Vote counting under way in local elections across England and Wales – what to expect
Vote counting is under way after polls closed in local elections taking place across England and Wales.
More than 2,600 council seats across 107 councils are up for grabs in England, alongside 11 mayoral elections, a parliamentary seat and police and crime commissioners throughout England and Wales.
Polls opened at 7am and closed at 10pm.
Local elections: Follow the results live
Sky News will be covering the results overnight with a special programme hosted by Jonathan Samuels beginning at midnight, and coverage into the weekend.
The results unfolding in the next hours and days will give an indicator of public opinion on the political parties as the UK heads towards a general election.
Labour is hoping to make gains across the country, while the Conservatives will hope to minimise losses as they sit around 20 points behind the opposition in the polls.
Keen attention will be paid to the mayoral races being held in the West Midlands and the Tees Valley – Red Wall seats that the Conservatives won under Boris Johnson with mayors Andy Street and Lord Ben Houchen respectively.
Losses there could prove difficult for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – with rumours that if both turn red it could spark a leadership contest.
Labour‘s Sadiq Khan is hoping to win a record third term as the mayor of London, running against the Conservative’s Susan Hall, with 25 seats on the London Assembly also up for grabs.
Read more on local elections:
What does victory and defeat look like – Beth Rigby
How key areas are predicted to vote – Sam Coates
There are further mayoral elections in the East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, the North East, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and York & North Yorkshire. An election is also taking place for the Salford city mayor.
A parliamentary by-election is taking place in Blackpool South to replace the former Conservative MP Scott Benton, who left parliament following a lobbying scandal.
The Tories are defending a majority of 3,690 – much smaller than several of those overturned by Labour in recent years.
In total, 37 police and crime commissioners are being elected across England and Wales – although two of those PCC roles are being absorbed into a mayor’s responsibilities, in South Yorkshire and York & North Yorkshire.
Speaking on the Political Currency podcast, former Conservative chancellor George Osborne said losing the West Midlands would be “pretty bad” for Mr Sunak, while losing the Tees Valley would be “armageddon”.
“There will be people in the Conservative Parliamentary Party saying, ‘Change course, change leader’,” he said, adding: “You would never have guessed 20 years ago that the future of the Tory leadership would depend on how people are voting in Teesside. But I think right now, that is the case.”
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The last time these council elections took place, the then prime minister Boris Johnson was riding high in the polls following the success of the vaccine rollout – taking his party to their best performance in the locals since 2008.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said it was going to be “difficult to achieve on that”.
Asked if this was an admission the party is less popular under Mr Sunak than it was under Mr Johnson, Mr Harper said it was the context of having a “vaccine bounce” and coming out of the pandemic that made the party popular in 2021.
And Mr Sunak was at the time “the chancellor, who found the money to pay for rolling the vaccine out”.
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Local elections: Why they matter
In last year’s local elections – which were for different areas – Labour snatched key battlegrounds from the Conservatives but not at a rate high enough to indicate the opposition was on course to win if a general election took place.
This key metric, known as National Equivalent Vote (NEV), will be tracked over the weekend by Sky News election analyst Professor Michael Thrasher.
Asked what success would look like, Labour’s shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said his party is looking at the Blackpool South by-election “which is the only result where Rishi Sunak and the government are really on the ballot paper”.
A win there will show “real progress”, Mr McFadden said.
Asked about his party’s prospects in Tees Valley and the West Midlands, the veteran Labour MP said the Tories hanging on would “only be because they put as much distance as possible between themselves and Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party brand”.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The Liberal Democrats will also hope to pick up some wins after targeting so-called Blue Wall areas that traditionally vote Conservative.
Speaking after the polls closed, party leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The message across the country today was loud and clear. Voters want an end to this appalling Conservative government.
“That is why, up and down the country, so many lifelong Conservative voters backed the Liberal Democrats today, because they know Liberal Democrat councillors will never take them for granted and fight for the issues they care about.”
How many seats/councils are parties defending?
The Conservatives are defending 985 seats, Labour 965 and the Liberal Democrats 410.
The Greens hold 107 seats, while independents have 112 and other parties the remaining 57.
Labour currently has majority control in 45 of the 107 councils. The Conservatives control 18 and the Lib Dems 10.
