When polls close in England, Scotland and Wales at 10pm on Thursday, most ballot boxes will be stored until Friday morning, when counting will begin for the majority of contests. Some councils in England will declare results overnight, providing early clues to how all the parties are faring.
Of the 136 local authorities in England holding elections, 46 are due to count and declare results overnight. The majority will count and declare later on Friday, while a handful are scheduled to finish on Saturday. All results for the Scottish Parliament and Senedd will be counted and declared later on Friday.
Most councils counting overnight have only a third or half of their seats up for grabs, meaning those with large majorities, such as Broxbourne (Conservative) and Halton (Labour), are unlikely to see a change in overall control. However, councils where a party is defending a slim majority, like Harlow (Conservative) and Redditch (Labour), may slip into no overall control if other parties make gains.
Labour is defending majorities at Hartlepool and Lincoln, while an early test for the Liberal Democrats will be if they can cling on to their tiny majority at Hull. Wigan and Salford will provide early clues as to whether Reform and the Greens are managing to pick up Labour seats in north-west England.
Around 3.30am, Westminster is due to be the first London council to finish counting, where every seat is up for grabs. The outcome will indicate how Labour is faring in the capital and whether the Tories have recovered support in one of their former strongholds. Hampshire is the first county council due to complete its declarations, where the Conservatives have been the majority party since 1997.
Counting gets under way for the parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, for 86 local authorities in England, and for the six mayoral contests. The first constituency results from Scotland are likely around this time, with Airdrie, Ayr and Coatbridge & Chryston potentially among them. In England, the first mayoral result is due from Hackney in east London, which Labour currently holds.
