LONDON: More than 500 British Pakistanis are contesting the UK local government elections which will be held Thursday.
Candidates are contesting for 4,410 seats in around 150 councils – including all 32 London boroughs, as well as every ward in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
Mayoral elections are taking place in Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Watford and the Sheffield City region, but there are no polls in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
The polling will start at 7AM (PST 12PM) and close at 10PM (PST 3AM).
The voters will pass judgment on Prime Minister Theresa May’s party today in local government elections expected to show rising support for her opponents in London that will add to pressure on her position over Brexit.
Recent national opinion polls have seen Conservatives and Labour running neck-and-neck on about 40% each.
KEY FACTS
– Councils are the local government authorities with responsibility for providing public services that affect residents’ day to day lives. They are made up of varying numbers of seats and run by any party that has an overall majority of those seats.
– More than 4,000 council seats will be contested, determining the makeup of 150 councils. Over 40 percent of the seats are in London.
– All 32 London boroughs are electing their whole councils. Some councils outside London are only electing one-third of their councilors this time around.
– Unlike national elections that decide seats in parliament, or the 2016 EU referendum, Thursday’s elections are open to EU nationals registered and resident in electing boroughs.
