Parties make final push before elections across Britain

Parties are making final pitches before Thursday elections across England, Scotland and Wales, with results due from Friday and through the weekend.

Political parties are making their final appeals to voters before Thursday’s elections across England, Scotland and Wales, in contests that will choose devolved governments, councillors and mayors while offering the biggest test of public opinion since Labour won the 2024 general election.

Polling stations will be open from 0700 BST to 2200 BST on Thursday 7 May. Results are expected to follow on Friday and over the weekend.

The elections carry immediate local consequences, with the results helping determine who runs services including schools, social care, rubbish collection and transport. They may also provide a clearer picture of how voters judge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government at a time when his leadership has come under pressure.

Opinion polling cited in the campaign’s closing stretch suggests the results could underline a more fragmented political landscape, with support spread across a wider range of parties in England, Scotland and Wales.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party is seeking a fifth consecutive devolved election victory while trying to hold off challenges from Labour and Reform UK. In Wales, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru are competing to become the largest party in the Senedd, where Labour’s unbroken run in power since devolution began in 1999 is under threat.

Labour is also exposed in England, where it has a majority on, or leads, many of the councils being contested. The party could face losses to Reform UK and Green candidates in a series of local races.

Party leaders used the final full day of campaigning to sharpen their messages. Writing in the Mirror, Starmer said voters faced “a clear choice” between “unity or division” and “progress versus the politics of anger.” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told broadcasters in London that the Tories were the “only serious party,” pointing to her party’s plans on work, energy, taxes and business rates.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey argued his party was best placed to block Reform UK in English communities, while Green leader Zack Polanski promoted wealth taxes, lower bills and his party’s wider campaign message. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage repeated his party’s slogan, “Vote Reform Get Starmer out,” casting Reform as the vehicle for change in national and local government.

In Scotland, First Minister John Swinney urged voters to back an SNP government on health, cost-of-living support and a future independence referendum. Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the Welsh election was “going down to the wire,” presenting Plaid as rooted in Wales and best placed to beat Reform.

The results will begin to show from Friday whether the final campaign pitches have shifted voters — and how far the pressure on Labour, the SNP and other established parties has deepened.