Millions of people across the United Kingdom are heading to the polls in what is shaping up to be the most significant electoral test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s embattled government since it rose to power in a landslide victory in 2024.
Voters in England, Scotland and Wales are casting their ballots in local elections where far-right and left-wing parties are projected to make gains, dealing a heavy blow to the governing Labour Party.
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The elections will determine the composition of some 5,000 local council seats, a number of mayoral positions across England, as well as seats in the Scottish and Welsh devolved parliaments.
Polls opened at 7am (06:00 GMT) and will close at 10pm (21:00 GMT). Results are expected overnight, with some likely on Friday.
Under the first-past-the-post system (FPTP) used particularly in England, a candidate needs only more votes than their rivals, not a majority, to win.
The prime minister cast his vote earlier in the day alongside his wife, Victoria Starmer, at Westminster Chapel.
Starmer’s popularity has plunged since he took office, with his government struggling to deliver economic growth, as households face a cost-of-living crisis in part caused by rising energy prices tied to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
He has also been embroiled in a scandal over Peter Mandelson, who was fired as United States ambassador over his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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Opinion polls have suggested growing support for Greens Party leader Zack Polanski, a self-described “eco-populist”, and Nigel Farage, cofounder of right-wing Reform UK.
Over the weekend, Starmer wrote on the online platform Substack: “The answer to this moment, to the world we face today, is not passive government. Nor is it the populists who look out at the world and offer only easy answers that would make us weaker, or bankrupt.”
Analysts say this election could signal an end to the traditional two-party dominance of the electoral system, which has seen power oscillate between Labour and the Conservative Party.
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