Politics

Deadline nears to register to vote in local elections


Registration to vote in May’s local and mayoral elections in England is to close on Friday.

Anyone who wants to vote has until 23:59 BST on Friday to submit an application to register.

There are local elections to 24 of England’s 317 councils as well as some mayoral authorities on 1 May.

It’s the first big set of polls since Labour’s landslide victory in last year’s general election.

About 1,650 seats will be contested on 14 county councils, eight unitary authorities, one metropolitan district, and in the Isles of Scilly.

There will also be mayoral elections in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and – for the first time – in Hull and East Yorkshire, and Greater Lincolnshire.

Elections to all 21 county councils in England had been due to take place.

But last month, the government announced elections would be postponed in nine areas, where the councils are undertaking reorganisation and devolution.

On the same day, there is also a Westminster by-election in the Cheshire seat of Runcorn and Helsby.

There are no local elections scheduled in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Niki Nixon, director of communications at the Electoral Commission, said: “Tomorrow is the last day to register to vote ahead of the upcoming local elections on 1 May.

“You need to be registered before the deadline at midnight on Friday so you can have your say.

“If your details have changed or you’ve moved home since the general election last year, you’ll need to register again.

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“It only takes five minutes, and you can do it online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

“And if you want to vote by post or by appointing a proxy to vote on your behalf, you’ll need to apply before the deadlines next week – but you must be registered to vote first.”

The areas where there are elections to county councils include: Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The other elections are to the unitary authorities of Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Durham, North Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, West Northamptonshire and Wiltshire, plus Doncaster Metropolitan Council and the Isles of Scilly, which has a unique governance structure.



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