UK Local Elections 2026

The Representation of the People Bill rewrites party finance law mid-campaign with a retrospective crypto donation ban, a £100,000 overseas elector cap, and shell company restrictions that land hardest on Reform UK. Across three nations voting on 7 May under three different electoral systems, manifestos face demolition from the IFS, Reform UK loses candidates in Wales faster than it gains them, and the Scottish Conservatives are projected to hold zero constituency seats for the first time since devolution.

On 7 May 2026 Wales will run its first election under a brand-new closed-list proportional system, expanding the Senedd from 60 to 96 seats, with incumbent First Minister Eluned Morgan projected to lose her own seat and Welsh Labour on course to fall from 29 seats to around 12. Across the rest of the UK, Surrey voters will elect 162 shadow councillors to councils that do not yet legally exist, Thurrock will hold elections while its budget is controlled by government commissioners, and the Electoral Commission register shows Reform UK has taken roughly £12m from a single donor in six months. Every layer of British democratic infrastructure is being rewritten while the campaign runs through it.