Local elections 2024: Live updates as Starmer issues rallying cry to vote – LabourList

Voters up and down the country are heading to the polls today in the last set of local elections before the next general election.

Though there are comparatively few local council elections this year, every person across England and Wales will have the chance to vote, as there will also be police and crime commissioner elections, combined authority metro mayoral elections and elections for the London Assembly and London mayor. Voters in Blackpool South will also be electing their new MP.

We will be bringing you all the latest news, reaction and analysis today and over the next couple of days in our liveblog, across the site and our must-read newsletter. Keep refreshing this page for new updates.

---

12.25pm: MPs hit the doorstep for a final push

Some snaps from MPs getting out the vote today:

12.15pm: Anna Soubry and ex-Johnson adviser vote Labour

Not quite breaking news but…I’ve just seen former Tory MP Anna Soubry said yesterday she’d be voting Labour today.

She said on X she’d be casting her vote for Leicestershire police and crime commissioner candidate Rory Palmer, as he’s the best candidate, it sends a “clear message” we need a general election, and it “takes us closer to getting Keir Starmer into Number 10”.

Meanwhile Iain Anderson, a former adviser to Boris Johnson who quit the Tories last year and has been providing business advice to Labour, said he was voting Labour for the first time:

11.40am: Keir Starmer casts vote for Sadiq Khan

Keir Starmer has cast his vote at his local polling station for Sadiq Khan and Labour’s London Assembly candidates.

In a post on X, he said: “Voting Labour is the first step towards a decade of national renewal.”

11.20am: ‘We want to show Labour can demolish the blue wall’

North Hertfordshire is another key area Labour will need to win in order to be on track to secure a majority at the next general election. With every council seat up for grabs, Labour is in a battle with the Liberal Democrats to capitalise on a collapse in Conservative support.

Morgan Jones spent the eve of poll in North Hertfordshire, where campaigners told her voters are sick of the Tories and that both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have been attempting to position themselves as the main opposition to capture disaffected Tory votes.

Read the full story here.

10.55am: Dudley – where Labour cannot afford to lose

Dudley, where Labour launched its local elections campaign, is a must-win today. The Black County town would be an important symbolic victory for labour nationally to win in Dudley – given former Prime Minister Boris Johnson chose it for a major speech on levelling up in 2020.

LabourList’s Tom Belger met voters in Dudley, where some told him they will never vote Conservative again.

Read the full story here.

10.10am: Starmer’s message on polling day

The Labour leader has posted on X this morning: “Our country desperately needs change – but it can only happen if you vote for it. That starts by voting Labour today. Together, we can get Britain’s future back.”

He has written for The Mirror too here on his big-picture pitch to voters. This was his eve-of-polls video pitch too last night:

10.05am: Which contests should we watch most closely?

National executive committee member Luke Akehurst has written his annual piece for us on what a good set of results would look like for Labour. He picks out councils including Harlow, Thurrock, Bolton, Burnley, Cannock Chase, Dudley and Milton Keynes as places Labour will be looking to make gains.

Meanwhile Local Government Information Unit chief executive Jonathan Carr-West has also written for us on the key councils to watch and tests for Labour, writing that the “major expected shifts” are within the current ‘no overall control’ councils.

And our own Katie Neame has done a round-up of some of the interesting contests to watch as we look ahead to the general election, including Swindon and Worcester – though pollster John Curtice did stress in a recent interview that the locals “should not be used to project what the result of the general election would be”…

Inevitably a series of metro mayoral contests will also garner a lot of attention, from tight Tory-Labour races in Tees Valley and West Midlands to the red-on-red contest in the North East.

10am: What are the key elections today?

Polls are open in this year’s local elections. According to the Local Government Information Unit, 107 local council elections are taking place, with many of the seats up for election last contested in 2021.

There will be elections for ten metro mayors, representing South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Tees Valley, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Midlands, London, York and North Yorkshire, the East Midlands and the North East (the latter three of which are new positions), as well as for the mayor of Salford.

Voters in London will also elect London Assembly members, and further elections will take place across England and Wales for 37 police and crime commissioners. No elections are happening in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

A by-election in Blackpool South will also take place today, following the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton, with Labour’s Chris Webb seeking to overturn the Conservatives’ majority of 3,690 votes.

---

Read more of our coverage of the 2024 local elections here.

If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this or any other topic involving Labour, on record or strictly anonymously, contact us at [email protected]. 

Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for a briefing everything Labour, every weekday morning. 

If you can help sustain our work too through a monthly donation, become one of our supporters here.

And if you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or content, email [email protected].