Councillors and their councils are responsible for a much larger number of services than people think, and actually are much more heavily involved than MPs often are in their communities.<\/p>\n
Depending on the type authority, your\u00a0council is responsible<\/a>\u00a0for everything from education, social services, waste disposal, planning, public security and trading standards \u2013 you know, the stuff that directly affects your everyday life.<\/p>\n This is ultimately why you pay money \u2013 council tax \u2013 to your local authority, because these are the people managing the services where you live.<\/p>\n Despite the importance of these matters, local elections have an incredibly poor turnout rate,\u00a0just 34% in last year\u2019s round.<\/a><\/p>\n Compare this to\u00a059.7% (still the lowest since 2001) in the last general election<\/a>, and it\u2019s a bleak outlook for local democracy in the UK.<\/p>\n More than just local<\/p>\n While, of course, local elections have a direct impact on where you live, there is also a bigger picture.<\/p>\n Many use the local elections as a chance to protest against the current government, with Reform even arguing in their campaign that a vote for them could \u2018get Starmer out.\u2019<\/p>\n Whilst reports continue to swirl over whether a bad night for Labour could see Keir Starmer face a leadership challenge, it\u2019s important to remember what you\u2019re actually voting for this week<\/a> \u2013 local government, not national. <\/p>\n Nevertheless, both Reform and the Greens look set to benefit massively from the anti-Labour sentiment across the nation.<\/p>\n What do the polls say?<\/p>\n There are around 5,000 seats up for election and about 60 councils projected to change hands,\u00a0as per Poll Check.<\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0polling organisation<\/a>\u00a0say that when most of the seats up for election this year were last contested, Labour polled at 35%.<\/p>\n This has since dropped to 20%.<\/p>\n The biggest improvers are, of course, Reform UK and the Greens who have skyrocketed in popularity since the general election.<\/p>\n The London polls<\/p>\n Some of the biggest votes will take place in London, where all 32 boroughs are up for election. <\/p>\n Here, Labour could suffer their most damaging results. In a traditional stronghold for the party, they are predicted to lose 380 council seats and control of 13 councils. <\/p>\n At the same time, this could be where the Greens have their best night<\/a>. They\u2019re on course to win more than 300 council seats and gain control of their first even London councils in areas such as Hackney, Lewisham and Haringey.<\/p>\n Reform are expected to have success in east London, gaining control of three councils there, whilst the Tories could lose three councils. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Lib Dems\u2019 heartland of south-west London will remain strong. <\/p>\n What about the rest of the country?<\/p>\n If the\u00a0polls\u00a0are to be trusted, Reform UK will be the big winners across England at the 2026 local elections.<\/p>\n Out of the around 5,000 seats up for grabs in this round, Poll Check predicts the most will be won by Reform with 1,477 seats, a gain of 1,408. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Labour are predicted to finish second with 1,116. However, considering they\u2019re defending 2,303 seats, this will be a massive loss of 1,187. <\/p>\n The Greens will make the second-largest gains, with their council seat total rocketing up by 455, from 184 to 639.<\/p>\n The Lib Dems are set for a 121-seat increase up to 828, whilst it will be a bad night for the Tories who look set to lose 563 seats, dropping to just 667.<\/p>\n With Labour\u2019s collapse, a large number look set to become No Overall Control (NOC) while Reform could win as many as 10 councils.<\/p>\n As per Poll Check, Reform are predicted to control of nine councils, while 35 are set to turn NOC.<\/p>\n A large number of others are considered \u2018battleground\u2019 councils where it\u2019s potentially too tight to call.<\/p>\n You can search the predicted results for your council using Poll Check\u2019s website\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Article](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778118132_294_image.jpeg\")
Waste disposal is one of a number of services carried out by the council.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-06-at-16.39.27.png\")
The projected political map of London after Thursday\u2019s elections. Councils in stripes are projected no overall control, with the stripe colour showing the largest party (PollCheck)<\/p>\n![\"Article](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778118133_10_image.png\")
How the local elections could play out. Credit: Poll Check \/ Adobe Stock.<\/p>\n