Polls close in elections across England, Scotland and Wales

Polls have closed across England, Scotland and Wales for local, mayoral and parliamentary elections, with the first results to be announced within hours.

More than 30 million people across Britain were given the opportunity to vote on Thursday in what is widely seen as the biggest test for Keir Starmer since the 2024 general election. Results across three nations could fundamentally change the political landscape and could have repercussions for the prime minister.

In what is seen as the first true multiparty battle, Reform UK and the Green party are expected to make significant gains at the expense of Westminster’s two biggest parties in England, while the Liberal Democrats could turn swathes of local government yellow and increase their total number of councillors for an unprecedented eighth set of local elections in a row.

The elections cover 136 local councils in England, with 5,014 seats being contested, including every seat on all of London’s 32 borough councils, more than a dozen borough councils, six unitary councils, six county councils and three district councils. A further 73 councils are holding elections for half or one-third of the seats available.

The first results are expected at about 12.30am, with a further glut arriving from about 3am onwards. About a third of councils should have declared results by 7am on Friday, while the most significant results – including mayoral results in London boroughs and council results in the major cities of Manchester and Leeds – should start to come in at lunchtime.

By the end of Friday about 80 more councils will have declared results, but the final councils – including Croydon and Tower Hamlets in London, as well as Hastings in Sussex – will not declare until Saturday afternoon.

Results in Scotland and Wales should become clear by around 4pm on Friday, with more local election results announced in the late afternoon and early evening.

Counting for mayoral elections will only begin on Friday, with Hackney and Newham expected to declare at 1pm, followed by Watford at 2pm, Lewisham at 3pm, Croydon at 4pm, and Tower Hamlets at about 6pm.

Labour strategists will await results with some trepidation, with the party resigned to potentially record-breaking losses. By some estimations Labour could lose more than 1,800 seats – 75% of those it is defending. It has faced pressure from Reform across the former “red wall” in the north-east, Midlands and north-west of England, while in London – where four years ago Labour swept to its best performance since 1971 – the party has been challenged by the Greens and independent candidates.