Elections 2022: Polls to open in elections across the country

Millions of people are expected to take part in elections across the UK, when polling stations open at 07:00 BST.

Voters in England, Scotland and Wales will choose the local councillors they want to run services that affect everyday life in their area.

In Northern Ireland, people will cast ballots for their representatives in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Polling stations will close at 22:00 and most results should be known by Friday evening.

Some councils in England will begin counting overnight on Thursday, while the rest will get started on Friday morning.

Counts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also expected to begin on Friday.

There are more than 300 local authorities in England, but on Thursday elections are only being held in 146 councils including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and all 32 boroughs in London.

South Yorkshire will be voting for a regional mayor and there will be elections in 1,000 parish councils.

Votes will take place in all of Scotland's 32 councils and all of Wales' 22 councils.

In Northern Ireland voters will pick 90 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont.

People can vote by going to their local polling station or arranging for someone to vote on their behalf.

Many will have already cast their vote by post. Figures released last month suggested the number of people registering for postal votes in Scotland had increased by 38% between 2020 and 2021.

Sandy Taylor, the head of electoral statistics at the National Records of Scotland, said the sharp rise was "most likely driven by the Covid pandemic".