The next local elections in the UK are set to take place on Thursday 7th May 2026. I've applied for a postal vote registration, so that I don't have to go to place where most voters go to. Applications to vote by post end on Tuesday 21st April at 5pm.

Edited March 21Mar 21 by DanielCarey

Indeed, thanks for starting this, and it looks to be a fun one as local elections seem to take more and more significance (quite possibly outsized) each year. To what extent that is part of the media hatred of Labour, using them as a vehicle to push Reform, or just a symptom of the 24/7 news cycle, nothing conclusive, but yes there is quite an expectation for this one.

2025's local cycle was largely county-wide district council voting, in contrast, 2026's set of local elections is far more urban.

Perhaps the most significant set of elections will be those of every London borough, and the full elections in other major urban areas like most of the West Midlands and traditional Labour areas like Sunderland. Most of the major population centres in North West England also have an election, but those are mostly a one-third election, so we're not expecting Reform to flip central Manchester, nor would we outside of the collapse of polite society.

Various district councils and cities across the country also have an election, including some that got delayed from 2025, and once again I'm still not voting anywhere.

Anyway for those people who do have the opportunity to vote, this is expected to be seen as a test of Greens in fertile environments for them, a test of Reform in mostly rather less fertile environments, though some they have a good chance of flipping, and an opportunity to have a referendum on Keir Starmer's premiership.

Though of course, as always, voting like that is very destructive, as if you end up with a bunch of useless party loyalists as your council, you can expect your council to act as if it were run by a bunch of useless party loyalists (see: Kent Council, Warwickshire Council in the last year). Keep an eye out for who's running in your ward and vote for who you think'd be best at doing a councillor's job is, as always, the far better advice, no matter what the media circus about its impact on the national picture is.

Ah is this why he threatening "may lockdowns" 😅

1 hour ago, 777666jason said:

Ah is this why he threatening "may lockdowns" 😅

Who? No one is doing that.

1 minute ago, Iz様 🌟 said:

Who? No one is doing that.

Starmer to curb the meningitis outbreak a May lockdown

15 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

Starmer to curb the meningitis outbreak a May lockdown

https://fullfact.org/health/keir-starmer-fake-quote-lockdown-meningitis/

I'd be wary of the sources you are consuming media from if a fake claim has made it onto your feed. Meningitis also is unlikely to ever require a COVID style lockdown because the threshold for transmission and infection is far higher than COVID or flu.

Not heard of any May lockdown - sounds like fake bollocks to me - probably stirred from the right

I got my postal vote application accepted. I'll be able to vote by post for 3 years.