Just over seven million voters in 88 local authorities are going to the polls today, in an election where 4,581 council seats are up for grabs, in addition to the election of ‘metro mayors’ in Greater Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands. Tees Valley, the West of England, Cambridge and Peterborough also have the chance to elect ‘metro mayors’ for the first time.
Results will start to be counted in some areas as soon as the polls close, while many authorities will wait until Friday morning.
At the set of local elections in 2016, Corbyn outperformed the expectations of his critics, replicating Ed Miliband’s results in 2012, with the Tories losing control of one of their councils, while Labour gained control of Bristol council.
Should Labour win the Liverpool metropolitan mayor, as is to be expected, that may trigger a by-election if Steve Rotheram, who is currently MP for Liverpool Walton, steps down. He has not resigned his parliamentary seat ahead of the General Election on June 8th, unlike Andy Burnham, the MP for Leigh who is widely expected to win the Greater Manchester Mayoral election.
