How the May 7 elections will play out across the UK, hour by hour

After weeks of leaflets, door-knocks and speculation about the future of Keir Starmer, it’s almost time for much-anticipated elections to take place across the UK.

Tomorrow, voters in Wales and Scotland will elect MSs and MSPs to fill their respective devolved Parliaments.

And at the same time, England will be picking more than 4,850 councillors for seats in 134 of its 317 councils including 32 London Boroughs.

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm. You’ll need to take a form of ID with you (a passport or driving licence are two valid examples), and as long as you’re in the queue by 10pm you will be allowed to vote.

After polling stations shut up shop for the night (perhaps literally), the counting process will begin. For counts taking place overnight, staff will immediately take the sealed ballot boxes to the count centre.

Here’s when you can expect results will start arriving.

Friday May 8

Most of the English councils announcing results overnight on Friday will only be electing a third or half of their councillors, which can make dramatic shifts in power less likely.

1:00am: Results from Broxbourne and Halton, where a third of each council is being decided.

That arrangement means no party other than the Conservatives can win control of Broxbourne due to the current make-up, though it could slip to no overall control if they drop enough seats.

In Halton, Labour has enough of a majority to ensure they’ll stay in charge regardless of how the vote goes.

1:30am: Harlow, which also elects in thirds, will reveal results. It’s possible that the Conservatives could lose control, however with Reform’s prescence in Essex an outcome of no overall control is likely.

1:45am: Redditch also elects in thirds. Labour only needs to retain one seat to stay in control.

2:00am: Chorley, Hart, Hartlepool, Hull, Lincoln, North East Lincolnshire and Rochford’s results will be in. All seven elect in thirds.

Both North East Lincolnshire and Hull currently have Reform mayors after big victories in last year’s elections, and the party’s popularity could result in these councils ending up with no overall control.

2:30am: Tamworth and Wigan‘s results will come in, which both elect in thirds and cannot be lost by Labour.

3:00am: Basildon, Bolton, Brentwood, Exeter, Oxford, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Reading, Salford, Southend-on-Sea, Tameside, all of which elect in thirds, will reveal results.

The Lib Dems who currently run Brentwood in coalition with Labour could take control, however all others are likely not to change, or to result in no majority.

3:30am: Colchester and Dudley, who both elect in thirds, will give their results, which are likely to be maintained ‘no overall control’.

Westminster is the first council that has has all seats up for grabs. Labour gained this council from the Conservatives in the last election, but the Tories could steal it back.

4:00am: Results in Fareham, which elects in halves every two years, plus all-seat elections in Hampshire (Conservative-held), Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Wandsworth (both Labour-held but only since 2022).

Gosport, Havant and Plymouth, which elect in thirds, are also up.

4:30am: Sutton and Ealing will share results.

5:00am: Results from Bexley, which could sway from Conservative to Reform, and Kensington and Chelsea, alongside Richmond-upon-Thames, Eastleigh and Stockport.

5:30am: Hammersmith & Fulham will declare results.

6:00am: Results from Havering, where Reform are hoping to do well.

6:30am: Southampton will declare, another council electing in thirds where Labour can’t mathematically lose control.

9:30am: This is when we should get the first results from the Scottish parliament elections. MSPs are elected for regions and constituencies using two different voting systems. The SNP is predicted to be the biggest party, but there are question marks over whether it will get a majority and which party will become the official opposition.

11:00am: Results will start to come through from the Senedd elections in Wales. The Welsh Parliament voting system has been completely overhauled for the 2026 election, and Cardiff could end up hosting the biggest earthquake of the day with the widely predicted collapse of Labour in the country.

12:30pm: Blackburn and Manchester, both electing in thirds, will reveal results. Manchester can only remain Labour-held, but Blackburn could be lost.

1:00pm: Burnley will announce results, where ex-Labour councillors could be re-elected as independents.

1:45pm: North Tyneside will remain under Labour control, even if the party loses all 17 of the seats they are defending.

2:00pm: Cheltenham will announce, which will likely stay in a Lib Dem hold. Hyndburn, Rochdale, Sheffield, Welwyn Hatfield all elect in thirds and will likely end up or remain no overall control.

2:30pm: Huntingdonshire, St Helens, Norwich, Pendle, Preston and West Oxfordshire will give results. Norwich is predicted to end up under Green control.

3:00pm: Leeds will declare – no overall control is possible but Labour have enough seats that a change of party to any other won’t occur.

The Isle of Wight, Islington, Thurrock and Waltham Forest, Cannock Chase, Epping Forest, Knowsley, Rushmoor and Three Rivers will announce results. No overall control is likely in all of them other than Islington, which will be between the Greens and Labour, and the Liberal Democrat-held Three Rivers.

3:30pm: Nuneaton & Bedworth will reveal its results. It is likely to end up as ‘no overall control’ due to the Reform vote.

4:00pm: A busy hour. Gateshead, Greenwich, and Sunderland (Labour held), South Cambridgeshire (Liberal Democrat) Hillingdon, Suffolk and West Sussex (all currently Conservative) will announce results.

Basingstoke & Deane, Crawley, Ipswich, Rugby, Trafford, Tunbridge Wells, West Lancashire and Wolverhampton, will all announce, with a third of seats being re-elected.

4:30pm: Harrow will likely announce a continued Conservative hold. Barnsley, usually safely Labour but heavily targeted by Reform, will declare, as will Bury.

4:45pm: Newcastle-upon-Tyne will declare.

5:00pm: Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Hackney, Milton Keynes, Redbridge, Sandwell, Coventry, Essex and Walsall, which elect all their councillors this year, will declare. We could see Hackney shift to Green control.

Cambridge, St Albans, Stevenage, Watford and Wokingham, all electing a third of their council, will announce results.

5:30pm: Haringey, Hounslow, Norfolk, Sefton and South Tyneside, all electing their full council, will declare. These are some of the most hotly anticipated results of the day.

6:00pm: Camden, usually safely held by Labour but with the potential to sway Green, will give results.

Birmingham, Kingston, Southwark, East Surrey, East Sussex, Kirklees, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark, Swindon and West Surrey will all declare, electing full councils.

Adur, Hastings, Wakefield, Winchester and Worthing, using the thirds model, will give results. No overall control is predicted except for Winchester, held by the Lib Dems.

7:00pm: Bromley, traditionally a safe bet for the Tories, could be lost to Reform. Cherwell will give results too.

8:30pm: Calderdale will declare, with all its seats up for election.

Saturday, May 9

4:00pm: Bradford, Croydon and Lewisham will announce, with all seats up for grabs..

6:00pm: Tower Hamlets, currently run by local party Aspire, will declare results.

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