May elections live: millions cast their votes across England, Scotland and Wales ...Middle East

Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria voted early today. Here they are arriving at a polling station in Westminster.

Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive at a polling station in Westminster. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

For years Westminster was a Conservative-run council, but it went Labour in 2022. This year, it’s a Tory target.

This is what Dave Hill and Lewis Baston say about Westminster in their excellent and exceptionally thorough London Decides guide to the elections in the capital.

double quotation markIn June 2025, a member of its crew leaped aboard the rival craft Reform: she has since been anointed her new party’s candidate for Mayor of London in far-off 2028. Another followed in November. There have been two other by-elections, one of them producing a Tory hold, the other a Labour hold. The net outcome is that Labour currently has 28 seats, the Tories 24 and Reform two. Several Westminster wards turn on tight margins and with Reform and the Greens trying to get in on the two-party act, every vote is going to count.

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Here is the election message from Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party.

double quotation markToday, as they head to polling stations, millions of people across the country face a stark choice: between electing a Conservative council that delivers better services and lower taxes, and the chaos and that Labour, Reform and the rest have to offer.

Under my leadership the Conservative party has changed. We know where we went wrong and we’re fixing it.

The next Conservative government will deliver cheaper energy bills, take back our streets with 10,000 more police officers, cut business rates for the high street, end the war on motorists, and abolish stamp duty on the family home.

We are the only party with the plan, the team and the backbone to deliver a stronger economy and stronger country.

These elections are on a knife edge. Every vote counts and yours could make the difference.

Vote Conservative today and back us to get Britain working again.

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Here is Nigel Farage’s overnight eve-of-poll statement. The Reform UK leader said:

double quotation markThe Tories tried to remove the gutless Keir Starmer and failed.

The only way to finally remove the most unpopular and unpatriotic prime minister in our lifetime is to back Reform.

Together, we can continue the journey of getting our great country back on track.

Reform made history and won the local elections last year. If you really want change, go out and vote for it again today.

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Good morning. Voting has started in what looks set to be a seismic set of elections. In England people will be electing around 5,000 councillors, and six mayors; in Scotland, they are choosing 129 MSPs to serve in a new parliament; and in Wales they are selecting 96 members of the Senedd (MSs), under a new electoral system which also means the Senedd is getting much bigger. In the past, there were just 60 MSs.

Some English councils will count overnight, but most of them will start counting tomorrow morning, which is also when counting in Scotland and Wales begins.

Here is a Guardian guide to what’s at stake.

Here is an article by our data team explaining why the polling suggests the results will be particularly difficult for Labour.

And here is Patrick Greenfield’s First Edition briefing on five trends to look out for.

As the day goes on, I will post more on why the results we get tomorrow have the potential to upend British politics.

There probably won’t be much hard news today. But you never know, and there will be space for dogs at polling stations.

For the record, here is the statement that Keir Starmer released about the elections overnight.

double quotation markToday when you put your vote in the ballot box you face a clear choice. Progress and a better future for the community you call home, with a Labour council working with a Labour government. Versus the anger and division offered up by Reform or empty promises from the Greens.

In tough times, you need politicians who will always stand up for you and your family. Time and again Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski have shown they are not fit to meet this moment of great global instability. Today I pledge firmly to you: whatever the pressure, Labour will always back you and your family and we will never waver from doing what is in Britain’s national interest.

Back action to ease the cost of living. Back our NHS. Back a better future for your local community.

Today, choose unity over division. Vote Labour.

I will post statements from the other main party leaders shortly.

If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.

If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.

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May elections live: millions cast their votes across England, Scotland and Wales NYT News Today.

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