Many voters in England, Wales and Scotland will go to the polls today to elect their new local representatives.
More than 4,350 seats are contested in England in more than 140 councils, with all 32 Scottish councils and all 22 Welsh councils also holding local elections.
These elections will directly decide who is responsible in a given area for planning, housing and garbage collection.
But they will also allow voters to express their views on national issues, including the cost of living crisis, the ongoing dispute over parties on Downing Street and Whitehall, and the government’s response to the war in Ukraine.
You can find results where you live with our special election service. And we will have a special election program on Sky News from 23:00 on Thursday night
With a huge number of seats being contested, the results are likely to paint a vivid picture of national sentiment for the first time since the early general elections in 2019.
But what are the key areas that need to be addressed and what will be considered a good or bad result for the main parties?
When can I vote?
To vote in today’s local elections, you must have registered to be 18 in England or over 16 in Scotland and Wales.
Polling stations will be open between 07:00 and 22:00 on 5 May – but as long as you are in line at 22:00, you have the right to vote.
what am i voting for
Local councilors are elected for a four-year term by the local community to represent its views.
They are responsible for a wide range of issues from transport, garbage collection, application planning and management of mental health services.
Participation in the polls allows residents to say what is happening in their locality.
Locals can vote for as many council seats as are contested in their area – as will be clear at the top of the ballot.
Image: Local councils are responsible for issues such as garbage collection, reform planning and mental health services
What are the key results to watch for?
London, which represents more than four of all English seats in the game today, may be witnessing some upheaval for each of the two main parties.
Wandsworth and Westminster – both currently controlled by the Conservatives – are two London councils that are particularly in the spotlight.
Labor won more votes but fewer seats in the local elections in Wandsworth last time – but the constituency is represented only by Labor MPs – and the party will want a different result today.
Early adopters of Thatcher’s policies, including the sale of townhouses and privatization, Conservatives will be willing to retain the esteemed South London Council.
Westminster has never been under the control of another party, but some commentators believe the Conservatives may be under pressure here as the party rages.
Other southern councils where conservatives are also expected to face challenges include Barnett, Harlow, Southampton and Thurrock.
Meanwhile, Croydon, the Labor-held body haunted by financial problems recently, may see Labor facing a battle amid growing voter discontent.
Hartlepool, which the Conservatives won in the 2021 by-elections – winning more than half of all Labor votes for the first time since its creation in 1971 – is also in Labor’s field of vision.
Labor lost control of power in 2019 and is currently ruled by a coalition of conservatives and advisers to the Hartlepool Independent Alliance.
Peterborough was won by Labor in the 2019 by-elections, only the party lost to the Conservatives in the general election months later.
Therefore, the result can be seen as a good indicator of public opinion for the current government.
In Wales, with most of the councils currently run by coalitions, it will be interesting to see if that changes and if Labor can hold Cardiff while the Conservatives can maintain a strong position in the north-east.
In Scotland, meanwhile, all eyes will be on whether the Conservatives can at least maintain or even improve the gains made by Labor in 2017.
Image: More than 4,350 seats are contested in England in more than 140 councils, with all 32 Scottish councils and all 22 Welsh councils also holding elections
When will we know the results?
The results are expected in the early hours and throughout the day on Friday, and some councils will probably declare on Saturday.
In England, about half of the councils are expected to start counting tonight, with the rest starting on Friday morning.
In Scotland and Wales, meanwhile, the countdown won’t start until Friday, with the earliest results expected in the afternoon.
A fuller picture should be clearer than tomorrow night.
Image: Labor will want to take advantage of its growing popularity in recent opinion polls
What will the main parties consider a good or bad result?
Leading sociologists Colin Rawlings and Michael Thrasher gave their interpretation of how we should look at the possible results of research.
They suggest more than 350 losses would be a figure the Conservative Party will not want to reach.
This may be of particular concern to many conservative MPs, both in the former marginal areas of the Red Wall and in the south.
The party will try to write off the losses between 100 and 150 as “medium-term blues”, sociologists suggest, but this level of decline will still show that the Tories are lagging behind Labor in terms of people’s support.
Meanwhile, gains of more than 100 will show that the Conservatives continue to break into the hearts of former Labor and will be seen as a great success for the government of Boris Johnson.
Labor, on the other hand, will want to take advantage of its growing popularity, according to recent studies.
Mr Rawlings and Mr Thrasher suggested that 200 or more winnings – which would be the party’s best performance in the local elections in a decade – would be seen as a triumph for Sir Keira Starmer.
Profits between 50 and 100 will also be seen as a positive step forward, illustrating that the party has made progress since 2018 and is likely to even focus on some key council seats in London.
However, minimal or no gains will be seen as disappointing, given Mr Johnson’s current declining popularity ratings.
More than 100 losses would be presented as a particularly bad result, overshadowing the woes of 2021.
Image: Boris Johnson’s premiership could be under even more pressure if the Conservatives perform poorly today
What is happening now?
As Mr Johnson faces growing pressure over the party scandal, today’s local elections will be seen as an indication of what voters have done about it.
If the Conservatives perform poorly in this election, his presidency could come under even greater pressure – with a potential leadership challenge that is closer to triggering.
Tory MPs are likely to be concerned that if they run again in the next general election, such results could lead Labor leader Sir Cair to become prime minister.
At the end of November, there were reports that letters of no confidence had been sent to the influential Tory Committee since 1922, when the question of the party’s door arose.
The Conservative Party’s rules state that at least 15% of Tory MPs must write a letter of no confidence to make the leadership challenge possible.
There are currently 359 conservative MPs, which means that 54 letters are needed to provoke a competition.
Before the election, more than a dozen Tory MPs called on Johnson to leave.
Now this number can increase. But because the letters are transmitted confidentially, there is no exact total amount for how many were sent to the chairman of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady.
But Mr Johnson is adamant that he will still be prime minister in six months, despite the noise of discontent on the back bench over the party.
On the other hand, if Labor misbehaves – at a time when the Conservatives’ popularity rating is falling sharply – Sir Care’s leadership is also likely to be called into question.
This will be especially the case if the Labor Party fails to rebuild the land in one of the areas of the former Red Wall, where the Conservatives won the 2019 general election.
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