Millions of voters will head to the polls on Thursday for local elections across parts of England as well as the devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales. Around 5,000 seats are up for grabs across 134 councils in England, including all 32 boroughs in London. Under a new proportional voting system in Wales, 96 members of the Senedd will be elected across 16 constituencies. In Scotland, 129 seats will be up for grabs at Holyrood.
Results will begin to trickle out across English councils in the early hours of Friday morning. Wales and Scotland are not expected to start announcing results until later that afternoon, while a handful of areas in England are not expected to finish up until Saturday. Estimated declaration times are approximate and can be affected by issues such as delays in verifying and counting ballots, or by recounts, as well as turnout.
Hour-by-Hour Guide to Local Election Results
From 10pm Thursday
Polling stations will be open between 7am and 10pm on Thursday. As the clock strikes 10pm, polling stations will close, meaning no more ballots will be able to be cast. Counts will begin in various places across the country. Unlike the General Election, there will be no dramatic exit poll predicting the results. Instead, results will begin to trickle out overnight and you will be able to keep up to date with our live coverage.
Friday, May 8: From 1am-4am
If you are planning to stay up to catch the overnight drama, the first results are expected in Broxbourne and Halton at 1am. This will be followed by Harlow at 1:30am and Redditch at 1:45am. From 2am, results are expected in Chorley, Hart, Hull, Hartlepool, North East Lincolnshire, Lincoln and Rochford. Tamworth and Wigan are set to be declared at 2:30am.
Almost a dozen councils will be declared around the 3am mark. Down south should see results in Portsmouth and Exeter, while results to the east and west of London will be declared for Southend-on-Sea, Basildon, Brentwood, Oxford and Reading. Peterborough will also get results around 3am and there will also be a series of declarations around Manchester, with Salford, Tameside and Bolton all due to declare. At 3:30am, we are expected to get results from Dudley, Westminster and Colchester.
Ones to watch: It is worth keeping an eye on Lincoln's declaration as Labour's majority is under threat from Reform, despite only a third of the seats being up for election. Nigel Farage's party also has its eyes on Hartlepool and Bolton. It is also worth taking note of some of the diverse areas of Central Manchester and Salford to see if the Greens support continues after its victory at the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election. In Exeter Labour faces a challenge from both Reform and the Greens.
From 4am-7am
From 4am, we are expecting results from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Plymouth, Gosport, Fareham and Havant, as well as our first London result in Wandsworth and our first County council result in Hampshire. Two more London areas - Sutton and Ealing - are expected to call time at 4:30am. Results will start trickling out from 5am from Eastleigh, Stockport, Richmond-upon-Thames, Merton, Oldham, Kensington and Chelsea and Bexley. Not long after at 5:30am, Hammersmith and Fulham are expected to declare, followed by Havering at 6am and Southampton at 6:30am.
Ones to watch: Hampshire, which has been under the Tories' control since 1997, has become a target for both the Lib Dems and Reform UK. In London, Labour face a challenges from the Lib Dems in Merton, while in Havering the local residents association could find itself in a battle with Reform. There is also an interesting race in Plymouth, which has repeatedly swung between Labour, Conservative and No Overall Control. Reform UK is targeting the seaside city given UKIP once had a presence there, however the Greens could do well in the leafy outskirts.
From Midday
We are expecting the next set of results to start coming through in the early afternoon. Declarations from Blackburn and Manchester are both expected at around 12.30pm, with Burnley following around 1pm. North Tyneside is expected sometime between 1.30pm and 2pm. There will likely be a flurry of results at around 2pm - including from Rochdale, Sheffield, Welwyn Hatfield, Cheltenham and Hyndburn. And these will be swiftly followed by Huntingdonshire, Norwich, St Helens, West Oxfordshire, Preston and Pendle at around 2.30pm.
Ones to watch: The Lib Dems have their eyes on West Oxfordshire, needing just four gains to win overall control.
From 3pm
The results will keep on coming as the afternoon goes on, with results expected at 3pm from the Isle of Wight, Leeds, Islington, Knowsley, Solihull and Three Rivers. It does not stop there, with Thurrock, Rushmoor, Waltham Forest, Cannock Chase and Epping Forest also set to declare at the same time. Nuneaton and Bedworth is expected at 3.30pm followed by another spate of results at 4pm. This will include Basingstoke and Deane, Crawley, Gateshead, Greenwich, Hillingdon, Trafford, West Lancashire, West Sussex, Suffolk, Sunderland, Wolverhampton, South Cambridgeshire, Ipswich, Rugby and Tunbridge Wells. And there is another load due at 4.30pm - Barnsley, Harrow, Bury and Newcastle-upon-Tyne due around this time.
