Major test for Labour as polls open in English, Scottish and Welsh elections

Polling has opened across England, Scotland and Wales in a series of local, mayoral and parliamentary contests – the biggest electoral test Keir Starmer and the Labour government have faced since the 2024 general election. As millions of people across Great Britain go to the polls on Thursday, party leaders are poised for a set of results that could fundamentally change the political landscape nationally in Scotland and Wales, and across local authorities in England. The results will be closely watched by all parties, and are seen as the first major political test of an increasingly multiparty system. They come after months of Labour and the Conservatives languishing in the polls, and the growing popularity of smaller parties such as Reform UK, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats . The elections cover the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and 136 local councils in England, where 5,014 seats are being contested, including every one 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 a third of the seats available. There are also six mayoral contests – in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Watford. The polls for local elections will be open between 7am and 10pm, with the first results expected at aabout 12.30am on Friday, and a glut of further results from about 3am onwards. …