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There’s everything to play for in this month’s London local election. Can the capital remain a Labour stronghold? Will the Green Party take Hackney? Could the Tories reclaim Westminster? Will Reform rise to power in Havering? By Saturday May 9, we’ll have all the answers.
Across London’s 32 boroughs, there are 1,817 council seats up for grabs. At the moment, Labour controls 21 of those boroughs but polling suggests that it could take a big hit this time around. On the flipside, YouGov predicts that the Greens and Reform will both make major gains. As well as local ward councillors, there are a few boroughs with their own mayors – Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets. So, people who live in any of those will also be voting for who they want to be mayor.
Wherever and however you plan to vote in this week’s elections, here’s everything you need to know ahead of the big day. See you at the polling station!
When is the next London Local Election?
The London Local Election 2026 is taking place on Thursday May 7.
Where is my local polling station?
If you’re registered to vote, you should have received a polling card which will have the address of your polling station. You can also check for your nearest polling station by entering your postcode here.
What time do polling stations open?
Polling stations will open at 7am and close at 10pm.
What documents do I need to bring to vote?
You must bring some form of photo ID with you to the polling station in order to be allowed to vote. Here’s the full list of accepted ID, according to Electoral Commission:
- Passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country (including an Irish Passport Card)
- Driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or an EEA state (this includes a provisional driving licence)
- A Blue Badge
- Older Person’s Bus Pass funded by the UK Government
- Disabled Person’s Bus Pass funded by the UK Government
- 60+ London Oyster Photocard funded by Transport for London
- Freedom Pass
- Identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
- Biometric immigration document
- Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
- National identity card issued by an EEA state
- Voter Authority Certificate
- Anonymous Elector’s Document
Is it too late to register to vote?
Yes, it is. The deadline to register to vote in these elections is long gone. To vote in person you should had until April 20, for postal the deadline was April 21 and for voting by proxy it was April 28.
Ways to vote
As in any other election, as long as you’re registered you can vote in person, by post or by proxy.
If you’re voting in person, all you need to do is go to your local polling station (which is on your poll card) and bring a form of ID. If you’re voting by post, you need to have sent off your vote far enough in advance for it to arrive before polling day. You can still drop a postal vote into a polling station in person on election day.
Voting by proxy is when you have someone else vote on your behalf. For this, you should have registered in advance and the deadline to do so has already passed. In order to vote, your proxy will need to take ID and a proxy poll card to a polling station on election day.
When will the election results be announced?
Most boroughs are expected to declare their final results on Friday May 8. Some, such as Sutton, Westminster and Ealing are predicted to announced them as early as 4.30am while a few (specifically Lewisham, Croydon and Tower Hamlets) won’t finish counting until Saturday afternoon. Here’s when you can expect to find out the full results from your borough:
- Barking & Dagenham: 5pm Friday
- Barnet: 5pm Friday
- Bexley: 5am Friday
- Brent: 5pm Friday
- Bromley: 7pm Friday
- Camden: 6pm Friday
- Croydon: 4pm Saturday
- Ealing: 4.30am Friday
- Enfield: 5pm Friday
- Greenwich: 4pm Friday
- Hackney: 5pm Friday
- Hammersmith & Fulham: 5.30am Friday
- Haringey: 5.30pm Friday
- Harrow: 4.30pm Friday
- Havering: 6am Friday
- Hillingdon: 4pm Friday
- Hounslow: 4.30pm Friday
- Islington: 3pm Friday
- Kensington & Chelsea: 5am Friday
- Kingston: 6pm Friday
- Lambeth: 6pm Friday
- Lewisham: 4pm Friday
- Merton: 5am Friday
- Newham: 6pm Friday
- Redbridge: 5pm Friday
- Richmond: 5am Friday
- Southwark: 6pm Friday
- Sutton: 4.30am Friday
- Tower Hamlets: 6pm Saturday
- Waltham Forest: 3pm Friday
- Westminster: 4.30am Friday
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