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Local election turnout often suggests people aren't anywhere near as engaged than they are at a General Election - but this time feels different.
With the rise of Reform UK and the Green Party, Labour's national polling plummeting and a slew of new parties and independents in the mix, it's anyone's guess what will happen in some areas of London. With the vote looming, MyLondon has put together your complete guide to the local elections, whether you're a seasoned voter or aren't quite sure how it all works.
While in a General Election you are voting for your local MP to represent you in the House of Commons, at the local elections you are choosing your local councillors to represent you on the council. There is a set number of seats on each council and whoever has the most councillors when the voting is done typically gets to be in charge.
In some boroughs there are also directly-elected mayors who are voted in by the people to lead the council regardless of which party controls it. Boroughs with directly elected mayors are Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets so people in those boroughs will be voting for their local ward councillor and who they want to be mayor.
You need to be registered to vote. If you are registered you should have received a polling card from your local council. The deadline for registering to vote on May 7 has now passed, but you can check if you are registered by visiting the Government page that lets you put in your postcode to check your local registration office (usually your council). That will give you the exact email address or phone number to call to check.
On May 7 polling stations will open from 7am to 10pm to allow you to cast your vote. You will need photo ID. Your polling card will tell you where your local polling station is.
Each London borough is separated into electoral wards and each ward has between one and three councillors. MyLondon has put together full lists of candidates for every borough, broken down by ward (your polling card will tell you what ward you live in).
You can find yours by following the links below. Some boroughs also have directly-elected mayors so you'll find a link to the mayoral candidates for the boroughs that have them. MyLondon has also pulled together the manifestos and promises of each party in a number of boroughs, also linked below.
While the local elections will only decide who runs each local authority in the UK and won't change who is elected as an MP, the results are seen as a litmus test for how things might go at the next General Election. The next time we vote for our local MPs is scheduled to be in 2028, though it can be called earlier or pushed back by a year by the current government.
So there are likely two years between the local elections and the next General Election, meaning if Labour loses a lot of council seats as expected, there's time for the party to repair its reputation. That said, huge losses locally will put huge pressure on an already embattled Sir Keir Starmer and could potentially spark a leadership contest within Labour.
If Reform take over more councils, they have an opportunity to prove they can govern effectively, following controversy at a number of councils they took control of last year. At Kent County Council, in less than a year Reform has lost 10 of its 47 council seats, the most recent via a by-election to the Green party after a serving Reform councillor was jailed for controlling or coercive behaviour towards his wife. Five others had their party membership taken away due to displaying "a pattern of dishonest and deceptive behaviour".
At Nottinghamshire County Council, the Reform administration came under heavy criticism for banning NottinghamshireLive journalists after they reported divisions within the group around local government reorganisation, with councillors allegedly told they could be suspended if they didn't support the council leader's preference.
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