Just under a third, 34 councils, are under no overall control.
Key battlegrounds
After a survey of 9,000 people, this is how YouGov thinks these key votes will go
When it comes to councils, areas to watch out for include Hyndburn, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Tamworth, Reigate and Banstead, Hull, Walsall, Colchester, Stockport, Sheffield, Solihull, North East Lincolnshire, Lincoln, Peterborough, Rugby and Thurrock.
Sky News and YouGov asked around 9,000 people how they intend to vote, and used this to forecast how these will change.
Labour looks set to make a number of gains – although some races are too close to call.
Follow our live coverage of the election results from midnight – find the full details here
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Politics
Thousands of farmers to descend on Downing Street to protest against inheritance tax changes
Thousands of farmers from across the UK are expected to gather outside Downing Street today – in the biggest protest yet against the government’s changes to inheritance tax rules.
The reforms, announced in last month’s budget, will mean farms worth over £1m will be subject to 20% inheritance tax from April 2026.
Farmers say that will lead to land being sold to pay the tax bill, impact food security and the future of British farming.
The Government insists it is “committed” to the farming industry but has had to make “difficult decisions”.
Farmers from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England will arrive in London to hear speeches from agricultural leaders.
Sky News understands TV presenter and farm owner Jeremy Clarkson, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and Lib Dem leader Ed Davey will also address crowds.
Protestors will then march around Parliament Square.
A sign in a field by the M40 near Warwick, protesting the changes to inheritance tax rules in the recent budget. Pic: PA
‘It’s really worrying’
“It’s unfortunate, as Labour had originally said they would support farmers,” said fourth-generation farmer Will Weaver, who is attending today’s rally.
His 500-acre cow and sheep farm in South Gloucestershire has been in his family since 1939.
“We’ve probably buried our head in the sand a little bit. I think, back of a fag-packet rough estimates, tax is going to be north of half a million [pounds].”
The government is keen to stress that farmers will get a decade to pay the bill – but that comes as little comfort to Will: “It’s more than our profit in any year that we’ve had in the last 10 years. Dad’s saying we’ll have to sell something. I don’t know if we’ll be able to raise that sort of money through a mortgage. It’s really worrying.”
As anger grows, there continues to be disagreement between the National Farmer’s Union and the Government over how many farms will actually be impacted by the change.
The Treasury says only the wealthiest estates, around 500 of them, will have to pay under the new rules – claiming 72% of farms won’t be impacted.
But farmers say that calculation is incorrect – citing that DEFRA’s own figures show 66% of farms are valued at over £1m and that the government has undervalued many estates.
At the same time as the rally, the NFU is addressing 1,800 of its members in Westminster before they lobby MPs.
More on this story:
Farmers warn of food price hikes
Minister downplays risk of empty shelves if farmers strike
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The president of the National Farmers’ Union says farmers are feeling
‘Understanding has been betrayed’
Max Sealy represents the NFU Dairy Board in the South of England.
“We have a detailed job to do to explain why this is wrong not just for farming, not just for the countryside and not just for our families, but for the economy in general,” he said.
“This is a bad tax – it’s been badly implemented because it will affect growth productivity in the country.”
He told Sky News Labour made promises to farmers ahead of the election.
“Both Steve Reed and Keir Starmer came to our conference two years ago and told us farming wasn’t a business like any others and that he understood the long-term nature of farming – that understanding has been betrayed,” he said.
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And the government say:
In a joint statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said: “Farmers are the backbone of Britain, and we recognise the strength of feeling expressed by farming and rural communities in recent weeks. We are steadfast in our commitment to Britain’s farming industry because food security is national security.
“It’s why we are investing £5bn into farming over the next two years – the largest amount ever directed towards sustainable food production, rural economic growth and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.
“But with public services crumbling and a £22bn fiscal hole that this Government inherited, we have taken difficult decisions.
“The reforms to Agricultural Property Relief ensure that wealthier estates and the most valuable farms pay their fair share to invest in our schools and health services that farmers and families in rural communities rely on.”
A Met Police spokesperson said it was “well prepared” for the protest and would have officers deployed to ensure it passes off “safely, lawfully and in a way that prevents serious disruption”.
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