Who can I vote for? Local election candidates and by-elections in your area.
Local elections and by-elections will take place across the country next week on Thursday 2 May, with results expected to trickle in over the weekend.
The polling, which includes voting for new mayors and police and crime commissioners, is expected to act as an early indication of how the next general election may pan out.
Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm on the day.
Where are local elections and by-elections taking place on 2 May 2024?
There are local elections taking place across 107 local authorities in England on Thursday 2 May 2024.
None of London‘s 32 boroughs are holding local councillor elections, as these were held in 2022 and won’t be again until 2026. However, voters in the capital will cast ballots for the Mayor of London and two of the 25 members of the London Assembly – with one representing their local constituency and the other representing the entire city.
There are also 10 mayoral positions being voted on outside the capital and a by-election to select a new Blackpool South MP, while 37 police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will be elected by voters across England and Wales.
All four Welsh police force areas are holding elections for PCCs, while the position will also be contested across England – although the mayor takes responsibility for policing in London, Greater Manchester and North, West and South Yorkshire,
Scotland and Northern Ireland are not holding elections on 2 May.
You can enter your postcode here to check if there’s an upcoming election where you live.
Where are candidates standing?
London
The 14 constituencies represented by a member each in the London Assembly:
- Barnet and Camden
- Bexley and Bromley
- Brent and Harrow
- City and East
- Croydon and Sutton
- Ealing and Hillingdon
- Enfield and Haringey
- Greenwich and Lewisham
- Havering and Redbridge
- Lambeth and Southwark
- Merton and Wandsworth
- North East
- South West
- West Central
In addition to these, 11 members are selected based on the share of votes received by each party (including independent candidates) in the election for the London-wide assembly member – bringing the total to 25 elected officials.
North East
- North Tyneside
- North Shields
- Gateshead
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- South Tyneside
- Sunderland
- Hartlepool
- North East Lincolnshire
North West
- Bolton
- Bury
- Rochdale
- Salford
- Oldham
- Manchester
- Stockport
- Trafford
- Wigan
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Halton
- Rossendale
- Burnley
- Preston
- West Lancashire
Yorkshire
- Rotherham
- Barnsley
- Bradford
- Calderdale
- Kirklees
- Leeds
- Sheffield
- Wakefield
- Doncaster
West Midlands
- Dudley
- Coventry
- Solihull
- Sandwell
- Walsall
- Wolverhampton
- Birmingham
East Midlands
- Leicester
- Derby
- Nottingham
- Northampton
South West
- Bristol
- Dorset
- Plymouth
- Cornwall
- Gloucestershire
South East
- Wokingham
- Reading
- Milton Keynes
- Portsmouth
- Southampton
- Swindon
- Basildon
- Cheltenham
- Fareham
- Maidstone
- Oxford
- Canterbury
- Brighton and Hove
- Reading
East of England
- Peterborough
- Cambridge
- Norwich
- Ipswich
- Southend-on-Sea
- Colchester
- Luton
- Stevenage
- Thurrock
- Bedford
Wales
Everyone in Wales has the opportunity to cast their vote for a new PCC on 2 May, with all four of the Welsh police force areas – North Wales, South Wales, Gwent and Dyfed-Powys – holding elections for the position.
Where is my nearest polling station?
Everyone who is registered to vote should receive a polling card informing them where to vote.
If you do not have a polling card, you can find your local polling station by entering your postcode here.
You must vote at the polling station listed on your card, not one say, near your work.
Who is running for Mayor?
Local authority areas in England normally have an executive leader, or a metro mayor who will act as the prime minister does to his cabinet selected from the local council.
However, some areas known as combined authorities or combined county authorities, directly elect their mayors – these are called DEMs and have more evolved powers in their local government.
Metro mayor elections are happening in London, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Tees Valley, all of which already have someone in the position.
Three regional mayors will also be sworn in for the first time in the East Midlands, the North East, and York and North Yorkshire, while voters in Salford will choose their mayor – the directly-elected local leader of the city council on 2 May as well.