Ones to watch: The battle between Reform and the Tories for Suffolk County Council will be worth keeping an eye on, with the controlling party facing a strong challenge from Nigel Farage's team. And the result from Islington will give us an idea how Labour is faring against a Green challenge in the capital.
From 5pm
There will not be any let-up in the late afternoon, with a load more results coming in at around 5pm. If all goes to plan we will see announcements from Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Brent, Walsall, Watford, Wokingham, Coventry, Cambridge, Enfield, St Albans, Stevenage, Essex, Hackney, Sandwell, Redbridge and Milton Keynes. Results from Hounslow, Sefton, South Tyneside, Haringey and Norfolk are expected at around 5.30pm. And then at approximately 6pm we will see results from Wakefield, West Surrey, Southwark, Winchester, Camden, Kingston-upon-Thames, Kirklees, Newham, Lambeth, Adur, Birmingham, Worthing, East Surrey, East Sussex, Swindon and Hastings.
Ones to watch: There is a big battle for Essex County Council, where the ruling Tories face a big challenge from Reform. And Cambridge could be tricky for Labour, who will be hoping to hold on to a narrow majority in the face of opposition from the Greens and the Lib Dems. The result in Barking and Dagenham will also be worth paying attention to, with Reform tipped to win a sizeable amount in the Labour-controlled authority. Labour will also face challenges from the Greens in Lambeth and Hackney. And in Hastings, the Greens need to win five seats to gain overall control of the council.
After 7pm
At 7pm-ish we should see Cherwell and Bromley results, with Calderdale following at around 8.30pm. At which point politics fanatics will be ready to hit the hay.
Saturday, March 9
Incredibly, given the number of councils named above, we still will not have the full set of results by Saturday morning. The final few stragglers will be coming through later in the day. We are expecting Bradford, Croydon and Lewisham at around 4pm, followed by Tower Hamlets at 6pm. And then finally we will have the full picture.
Ones to watch: Labour could face a big Green Party challenge in Lewisham.
Wales Results
The makeup of the Welsh Parliament will reveal itself on Friday afternoon. The first set of results will start trickling in at around 2pm, with Casnewydd Islwyn, Gwyr Abertawe and Sir Fynwy Torfaen set to be the first. At around 3pm we can expect Bangor Conwy, Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, Caerdydd Penarth, Ceredigion Penfro, Clwyd, Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg to come in. These will be followed in the next hour by Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Gwynedd Maldwyn, Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr and Sir Gaerfyrddin. The last result, at around 5.30pm, is expected to be from Fflint Wrecsam.
Scotland Results
Again, we have been led to expect all results from 6.30pm. Airdrie will lead the way at around noon, followed by Ayr and Coatbridge and Chryston at 1pm. By 3pm we should have results for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Almond Valley, Bathgate, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Moray, Perthshire North, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Glasgow Anniesland, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston. At 3pm we are then expecting declarations from Argyll and Bute, Cowdenbeath, East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent, Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith, Edinburgh Northern, Edinburgh North Western, Edinburgh Southern, Edinburgh South Western, Fife Mid and Glenrothes, Fife North East, Glasgow Central, Kirkcaldy, Motherwell and Wishaw, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and Cardonald and Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley. It will not let up there though, with Glasgow Southside at 3.15pm, followed by several at 3.30pm - Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine, Aberdeen Donside, Aberdeenshire East, Aberdeenshire West, Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Dumfriesshire, Galloway and Dumfries West and Glasgow Kelvin and Maryhill. Glasgow Cathcart and Pollock will follow at 3.45pm, and at 4pm we should have results from Angus North and Mearns, Angus South, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Clydesdale, Dundee City East, Dundee City West, Dunfermline, East Kilbride, Eastwood, Falkirk West, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Midlothian North, Rutherglen and Cambuslang, Stirling and Uddingston and Bellshill. This will be followed with four at 4.30pm - Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Inverclyde and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale. At 5pm we are expecting announcements from Clydebank and Milngavie and Dumbarton. Then at 6pm the result should land from Edinburgh and Lothians East, followed by Inverness and Nairn and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch at 6.30pm.
