust in democracy.
Earlier I made the point that local government will be getting more pluralist after these elections. (See 5.21pm.) In a statement to the Press Association, Prof Justin Fisher, director of the policy unit at Brunel University of London, makes the point that this has already been happening. He says:
Multi-party politics is not new at local government level. Since 2022, the largest groups of GB councils has been under ‘no overall control’, and this has been rising. After the 2025 local elections, 43.5% of local authorities were under ‘no overall control’. This figure is likely to rise again after Thursday.
The Conservative/Labour domination of GB councils has been declining for some time. While 57% of councils were runs by either the Conservatives or Labour in 2019, by 2025, the figure was 38%. Similarly, the proportion of GB Conservative and Labour councillors was 70% in 2019. By 2025, it was 57%.
It is possible that the Liberal Democrats may become the second party of local government in terms of councillors – something that hasn’t happened since the mid-1990s.
Local government has always been more multi-party than Westminster.
There is intense interest in Labour as to what the party will do to respond to the election results, which are widely expected to be dire for the party. As Jessica Elgot reports for the Guardian, some MPs would like mayors to intervene.
MPs hoping to see a change of leadership believe that regional mayors and council leaders – among them Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham and even the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan – may join calls for a change of prime minister. Allies of the mayors said an immediate call for resignation was unlikely.
But Starmer’s position may be safeguarded by leftwing MPs who want to see Burnham return to the Commons before a challenge. Other potential leadership contenders – Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner – are said to be unwilling to be the first to challenge Starmer.
In a story for the i, Arj Singh and Caroline Wheeler say Keir Starmer is expected to respond with a big speech about moving closer to the EU. They quote a cabinet minister saying “big, expansive, ambitious conversations” are taking place in government about Brexit policy.
In a story for the Times, Aubrey Allegretti says Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has a team ready to run his leadership campaign if there is a contest. But he also quotes a spokesperson for Streeting saying: “Wes is not going to challenge the prime minister.”
The Telegraph has a story saying union leaders will confer on Friday to discuss what Labour should do. The story says:
One general secretary of a Labour-affiliated union told The Telegraph that the prime minister “needs to go”, while another said “the government is not good enough”.
A video call has been scheduled for 5pm on Friday, when union leaders will privately discuss the local election results and what should be done next.
And, in a story for the Sun, Martina Bet says, if Andy Burnham tries to return to the Commons, Starmer may try to keep him out by refusing to move the writ for a byelection in the seat where a Labour MP stands down to create a vacancy for Burnham.
Election monitors note instances of voters in England turned away over ID
Instances of voters being turned away from polling stations due to confusion over photo ID requirements have been recorded by European election observers watching voting in England, Ben Quinn reports.
According to a story by Lucy Fisher in the Financial Times, the former Tory justice secretary, David Gauke, is set to get a knighthood. He chaired a review of sentencing policy for the government. Despite serving as a cabient minister, he had the Tory whip withdrawn because he did not support Boris Johnson’s Brexit policy and he lost his seat in 2019. He has been estranged from the Tory leadership ever since.
According to James Heale from the Spectator, Kemi Badenoch is not happy about Gauke getting a knighthood.
Tory source responds to David Gauke being nominated for a knighthood by Labour “Kemi absolutely livid Labour nominated Gauke. She wouldn’t have him anywhere near any list. Starmer even snuck it through a random honours committee to stop Kemi vetoing it. He stood against the Conservatives, now he’s doing Labour’s bidding on sentencing and bagged himself a knighthood. Total Starmer stitch up.”
The FT commentator Robert Shrimsley says this response is a mistake.
Never understand this approach. Yes, Labour used a Tory as cover on sentencing but when parties give honours to the other side, they are also saying this guy was so good even we used him. By fuming publicly Kemi is saying - Don’t worry I’m nothing like those old competent Tories
This is from the FT’s Stephen Bush on Bluesky on the news that someone has been arrested in connection with the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone.
I know we all know that the police could, in fact, track down mobile phones if they thought it was worth their time, but it is nonetheless galling to have it confirmed.
And here is Ben Quinn’s story about the arrest.
This story is probably bad news for those Tories who have been floating the idea that McSweeney made it all up.
A reader asks:
Will there be Politics Live running overnight with comments open so we can laugh/cry/cheer/commiserate (delete as applicable) as the results come in?
