Local elections 2022: counting begins after polls close in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – live updates | Local elections

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First results aren’t expected until about 2am but some of the key seats are likely to be among the first to report.

From 2am we should start seeing some interesting results trickle through, including in Bolton, which should give a good early indicator as to whether Labor is making any comeback in the north of England.

Wandsworth, in London, is expected to report between 5am and 7am.

For a closer look at which councils to watch out for, read this explainer from my colleagues Jessica Elgot and Antonio Voce:

As mentioned earlier, Worthing is one of the seats experts will keep a close eye on to see how well the local elections are going for Labor or whether the Conservatives really do need to worry.

My colleague Heather Stewart went to West Sussex to speak to voters and campaigners on the ground and found an optimism Labor party amid signs Partygate has taken a toll on Tory support in the ‘blue sea wall’.

Here’s an excerpt from her report:

Margaret Howard, standing for re-election in the Broadwater ward in the east of the town, said. “This morning I had a Tory say he had voted Conservative for 40 years, but it’s time for a change. We have had lots of switchers,” she says.

“Some are because of the local picture, because they know about the community work that’s being done locally, and some it’s because they don’t like what’s happening nationally — but we don’t mind either way.”

Cooper, who leads the Labor group on the council, explains that they have put together a local manifesto, based on conversations with voters over five years. It includes everything from bringing the lido back into use to consulting on providing more dog-poo bins.

“It’s about people wanting green spaces for them and their families, and a town to be proud of. It’s not really rocket science, but it’s things that everybody can get onboard with,” says Cooper.

Going into these local elections, Labor was level pegging with the Conservatives, on 17 seats apiece.

The Tories have been running a minority in Worthing since Labor deprived them of their majority in a byelection last December – triggered by the administration of a Conservative councillor, Tim Wills, who was accused by the anti-fascist private campaign group Hope Not Hate of supporting the far-right group Patriotic Alternative.

With 14 seats up for grabs on Thursday, Labor has high hopes of taking control.

Updated at 22.30 BSTE

Peter Kellner, the former president of YouGov, wrote a piece for the Guardian earlier this week looking at the key councils to watch in this year’s local elections.

He explained how strategists will focus on a handful of councils – including Wakefield, Wandsworth and Worthing – to gauge the depth of Boris Johnson’s woes, and the actual probability of a Keir Starmer victory.

You can read his full piece on which local elections to look out for here:

And for a cheat sheet on what seat is up where and who won it last time round, Britain Elects have this handy tool:

Updated at 22.23 BSTE

Polls close in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The polls have just closed in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Counting now begins to elect over 4,300 councillors in more than 140 local authorities. In Scotland all 32 councils and in Wales all 22 councils also held elections.

It could be a long night for local Conservatives amid criticism of the government’s handling of the cost of living crisis and renewed scrutiny over Partygate.

Some candidates styled themselves “local Conservatives”, and in some cases they urged voters not to punish them for “mistakes made in Westminster”.

Leaflets delivered in Hartlepool said: “This Thursday, please don’t punish local Conservatives for the mistakes made in Westminster. We are local, and proud of where we live.”

In many parts of the country, including Birmingham, St Albans, and in the Esher and Walton constituency of the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, Tories were listed as “local Conservative”, even on the ballot paper.

Labor on the other hand is hoping to take a number of council seats from the Tories – with Conservative jewels Wandsworth and Westminster in London looking on a knife edge. And in Scotland, Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar is confident of gains in the May elections, amid earlier predictions the party could come second to SNP.

We’ll bring you all the results as they come in, with latest reactions and analysis.

Updated at 22.24 BSTE

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