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. …