What to expect in the upcoming UK Local Elections

On May 5, local elections are due to be held in Scotland, Wales and parts of England including London, while voters in Northern Ireland are set to elect members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Although local issues will undoubtable carry weight in voters’ minds, the elections in England are a key mid-term test of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership and promise to be a test of whether Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer can convert recent opinion poll leads into votes.

This Dods Political Intelligence report written by our UK policy monitoring team provides a brief guide to the elections that will take place, examining the main factors in play, the parties’ proposals and highlighting key electoral battlegrounds.