02 May 2024 , 06:00
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Millions of voters are heading to the polls today in crucial local elections and mayoral battles across the country.
Around 2,600 council seats across are up for grabs in 107 local authorities while police and crime commissioner elections are being held in both England and Wales. A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place and a by-election battle in Blackpool South where the Tories are defending a slim majority.
Polling stations across the country are open from 7am until 10pm and under new controversial rules voters must show a valid form of ID in order to cast their ballot. Your polling station should be on your polling card, which was sent a few weeks ago. You can also use this postcode finder from the Electoral Commission.
The results will begin coming in during the early hours of Friday morning with around a third of councils expected to declare overnight.
Key mayoral contests - including Tees Valley - are not expected to declare until Friday afternoon while declarations are expected in London and the West Midlands on Saturday. Under-fire Rishi Sunak is bracing for a bruising night with forecasts suggesting the Tories could lose 500 council seats - half of those the party is defending.
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With just months to go until the general election Labour leader Keir Starmer will also be aiming to translate its double-digit poll lead into gains across the country.
There are fears in No10 that a disastrous set of results could result in mutinous Tory MPs challenging Mr Sunak's position. His allies are worried that defeats for West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen could lead to the PM facing a no-confidence vote.
Elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice told BBC Newsnight "one side is looking for hope, and the other is looking for affirmation."
He added: "For Rishi Sunak he is trying to give his party a glimmer of hope that maybe not all is lost for the general election that we are now all expecting to happen in the autumn. For Sir Keir Starmer, it is in a sense looking for affirmation of the message of the opinion polls that the Labour Party is indeed so far ahead, that it looks now like... Sir Keir Starmer is likely to be the next Prime Minister."