We will be running an overnight blog. But I don’t think it will start at 10pm; I think it will be launched closer to 1am, when the first results start coming in.
And comments won’t be open overnight.
I’ll be picking up the blog from about 6am. And comments will be open on Friday, starting soon after 8am, we hope.
This is Robert Pownall from the wildlife advocacy group Protect the Wild, who is standing as a candidate in the Holyrood election dressed as a gannet. He explains why here.
7 reasons why 2026 election results set to have transformative impact on British politics
Earlier I said that today’s elections are likely to be seismic. (See 8.14am.) We don’t have any results yet, but unless all the opinion polls, and all the council byelections that have taken place over the past 12 months, and all the parliamentary byelections that have taken place since the general election, turn out to be completely unreliable guides to how people vote today, then we already have a rough idea of what the outcome will look like. It will be enough to transform the political landscape of Britain – in at least seven ways.
1) The full arrival of five-party politics in England
Two-party politics has been in decline in British politics for more than half a century. Its high point was in 1951, when 97% of people who voted in the UK general election opted for either the Conservative party or Labour. In recognition of the Lib Dems, people used to talk about England having a two-and-a-half party system. Scotland and Wales have had strong nationalist parties for years, and Reform UK easily won the English local elections last year. Under Zack Polanski, the Greens have now been soaring in the polls and this is the first English election where talking about “main” parties and “minor” parties no longer makes sense. (How can it, when the “minor” parties with least parliamentary representation, Reform UK and the Greens, have been the two best-performing parties in some polls?) Those terms describe the parliamentary situation but not politics outside, where five parties are competitive across England and it is probably more useful to think in terms of legacy parties and disruptor parties.
2) Reform UK’s emergence as a GB-wide party
When Nigel Farage was leading Ukip, it looked like an English nationalist party. Scotland seemed to have a healthy resistance to Faragism and on one occasion, in 2013, he had to be locked in a pub in Edinburgh for his own protection. The Brexit party also never really succeeded in Scotland (although it did make inroads into Wales), but under its new name, Reform UK, it is competing with Plaid Cymru for first place in Wales, and with Labour for second place in Scotland. It should easily win the English locals, and so it is the only party with a realistic chance of coming first or second in England, in Scotland and in Wales. That is why Farage is boasting about his being the “only true national party”.
3) Wales going nationalist
Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, is widely expected to be the largest party in the Senedd after the elections and, unless Labour and Reform UK form some extraordinary version of their own Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Plaid will be the only party with a realistic chance of forming a government. Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid leader, would be the first non-Labour first minister of Wales since devolution. Assuming the SNP remain in power in Scotland (almost certain), and with Sinn Féin the largest party at Stormont, this would mean nationalists leading the three non-English nations in the UK.
This does not mean Welsh independence is on the cards. Although formally committed to independence, Plaid has never given any serious thought to how independence might be achieved and a government that tried to implement it would find it even more complicated and less popular than the project has been in Scotland, where independence was rejected in a referendum in 2014. But, after that vote, the Scottish parliament got new powers, and the Scottish government started to use them to diverge from UK government tax policy. The Welsh government has fewer devolved powers than its Edinburgh counterpart, but with Plaid in power in Cardiff over time that may change.
4) Labour support collapsing – especially in London
If Plaid win in Wales, it will be the first time Labour has lost a big election there for more than 100 years. It is also expected to lose big in London, where it is the dominant party in local government and where at the last election it won 59 of the 75 parliamentary seats. In fact, it is on course to do badly everywhere, recording its worst result since at least the 1970s. Here is the forecast from Britain Elects, who produce election forecasts for the New Statesman and who have a good record.
Tomorrow you may hear talk from Labour figures of the 1968 London elections. Taking place after devaluation the previous year, they were an utter disaster for Labour, which lost 17 of the 20 boroughs it controlled in the capital. They almost all went Tory. The upside for Labour people looking for a positive message out of this today is that the party recovered and, two years later, Harold Wilson called a general election that he thought he might win. But he lost. And Wilson did not have to contend with Reform UK, or the Greens, or five-party politics, or prolonged austerity, or social media, or any of the other factors that make Starmer’s situation different.
5) Local government getting more pluralist
Local government in Britain used to be dominated by the two biggest legacy parties, the Conservatives and Labour. That picture should take a considerable jolt this weekend. The Liberal Democrats think they will be at least the second largest party in local government by the time of the next election, in terms of councillor numbers, and perhaps even the biggest. And Reform UK and the Greens will have a signficantly bigger presence. This chart, from an excellent preview of the elections by Dylan Difford on Substack, shows how councillor numbers have changed over recent years.
