BBC News
Polls have closed in local council and mayoral elections across parts of England.
These are the first local elections since the general election was held in July 2024.
Which elections are taking place?
Elections are taking place in 23 councils across England.
All seats will be contested in:
- 14 county councils: Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire
- 8 unitary authorities: Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, County Durham, North Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, West Northamptonshire and Wiltshire
- 1 metropolitan district: Doncaster
Six mayoral elections are also happening: in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, North Tyneside, Doncaster and – for the first time – in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire.
In addition, council elections are taking place in the Isles of Scilly.
Voters in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency will also elect their new MP.
The former Labour MP Mike Amesbury announced he was standing down after his conviction for assaulting a constituent.
No routine elections are taking place in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
When will we know the results?
With polls closed, the wait now begins for results.
Whether you’re staying up through the night, or plan to set an alarm for a certain result, here’s roughly when we’re expecting calls to be made. But election results can come far later, or far earlier, than expected.
- 02:00: North Tyneside and West of England mayoral results are expected
- 03:00: Runcorn & Helsby by-election result is expected, and we could have results in the Greater Lincolnshire mayoral race
- 05:00: Results in the Doncaster mayoral election could be announced
- 07:00: We could have Northumberland’s full council results
Northumberland is the only council expected to declare its results overnight, with most councils beginning their counting on Friday morning.
The full results for those councils won’t come until the afternoon, with Durham expected to be the first to declare at 13:00.
At around 14:30 we should find out who is the mayor for Hull & East Yorkshire.
The pace of results will start to pick up from around 15:00, with the result due for the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough mayoral contest.
The bulk of council results are expected by early evening, with the final declarations expected in Kent and West Northamptonshire at around 19:00.
What do local councils do and why do local elections matter?
What do mayors do?
Six mayors will be elected on 1 May:
- two single authority mayors in Doncaster and North Tyneside
- four metro mayors in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire
A single authority mayor is the political leader of the council. They are responsible for delivering local council services.
Metro mayors are regional leaders who chair combined authorities, which are groups of several local councils.
They set out plans to boost their local economy, and have some powers over housing and transport.
