Millions of voters are heading to the polls to decide who they want to run their councils as local elections take place across the UK today. More than 4,000 councillors across 146 councils in England are standing for election, and the results will be trickling in from the early hours of Friday morning.
While the main parties will be fairly confident about which authorities they can keep hold of - councils in some areas will be hotly contested, and all eyes will be on those key battlegrounds as the votes are counted.
Local elections decide who will be responsible for local public services such as bin collections, education and housing and planning. But they can also be a good indication of how much support the main local parties have nationwide.
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This year will be a big test for prime minister Boris Johnson, who has been dismissing calls for him to resign since reports around the partygate scandal first emerged at the end of last year. Labour has been leading the opinion polls since then and has a seven-point lead heading into the local elections.
As well as partygate, the Tories have been hit with a string of other controversies, including one MP being found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage boy and another quitting after admitting he watched pornography in the Commons. Other issues influencing voters could include the cost of living crisis and how the government has responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Once polling stations close at 10pm, the first results are likely to be announced just a couple of hours later, while others are not set to declare their winners until much later on Friday. In the meantime, we've had a look at eight areas across England which are worth looking out for as we await the outcome.
1. Bury
Every seat in Bury Council is up for grabs at this year's local elections. The Greater Manchester council has been run by the Labour party since 2011 but it currently only has a small majority, holding 28 of the 51 seats. Conservatives have 15 with four Liberal Democrats, three Radcliffe First and a single Independent member. A total of 147 candidates are standing for three councillor positions in each of the 17 wards which make up the town.
In the 2019 general election, both parliamentary seats were won by the Conservative Party by a slim majority. James Daly won by just 105 votes in Bury North, making it the most marginal seat in the country, while Christian Wakeford took Bury South with a majority of 402.
However, Mr Wakeford defected to Labour in January this year citing a lack of faith in Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party in the wake of the 'partygate' scandal. Today's vote will be a test for the Tories who will be hoping to make gains in the town after the MP's criticism.
The council is also expected to be one of the last to declare its results after the count starts on Friday. Results are expected at around 8.30pm.
2. Cumbria
There are big changes in Cumbria this year following the creation of two new unitary authorities. The new councils of Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness are both electing councillors for the first time.
The two authorities cover the whole of Cumbria. Cumberland is comprised of the former district councils of Allerdale, Carlisle and Copeland, while Westmorland & Furness covers Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland. Cumberland Council will have 46 councillors, while Westmorland & Furness Council will have 65 councillors.
The old Cumbria County Council has been in no overall control since 2001. Following the 2017 elections, the Tories won the most seats, but the council was governed by a Labour-Lib Dem coalition with support from Independent members.
This year, all the main parties will be jostling for prominence in the new 'super-councils' and the outcome in both contests could be close. Cumberland will likely declare its results first at around 2.30am, followed by Westmorland & Furness in the afternoon.
3. Hartlepool
Hartlepool was watched closely during last year's May elections due to a by-election taking place, in which the Tories snatched the parliamentary seat away from Labour.
Labour lost control of the authority in 2019, and it is currently run by a coalition of Tories and Hartlepool Independent Union councillors. At this year's local elections, both the Conservatives and Labour will be fighting to be in with a chance of taking overall control of the council - or failing that, ending up with the most seats and leading a minority administration or a coalition. However, a strong showing by independent candidates could spice up the outcome of this year’s contest.
A total of 13 of the council’s 36 seats are up for grabs and results should come through at around 2am.
4. Newcastle-under-Lyme
In Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the Tories are defending a tiny majority, every council seat is up for grabs. It will be a battle between Labour and the Conservatives to take control.
Success here for Labour would suggest the party is winning back support in one of its target areas of the country. The parliamentary seat of Newcastle-under-Lyme was won by the Conservatives in 2019 after being held by Labour for the previous 100 years.
Results are expected at around 3pm.
5. London
All of the 33 London boroughs will be voting for entire councils in this year's elections.
Key areas to watch include Wandsworth, which could swing to Labour after 44 years of being in the hands of the Tories, and Westminster, where the Tory majority has been diminishing over the years. Meanwhile in Harrow, a reduction in the number of seats from 63 to 55 could work in either Labour or the Conservatives’ favour.
In Tower Hamlets, while there are unlikely to be too many upsets in the council elections, the race to become mayor will be one to watch, with controversial former mayor Lutfur Rahman standing again. He was forced to step down after an election court found him guilty of corrupt and illegal practices, but he has faced no criminal prosecution.
6. Somerset
Somerset is also undergoing major changes this year in its system of local government. Until now the area has had a county council and four district councils (Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset and Somerset West & Taunton) but these are being scrapped and replaced with a single unitary authority.
Currently, the Somerset County Council is led by a Tory majority. Elections are taking place for all 110 seats in the new-look organisation - that's double the number of councillors that previously represented the area. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will be fighting for control.
Results are expected at around 4pm.
7. Peterborough
Peterborough is a long-running Conservative-Labour battleground and for decades the council has see-sawed between a Tory majority and no overall control. It is currently run by a minority Conservative administration. The Tories hold 28 of the 60 council seats, making them just three seats short of a majority.
Labour will be keen to make gains here, and if they do, it could show that support for the party is recovering in a city it lost to the Tories at the 2019 general election.
A third of seats are being contested are results are due at around 2.30am.
8. Kirklees
Kirklees in West Yorkshire is currently run by Labour but the party does not have a majority. A third of seats are being elected and just two gains by Labour would give it overall control. Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are also hoping to do well.
In neighbouring Wakefield, a Labour strong-hold, a by-election is coming up after Conservative MP Imran Khan was convicted of sexual assault. Support for Labour in Kirklees could also give the party added confidence in the run-up to that contest.