And Open Council Data has full figures.
6) Failure of first past the post
It is increasingly clear that the election system used in UK parliamentary elections, and for local elections in England and Wales, does not work in five-party politics. It functions well for two-party politics, but in multi-party politics it can easily lead to a party winning a far larger proportion of the seats than it merits based on the proportion of the votes it won. This famously happened at the last general election when Labour won 34% of the vote but 63% of the seats. Less well known is how this is increasingly happening at local authority level too. Rob Ford has also written a terrific Substack guide to the elections, and he includes this chart showing how in some cases last year Reform was winning three-quarters of the seats on a council with less than half the votes. Ford says:
The crucial question for the Greens this year, as for Reform last year, is whether they can push their support in target areas above the ‘tipping point’ where first past the post goes from sandbag to springboard. For Reform last year, as the graph below illustrates, that tipping point came around 30% – in councils where Reform won above 30% they were generally over-represented in seats, often taking huge majorities.
The Guardian has an editorial today saying this system must change.
7) Labour’s fightback challenge
We don’t know yet how Labour will react to the results. Keir Starmer may face a leadership challenge. Even if he doesn’t, the party is going to have to come up with a response that goes beyond ‘Keep calm and carry on’. Elections function as transmission mechanisms; they deliver blunt messages to government and – unless the polls are 100% wrong – the message tonight will be that something needs to change.
So it will.
Updated
By popular demand – some dogs at polling stations.
Kemi Badenoch has voted at Saffron Walden in Essex. As explained earlier (see 11.18am), Conservative prospects in Essex look bleak. Badenoch is MP for North West Essex.
Starmer’s failure to demonstrate strong values ‘driving away progressive voters’
Progressive voters have been driven away from Labour by a lack of argument and vision from Keir Starmer, according to a report using research from a senior pollster to Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, Jessica Elgot reports.
It has become increasingly common now for some politicians to talk about the “Muslim vote” in negative, or even alarmist terms. Once seen as a reliable base for the Labour party, the Muslim community’s growing support for independent candidates and the Greens is now being framed by some as a threat to democracy.
As the country heads towards the local elections, Taj Ali investigates whether a singular “Muslim vote” exists, and examines how these divisive narratives around sectarian politics are shaping public debate and impacting communities across Britain.
Man arrested on suspicion of selling Morgan McSweeney’s stolen phone
A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of selling former Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s stolen phone, the Press Association reports. PA say:
Scotland Yard took the man into police custody last Wednesday and he was later bailed.
He is not suspected of involvement in the original theft on 20 October last year, the force said.
Concerns have been raised that the theft could result in important messages about Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador being lost.
A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “Officers investigating the theft of a mobile phone in Belgrave Road, Pimlico, on 20 October 2025 have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of handling stolen goods.
“The arrest took place on Wednesday 29 April at an address in Peckham. The man was taken into police custody and later bailed.
“He is suspected of receiving the phone after it was stolen and then selling it on. He is not suspected of any involvement in the original theft.
“The phone has not been recovered.”
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has voted. He is MP for Kingston and Surbiton, and Kingston is a rock-solid Lib Dem council. This is what Dave Hill and Lewis Baston say about it in their London Decides guide to voting in the capital.
It seems amazing that in 2014 the Tories took control of the council from the Liberal Democrats, winning an eight-seat majority. Eight years on, they were reduced to a three-seat opposition as the Lib Dems piled up 41 and a lone Independent made up the numbers.
By November 2023, things had got even worse for the Conservatives: an earlier byelection win for another Independent had been at the Lib Dems’ expense, but when one of the Tories’ own councillors switched to the Independent cause, they found themselves outnumbered by three to two. The Kingston Independent Residents Group (KIRG) replaced them as Kingston’s principal opposition and has remained so.
One other councillor, elected as a Lib Dem, left the party in August 2024 and has been sitting as an Independent separately. It means the current party lineup is: Lib Dem 39; KIRG three; Conservatives two; Independents one. Can the big yellow balloon be deflated?
