Local elections: running blog
By Richard North - May 8, 2026
For reasons which have as much to do with the convenience of local council staff – and a marginal reduction in the costs of producing the results – most local authorities in England do not begin counting the moment the polls close. Most are working to normal office hours, starting their counting later this morning. That includes the six mayoral contests.
Only 46 out of 136 English local authorities are expected to count and report results overnight. The others, as well as the Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections, will deliver their results through today, although some may not declare until Saturday evening.
The first results are expected (at the time of writing) between 1 – 2.30am, with the leader of the pack usually either Conservative-held Broxbourne or Labour’s Halton. Harlow and Redditch come shortly after them, and then a bunch around 2.00am, which may include Chorley, Hart, Hull, Hartlepool, North East Lincolnshire, Lincoln, and Rochford.
About 2:30am, Wigan is expected to be the first metropolitan borough to finish, with Tamworth coming in at much the same time. Then there is the so-called “3am Rush”, when we might see results from Portsmouth, Exeter, Southend-on-Sea, Basildon, Brentwood, Oxford, Reading, Peterborough, Tameside, and Bolton.
From 3:30am, Salford, Dudley, Colchester, and Westminster (expected to be the first London borough to complete its count) may be on record, and then the stragglers roll in any time up to and beyond 5:00am, following which the day shift takes over.
With that, I will keep a running blog overnight, until either tiredness or boredom sets in – whichever comes first. I will then update it through the day as more results come in. Comments will remain open throughout.
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01:20am – For the record, Politics UK has predicted the local election result for all council wards: Reform 1,580 (+1,580); Lib-Dems 950 (+286); Labour: 941 (-1,597); Conservatives: 572 (-631); Green 503 (+344); Independent 213 (-102); Muslim independents 208 (+177).
01:30-ish – the BBC has analysed the results from five key wards. The Labour vote has fallen by 21 points, while Reform have taken 27 percent of the vote. The Conservatives have suffered less, but their support is down by 5 points.
02:00 – First full result recording a loss: Redditch. Labour has lost its majority to no overall control. The council has 27 seats but only nine were up for election. Of these, Reform won eight and Labour one. Greens and the Tories each lost one.
Just past midday 50 councils had declared in England, with 86 still to go. Reform stood with 447 seats (up 445), Lib-Dems at 286 (up 32, Conservatives at 272 (down 198), Labour 262 (down 293), Greens 72 (up 41), and Independents (including Muslims) 27 (down 10).
The picture isn’t as clear as might seem. My impression is that Reform isn’t doing quite as well as it hoped, both Labour and Conservatives are losing support and, in contrast with the pre-poll bragging, the Greens are performing relatively poorly. Neither have we seen a great upsurge in the Muslim vote – apart from the usual culprits.