London
- Nick Scanlon – Britain First
- Brian Benedict Rose – London Real
- Andreas Michli – Independent
- Sadiq Khan – Labour
- Susan Mary Hall – Conservative
- Tarun Ghulati – Independent
- Zoe Garbett – Green
- Amy Gallagher – Social Democrat
- Howard Cox – Reform UK
- Natalie Campbell – Independent
- Rob Blackie – LibDem
- Count Binface
- Femy Amin – Animal Welfare
West Midlands
- Siobhan Harper-Nunes – Green
- Richard Parker – Labour
- Andy Street – Conservative
- Sunny Virk – LibDem
- Elaine Williams – Reform UK
- Akhmed Yakoob – Independent candidate
Greater Manchester
- Jake Austin – LibDem
- Dan Barker – Reform
- Nick Buckley – Independent
- Andy Burnham – Labour and Co-operative
- Laura Evans – Conservative and Unionist
- Hannah Spencer – Green
Liverpool City
- Tom Crone – Green
- Jade Marsden – Conservative and Unionist
- Rob McAllister-Bell – LibDem
- Steve Rotherham – Labour
- Ian Smith – Independent
South Yorkshire
- Nick Allen- Conservative
- David Bettney – Social Democrat
- Oliver Coppard – Labour and Co-operative
- Douglas Johnson – Green
- Hannah Kitching – LibDem
West Yorkshire
- Tracy Brabin – Labour
- Bob Buxton – Yorkeshire
- Andrew Varah Cooper – Green
- Arnold Craven – Tory
- Stewart Golton – LibDem
- Jonathon Tilt – Independent
Tees Valley
- Ben Houchen – Conservative
- Chris McEwan – Labour
- Simon Thorley – LibDem
- Sally Bunce – Green
East Midlands
- Frank Adlington-Stringer – Green
- Ben Bradley – Conservative and Unionist
- Alan Graves – Reform UK
- Matt Relf – Independent
- Helen Tamblyn-Saville – LibDem
- Clare Ward – Labour and Co-operative
North East
- Paul Donaghy – Reform UK
- Jamie Driscoll – Independent
- Andrew Gray – Green
- Aidan John King – LibDem
- Kim McGuinness – Labour and Co-operative
- Guy Renner-Thompson – Conservative and Unionist
York and North Yorkshire
- Felicity Clare Cunliffe-Lister – LibDem
- Keane Charles Duncan – Conservative and unionist
- Kevin Foster – Green
- Paul Haslam – Independent
- David Skaith – Labour and Cop-operative
- Keith Graham Tordoff – Independent
Salford
- Jillian Collinson – Conservative
- Paul Dennett – Labour
- Sally Griffiths – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
- David Jones – Green
What do I need to vote on 2 May?
Since last year voters in England will be asked to provide photo ID before they can vote. You do not need your polling card to vote.
There are 22 acceptable forms of ID, and these can be expired providing you still look like the picture on it.
Approved forms of ID include: passport issued by the UK, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA (European Economic Area) state or a Commonwealth country; driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or an EEA state; provisional driving licence; Blue Badge; older person’s bus pass; disabled person’s bus pass or Oyster 60+ card.
People who don’t have access to ID should have applied for a free “voter authority document” that will allow them to take part.
It is also possible to vote by post or by proxy (nominating someone to vote on your behalf), although the deadline both to apply for these options (17 April and 24 April, respectively) and to register to vote in these elections at all (16 April) has passed.
If voting by post, you must have returned your ballot papers either in advance or by ensuring they are with your local council by 10pm on polling day.
When will the results come out?
The results of the local elections held on Thursday 2 May 2024 will be announced from Friday for many authorities, with some races being declared over the weekend.
Many of the local elections results are expected to be announced overnight and throughout the day on 3 May, with some coming in the following day, while mayoral election results will be declared on both Friday 3 May and Saturday 4 May.
London Assembly election results, meanwhile, are also set to be announced on Saturday 4 May.