In his new biography of the former Labour PM Gordon Brown, James Macintyre writes about Brown’s attitude to money, and politicians who accept gifts. Macintyre says Brown thought it was “completely unacceptable” for Keir Starmer to accept gifts of clothes and spectacles. Brown “accepted no gifts while in office, declined his prime ministerial pension, paid his own way with suits, spectacles and decorating through his time in Downing Street and left office in considerable debt as a result,” Macintyre writes.
Nigel Farage, on the other hand, takes a rather different approach to personal enrichment. As Helena Horton and Anna Isaac report today, his income since he was elected as an MP has now reached £2m on top of his parliamentary salary, analysis of the register of MPs has shown.
Brown is remembered as an unpopular PM whose time in office did not last long. But his contribution to rescuing the world from the 2008 financial crisis was unrivalled, and he is the only living ex-PM who achieved as much, or more, before and after reaching No 10 as while they did while they were there. Macintyre’s authoritative and very readable book does justice to his achievements.
Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party of England and Wales, has been in Penarth supporting Anthony Slaughter, his Welsh leader. Slaughter is the lead Green candidate for Caerdydd Penarth (Cardiff Penarth), and the latest YouGov MRP poll suggests the Greens are on course to win one of the six seats available here.
Helen MacNamara used to be deputy cabinet secretary. Now, as is fairly standard for anyone leaving a frontline Westminster job, she hosts a podcast, which means she able to speak out in a way she couldn’t when she was bound by civil service omertà. She says Keir Starmer should have used his email to civil servants (see 10.05am) to announce that Olly Robbins (OR) was getting his job back.
Had hoped there was a para here explaining OR had been reinstated and underlying principles of truth to power should be based on truth. Rather hollow without. The niceties of he should have said more afterwards entirely lost on basis of how No 10 and CO chose to play this. Remains unconscionable.
Eluned Morgan, the first minister and Welsh Labour leader, has cast her vote at St Davids City Hall in St Davids, Pembrokeshire. She is the first Labour candidate on the list for Ceredigion Penfro (Ceredigion Pembrokeshire). But she is at risk of not even being elected. In Wales there are now 16 constituencies each electing six MSs, but the latest YouGov MRP poll suggests that Plaid Cymru is on course to win four of the seats in Ceredigion Penfro, and Reform the other two.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has voted in his Clacton constituency. Clacton is in Essex and, in his preview of the English elections in this post on his Comment is Freed Substack blog, the commentator Sam Freedman confidently predicts a Reform win here. He says:
There are six county councils up for election, all delayed from 2021. The Tories currently control five but will lose all of them. The Lib Dems will end the Tories’ 30 year majorities on Hampshire and West Sussex county councils, which will go into no overall control. East Sussex is already in no overall control and will stay so, with both Lib Dems and Reform gaining seats.
In the other three, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, no party other than the Conservatives has ever had a majority but they will all go the same way as Kent did last year, with Reform essentially replacing the Tories.
Updated
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has voted in Pollokshields in Glasgow. He is a candidate for the Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok and is in first place on the Labour list for Glasgow.
Last night Sarwar posted this on social media.
After 20 years of SNP failure, Scotland needs change.
Vote @ScottishLabour!
He was commenting on a tweet from the Scottish Sun showing its splash today.
Council of Europe sends team to monitor English, Scottish and Welsh elections
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
The Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections today are being monitored for the first time by delegates from the Council of Europe, the charter-based alliance of 46 European nations set up in 1949 to promote human rights, civic society and democracy.
The 17-strong delegation, which is also observing England’s council elections, has been split into teams in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff this week and are today visiting polling stations across Britain to watch the UK’s voting procedures.
Delegates from the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities have come from nations including Moldova, Switzerland, Poland, Albania, Ireland and Germany.
The congress has been scrutinising local council elections since 1990, carrying out close to 115 missions to date – including across the UK. Congress officials said the decision to expand their scope to include devolved elections to Holyrood and Cardiff Bay was taken in 2023.
After the visit, a rapporteur will report on the election’s procedures “but also with the general political situation in the country, including the state of fundamental rights and freedoms, the atmosphere which prevailed during the election campaign and any progress noted on the democracy front.”
Badenoch says Tory/Reform council pacts won't happen because Farage's party not 'serious' - after hinting they might
Yesterday Kemi Badenoch gave an interview to Sky News suggesting she would be happy to see Conservative councillors working with Reform UK councillors to deliver rightwing policies.
In an interview with the Sun published today, Badenoch rowed back on this. She said there would not be any deals because Reform councillors weren’t “serious”. She told the paper:
We’re not doing deals with Reform. I don’t want to see us helping Reform.
