Local elections 2025: where are they and who is on course to win?

Reform UK is predicted to make large gains, with 23 councils and six mayor-run regions up for grabs

Polling station in Tower Hamlets
The poll on 1 May will be a 'major electoral test of the popularity' of Nigel Farage and his party
(Image credit: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

Reform UK is on course to pick up hundreds of council seats across England in May's local elections as the insurgent party looks to establish itself as a genuine alternative to the Tories and Labour.

The last time these councils were contested was in 2021. That was the high point of Boris Johnson's premiership when the Conservatives won control of dozens of local authorities. Four years on and the picture could not look more different.

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