Polls opened across the UK on Thursday morning for local elections that will determine around 5,000 council seats across 136 councils, six mayoral contests, and the composition of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

The vote is expected to see significant gains for the far-right Reform party and the left-wing Greens, while the ruling centre-left Labour Party is projected to suffer major losses, piling further pressure on embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Although local councils handle issues like garbage collection and potholes, the election is widely seen as a referendum on the prime minister's performance. Labour is expected to lose ground in Wales and Scotland to nationalist parties — Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party (SNP) respectively.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) and will close at 10 p.m., with most results expected by Friday afternoon.

Despite winning a large majority in July 2024, largely due to the UK's first-past-the-post system, Labour and Starmer have slumped in the polls. In February, Starmer narrowly survived a rebellion within his own party after a scandal involving Peter Mandelson's close friendship with deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Mandelson had been appointed by Starmer's government as ambassador to Washington, but the release of the Epstein files revealed that Mandelson maintained a close relationship with the disgraced financier for years, possibly providing him with illegal insider information. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Starmer's resignation. Analysts suggest a poor performance in Thursday's vote could trigger a renewed push to oust Starmer.

Source: www.dw.com