A lot of people in Reform are people we kicked out.
Conservative councillors don’t want to work with Reform because they’re not serious.
We have just opened comments below the line. Do tell us what you think about the elections, but please don’t tell us how you have voted. If you do, your comment will be removed.
That is because, under the Representation of the People Act 1983, it is an offence to publish information about how people have voted before the polls have closed.
The law was designed to stop people publishing exit poll information on the day in a manner that might sway a result. Obviously, online comments did not even exist in 1983, but there is no exemption for BTL commentary and so we can’t allow comments about how you voted to be published.
Starmer writes to civil servants saying he values their work, and wants them to be 'speaking truth to power'
As the results of the elections come in tomorrow, Keir Starmer may feel that he needs all the allies he can get. With that in mind perhaps, he released an email to all civil servants yesterday stressing how much he valued their work.
Referring to the sacking of Olly Robbins, he said the events of the last few weeks that they might find “unsettling” should not define the civil service.
He also said he wanted civil servants to speak truth to power.
To those who feel exposed by recent scrutiny, let me say this: I value the ‘speaking truth to power’ that is the hallmark of our system. I want a culture where information flows freely, where risks are flagged early, and where we work together to solve problems before they become crises.
Ben Bloch from Sky News has the full text of the email here.
Here are some more pictures marking the glorious ritual of going to the polling station for an election in Britain.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, has voted in Llangristiolus, in Anglesey, where he is a candidate for the Bangor Conwy Môn constituency.
Rhun ap Iorwerth urges people to vote Plaid Cymru for 'new leadership' in Wales with 'compassion and credibility'
And here is the eve-of-poll statement that Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, issued yesterday.
Service is a value which has always sustained Wales. It’s a value instilled in me from a young age by my parents, both teachers. It’s a value I’ve sought to pass on to my children - the gift of giving back to the people and places who gave us so much.
Tomorrow is a chance for the people of Wales to choose who serves our nation for the next four years. It’s Plaid Cymru’s deep sense of service to Wales - focusing just on our needs and our future - that first drew me to politics.
We’re a party with no master in Westminster, no instructions to follow or interference - we take our cue from the people of Wales. And as your first minister, service is a value that would guide me every day.
Plaid Cymru offers new leadership defined not by scripts signed-off by others, but by loyalty to the people and communities who have shaped me. New leadership which places compassion and credibility at its heart, and which replaces the old way of doing things with new humility and real ambition for Wales.
So tomorrow, Wales can seize that chance, we can vote for a party ready and willing to serve you, the people of Wales, and for a first minister who will always put national interest before self-interest. Vote for Plaid Cymru.
Updated
John Swinney urges Scots to vote SNP for 'better future', to keep Farage out and for 'fresh start with independence'
Here is the message to Scots from John Swinney, the first minister and SNP leader.
Today is Scotland’s opportunity to choose a better future by voting SNP for real action on the cost of living, to lock Nigel Farage out of power, and to secure a fresh start with independence.
I urge people in every part of Scotland to unite behind the SNP to make it happen.
The SNP is the only party that has set out a positive vision for Scotland’s future - and we are the only party with a serious plan to support people with the cost of living.
We have set out our plans to bring down food costs, give families more support with the cost of childcare, lower the cost of your daily commute and provide more support for first time buyers.
The SNP wants to lower your bills – but all the other parties want to do is stop us.
They have no plan of their own and nothing to offer. They want you to vote for an opposition to stop things happening. I am asking people to vote for an SNP Government to get things done.
By casting both votes for the SNP, Scotland can elect a strong majority SNP government that will always stand up for Scotland, prioritise the cost of living, and deliver that fresh start of independence that Scotland needs.
That opportunity of a better future is now within touching distance. Let’s make it happen today by voting SNP.
Updated
Polanski urges people to vote Green 'to make life affordable for everyone'
This is from Zack Polanski, the Green party leader.
Updated
Davey urges people to vote Lib Dem to protect country from Reform UK and 'Farage's Trump-style politics'
Here is the message to voters from Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader.
The polls are open, and the choice is clear. We have less than 24 hours to stop Reform and defend the country we love from Nigel Farage’s Trump-style politics.
We’ve now seen what Reform looks like in power - banning journalists, scrapping renewables, closing care homes and raising council tax despite their promises. Our communities can’t afford that chaos.
