On Thursday, almost half of the United Kingdom was given the opportunity to vote in local elections. Usually, little attention is paid to local elections, whose winners are largely responsible for planning applications and trash collection. But British politics is far from usual at the moment.
Voters across England went to the polls to elect over 5,000 councillors in 136 local authorities. At the same time, six directly elected mayors will be chosen, as well as the Scottish and Welsh devolved parliaments. While these election results do not directly affect the British government, they are widely seen as a key test for all political parties and the biggest test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer since the 2024 parliamentary elections.
