When are the local elections in May 2017? Complete guide on local and mayoral votes in England, Scotland and Wales
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Voters will deliver their verdicts on the major political parties next month in the first major round of elections since the EU referendum .
Local elections are taking place in England, Scotland and Wales on May 4 with 4,851 council seats up for grabs.
The contests for the six new metro mayors in England are also being held on that day.
Jeremy Corbyn will be hoping to disprove the polls and show Labour is making headway under his leadership.
The elections will also prove a crucial test for UKIP’s embattled leader Paul Nuttall and point to whether the Lib Dems are rebuilding their grassroots base after their routing in the 2015 general election.
(Photo: London News Pictures Ltd)
The polls are also a key test of Theresa May’s promise to spread wealth and fairness across the country.
Here is your guide to the election battlegrounds, the key contests and what the results will mean for the party leaders.
When they are and how you can vote
(Photo: PA)
The polling stations open at 7am on Thursday May 4 and close at 10pm.
To vote you must be 18 or over on polling day in England and Wales and 16 or over in Scotland.
The deadline for a postal vote is 5pm on April 18.
Don't forget to register
In order to be able to vote you must register, if you have not already done so, by midnight on April 13 in England and Wales and by midnight on April 17 in Scotland.
You can register to vote online at gov.uk/register-to-vote .
There are six new metro mayors
For the first time voters in Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City region, the West Midlands, Tees Valley, the West of England and Cambridge and Peterbrough will elect a new Metro Mayor.
The mayors will be in charge of housing, transport and economic strategy for these new combined authorities.
Labour is confident of winning Greater Manchester where former Health Secretary Andy Burnham is standing .
The party should also win in the Liverpool region where its candidate is MP Steve Rotheram.
Based on the 2015 election results, Labour should also take Tees Valley where its candidate is Sue Jeffrey.
The key battleground is the West Midlands were Labour’s Sion Simon, an MEP and former MP, is facing strong competition from the Tory Andy Street, the former boss of John Lewis.
In addition to the six metro mayors, elections are also taking place for directly-elected mayors in Doncaster and North Tyneside.
We'll have a new MP
(Photo: PA)
The Manchester Gorton by-election is also being held following the death of Labour’s Sir Gerald Kaufman .
Don't expect too many fireworks, considering It should be the ninth-safest Labour seat in the country.
But Labour shadow minister Rebecca Long-Bailey has cautioned MPs not to "ever call a seat a safe seat nowadays".
There are 11 candidates in all, including three independents, the Christian Peoples Alliance, Communist League and a man named The Irrelevant Johnny Disco, who is standing for the Monster Raving Loony Party.
Labour's candidate is 59-year-old MEP Mohammed Afzal Khan, a former PC who later trained as a solicitor.
He will defend a 24,000 majority against Conservative Shaden Jaradat, Lib Dem Jackie Pearcey and Phil Eckersley of UKIP.
There are a LOT of council seats in play
(Photo: PA)
Seats on 34 councils in England are up for grabs on May 4.
The last round of comparable elections were held in 2013 when Labour picked up 291 seats, UKIP gained 139 and Tories lost 335 and the Lib Dems shed 124 seats.
Labour holds just three of the councils up for grabs: Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Durham.
Some are forecasting that Mr Corbyn could struggle to make headway this year. The Conservative pollster Robert Hayward has said Labour could be heading for its worst results since 1985 and could lose 125 seats.
The Lib Dems could gain 100 seats, winning back control of Somerset and Cornwall.
The Tories could benefit from the decline of UKIP which is forecast to lose 100 councillors.
Theresa May, who launched the Tory campaign in Nottinghamshire, is predicted to defy the mid-term blues and win as many as 50 seats.
A poor set of results for Labour will pile pressure on Mr Corbyn who is still nursing his wounds after the Copeland by-election defeat .
Wales also goes to the polls
(Photo: Daily Post Wales)
There are 1,254 council seats in play as elections take place in all of Wales’ 22 county and borough councils.
The last elections were held in 2012 when Labour won 231 seats to take their total to 580. Plaid has 158 seats, the Tories 105 and the Lib Dems 72.
Labour First Minister Carwyn Jones has warned his party faces a tough battle to hold ground this year.
There are fears that a bad night could see Labour lose control of its strongholds of Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend.
Labour faces a tough fight in Scotland
(Photo: REX)
Labour’s biggest test could come in Scotland were all 1,220 seats are up for grabs on the country’s 32 local authorities.
In 2012 Labour won 58 seats, the SNP 57 while the Tories lost 16 and the Lib Dems 80.
This saw Labour hold Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire.
Since then the party has been overtaken in the polls by the Tories under its charismatic leader Ruth Davidson and some are forecasting it could slip to third place in this May’s elections.
This could see Labour lose its citadel of Glasgow to Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP .
Full list if councils holding elections in England
Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire
Cornwall
Cumbria
Derbyshire
Devon
Doncaster
Dorset
Durham
East Sussex
Essex
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Hertfordshire
Isle of Wight
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Norfolk
North Yorkshire
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire
Shropshire
Somerset
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Warwickshire
West Sussex
Wiltshire
Worcestershire
Where do I go to vote?
The location of your polling station will be written on your polling card.
If you've lost it, don't worry. You can find out where you have to go by contacting your local election office.
Just put your postcode into the search at AboutMyVote.co.uk and it'll tell you who to get in touch with.
Yes. It might speed the process up a little if you have your polling card with you, but you can vote without it.
What do I do when I get to the polling station?
When you arrive at the polling station, there will be people sitting at a desk with a copy of the electoral register.
How did things go in the 2016 local elections?
Labour faced wipeout in Scotland and did better than expected in England, but still lost seats.
There was also the London Assembly, mayors and Police and Crime Commisioners.
Labour won all four mayors, including gaining in Bristol and London, and gained two new MPs.