Across the country, from Hampshire to Hull, the battle is now between the Liberal Democrats and Reform. We are the ones taking the fight to them and standing up for decency, tolerance, and the rule of law.
Liberal Democrats don’t do division, we do the hard work that actually gets things done. Whether it’s fixing the church roof, ending the GP surgery crisis, or finally cleaning up the sewage in our rivers, a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a local champion who works hard for their community. Don’t wake up tomorrow to a result you’ll regret.
Updated
Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria voted early today. Here they are arriving at the Westminster chapel polling station in Westminster.
For years Westminster was a Conservative-run council, but it went Labour in 2022. This year, it’s a Tory target.
This is what Dave Hill and Lewis Baston say about Westminster in their excellent and exceptionally thorough London Decides guide to the elections in the capital.
In June 2025, a member of its crew leaped aboard the rival craft Reform: she has since been anointed her new party’s candidate for Mayor of London in far-off 2028. Another followed in November. There have been two other by-elections, one of them producing a Tory hold, the other a Labour hold. The net outcome is that Labour currently has 28 seats, the Tories 24 and Reform two. Several Westminster wards turn on tight margins and with Reform and the Greens trying to get in on the two-party act, every vote is going to count.
Updated
Badenoch urges people to vote Tory for 'better services and lower taxes', not 'chaos' under Labour and Reform UK
Here is the election message from Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party.
Today, as they head to polling stations, millions of people across the country face a stark choice: between electing a Conservative council that delivers better services and lower taxes, and the chaos that Labour, Reform and the rest have to offer.
Under my leadership the Conservative party has changed. We know where we went wrong and we’re fixing it.
The next Conservative government will deliver cheaper energy bills, take back our streets with 10,000 more police officers, cut business rates for the high street, end the war on motorists, and abolish stamp duty on the family home.
We are the only party with the plan, the team and the backbone to deliver a stronger economy and stronger country.
These elections are on a knife edge. Every vote counts and yours could make the difference.
Vote Conservative today and back us to get Britain working again.
UPDATE: The reference to “chaos” is a bit reminiscent of this famous tweet from David Cameron during the 2015 general election campaign. After Britain voted for Brexit just over a year later, this became seen as one of the worst Twitter prophecies of all time.
Updated
Farage urges people to vote for Reform UK to get rid of 'gutless' Starmer
Here is Nigel Farage’s overnight eve-of-poll statement. The Reform UK leader said:
The Tories tried to remove the gutless Keir Starmer and failed.
The only way to finally remove the most unpopular and unpatriotic prime minister in our lifetime is to back Reform.
Together, we can continue the journey of getting our great country back on track.
Reform made history and won the local elections last year. If you really want change, go out and vote for it again today.
Updated
Starmer says Farage and Polanski not fit to lead in era of 'global instability' as voting starts in England, Scotland and Wales
Good morning. Voting has started in what looks set to be a seismic set of elections. In England people will be electing around 5,000 councillors, and six mayors; in Scotland, they are choosing 129 MSPs to serve in a new parliament; and in Wales they are selecting 96 members of the Senedd (MSs), under a new electoral system which also means the Senedd is getting much bigger. In the past, there were just 60 MSs.
Some English councils will count overnight, but most of them will start counting tomorrow morning, which is also when counting in Scotland and Wales begins.
Here is a Guardian guide to what’s at stake.
Here is an article by our data team explaining why the polling suggests the results will be particularly difficult for Labour.
And here is Patrick Greenfield’s First Edition briefing on five trends to look out for.
As the day goes on, I will post more on why the results we get tomorrow have the potential to upend British politics.
There probably won’t be much hard news today. But you never know, and there will be space for dogs at polling stations.
For the record, here is the statement that Keir Starmer released about the elections overnight.
Today when you put your vote in the ballot box you face a clear choice. Progress and a better future for the community you call home, with a Labour council working with a Labour government. Versus the anger and division offered up by Reform or empty promises from the Greens.
In tough times, you need politicians who will always stand up for you and your family. Time and again Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski have shown they are not fit to meet this moment of great global instability. Today I pledge firmly to you: whatever the pressure, Labour will always back you and your family and we will never waver from doing what is in Britain’s national interest.
Back action to ease the cost of living. Back our NHS. Back a better future for your local community.
Today, choose unity over division. Vote Labour.
I will post statements from the other main party leaders shortly.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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