Is there a local election in my area in 2022? Map of UK seats being contested, and how to find out candidates

Voters across the UK will head to the polls for the local elections on Thursday May 5 to have their say on how services in their area are run.

But not every council area is holding an election. Here is all the information you’ll need about which places are going to the polls and which are not.

What seats are up for grabs?

Voters will head to the ballot box on May 5 in elections to elect:

• Every local authority in Scotland and Wales
• All 90 seats on the Northern Ireland Assembly
• 142 borough, district and unitary councils across England
• South Yorkshire’s regional mayor
• New unitary councils for North Yorkshire, Somerset and two in Cumbria
• Local mayors in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Watford
• Bristol referendum on abolishing elected mayor

The deadline for registering to vote has already passed in all four nations, as well as the deadline to submit a postal or proxy vote.

Find out whether your local council is holding an election by searching for it here.

Who is standing for election in my area?

There are two main ways to find out your local candidates for election. The first way to find out is by checking your polling card, which will show who you can vote for.

You can also head to the Electoral Commission website. The website details where you need to go on Election Day to vote and gives you a rundown of the candidates standing in your local area.

Here are more details about the ballots being held in each of the UK’s four nations.

England

While no-one will be voting for a new MP, there are a variety of different local elections across England on May 5.

142 borough, district and unitary councils are holding votes to decide who will be local councillors. Some authorities are holding elections for all their seats, while at others only a third of seats are up for grabs.

There are also some areas where the existing two-tier district and county council system is being replaced by new unitary councils. In North Yorkshire, a new North Yorkshire Council will replace the existing county and district councils from next year. These elections will choose who runs the county council in the meantime, with those elected then transferring over to serve on the new body when it is created.

There is a similar arrangement in Somerset, where those elected will serve on the county council until being transferred over to the new Somerset Council, which will replace the existing two-tier system in April 2023.

Cumbria’s county and district councils are being replaced by two new authorities - Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness. The elections will decide who sits on both of these authorities when they begin work in 2023.

People in South Yorkshire will go to the polls to elect a mayor to run the South Yorkshire Combined Authority. Mayoral elections are also being held in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Watford.

Meanwhile, in Bristol, voters can take part in a referendum to decide whether the city council will continue to have its own mayor.

Wales

All 22 local councils in Scotland are holding elections this year. These are: Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Monmouthshire, Newport, Powys and Merthyr Tydfil.

The last elections were held in 2017.

Scotland

Every seat on all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities are up for election this year. These are: Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Falkirk, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, Orkney Islands, Scottish Borders, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, City of Edinburgh, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian, Angus, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire.

The last elections were held in 2017.

Northern Ireland

Local councils are not having elections this year in Northern Ireland.

But voters will be taking to the polls to elect people to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the nation’s devolved government. It will elect all 90 members of the body. The last elections were held in 2017.