Voters will go to polling stations on May 7 in the biggest test at the ballot box for political parties since Labour won the general election in July 2024.

Almost 25,000 candidates are fighting to be elected to more than 5,000 seats on 136 councils across England, with Reform UK fielding around 4,800, less than 100 fewer than Labour and some 50 more than the Conservatives.

The Greens have almost 4,500 candidates, with the Liberal Democrats on just under 4,000 and there are more than 2,000 other candidates from minor parties or standing as independents or for residents’ groups.

Labour are defending some 2,300 of the seats being contested, meaning potential problems for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer if the party loses large numbers of councillors.

The Conservatives are defending 1,236 seats, the Liberal Democrats 706, the Greens 194 and Reform UK just 83, mostly as a result of by-election victories or defections since the previous times these councils went to the polls.

Elections in wards in St Helens and Bury have been postponed because of the deaths of a candidate.

There are also contests for mayoral elections in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets in London, and Watford in Hertfordshire.

Polling stations will be open between 7am and 10pm on May 7, with the first results expected within a few hours, and the final one on the evening of Saturday May 9.

The estimated declaration times are based on information compiled by the Press Association and all are approximate and can be affected by issues such as delays in verifying and counting ballots, or by recounts, as well as turnout.

The list is organised alphabetically, and all council timings relate to Friday May 8, apart from four which will declare on Saturday May 9, as they are counting mayoral contests on the Friday.

– Adur 6pm

– Barking & Dagenham 5pm

– Barnet 5pm

– Barnsley 4.30pm

– Basildon 3am

– Basingstoke & Deane 4pm

– Bexley 5am

– Birmingham 6pm

– Blackburn 12.30pm

– Bolton 3am

– Bradford 4pm on Saturday May 9

– Brent 5pm

– Brentwood 3am

– Bromley 7pm

– Broxbourne 1am

– Burnley 1pm

– Bury 4.30pm

– Calderdale 8.30pm

– Cambridge 5pm

– Camden 6pm

– Cannock Chase 3pm

– Cheltenham 2pm

– Cherwell 7pm

– Chorley 2am

– Colchester 3.30am

– Coventry 5pm

– Crawley 4pm

– Croydon – 4pm on Saturday May 9

– Dudley 3.30am

– Ealing 4.30am

– Eastleigh 5am

– East Surrey 6pm

– East Sussex 6pm

– Enfield 5pm

– Epping Forest 3pm

– Essex 5pm

– Exeter 3am

– Fareham 4am

– Gateshead 4pm

– Gosport 4am

– Greenwich 4pm

– Hackney 5pm

– Halton 1am

– Hammersmith & Fulham 5.30am

– Hampshire 4am

– Haringey 5.30pm

– Harlow 1.30am

– Harrow 4.30pm

– Hart 2am

– Hartlepool 2am

– Hastings 6pm

– Havant 4am

– Havering 6am

– Hillingdon 4pm

– Hounslow 5.30

– Hull 2am

– Huntingdonshire 2.30pm

– Hyndburn 2pm

– Ipswich 4pm

– Isle of Wight 3pm

– Islington 3pm

– Kensington & Chelsea 5am

– Kingston-upon-Thames 6pm

– Kirklees 6pm

– Knowsley 3pm

– Lambeth 6pm

– Leeds 3pm

– Lewisham 4pm on Saturday May 9

– Lincoln 2am

– Manchester 12.30pm

– Merton 5am

– Milton Keynes 5pm

– Newcastle-under-Lyme 4am

– Newcastle-upon-Tyne 4.45pm

– Newham 6pm

– Norfolk 5.30pm

– North East Lincolnshire 2am

– North Tyneside 1.45pm

– Norwich 2.30pm

– Nuneaton & Bedworth 3.30pm

– Oldham 5am

– Oxford 3am

– Pendle 2.30pm

– Peterborough 3am

– Plymouth 4am

– Portsmouth 3am

– Preston 2.30pm

– Reading 3am

– Redbridge 5pm

– Redditch 1.45am

– Richmond-upon-Thames 5am

– Rochdale 2pm

– Rochford 2am

– Rugby 4pm

– Rushmoor 3pm

– Salford 3am

– Sandwell 5pm

– Sefton 5.30pm

– Sheffield 2pm

– Solihull 3pm

– Southampton 6.30am

– South Cambridgeshire 4pm

– Southend-on-Sea 3am

– South Tyneside 5.30pm

– Southwark 6pm

– St Albans 5pm

– Stevenage 5pm

– St Helens 2.30pm

– Stockport 5am

– Suffolk 4pm

– Sunderland 4pm

– Sutton 4.30am

– Swindon 6pm

– Tameside 3am

– Tamworth 2.30am

– Three Rivers 3pm

– Thurrock 3pm

– Tower Hamlets 6pm om Saturday May 9

– Trafford 4pm

– Tunbridge Wells 4pm

– Wakefield 6pm

– Walsall 5pm

– Waltham Forest 3pm

– Wandsworth 4am

– Watford 5pm

– Welwyn Hatfield 2pm

– West Lancashire 4pm

– Westminster 3.30am

– West Oxfordshire 2.30pm

– West Surrey 6pm

– West Sussex 4pm

– Wigan 2.30am

– Winchester 6pm

– Wokingham 5pm

– Wolverhampton 4pm

– Worthing 6pm

All of the mayoral elections are counting on Friday May 8 with Hackney and Newham expected to declare at 1pm, Watford at 2pm, Lewisham at 3pm, Croydon at 4pm and Tower Hamlets at possibly around 6pm.