Voters have been reminded not to forget their ID, as polls opened across England for the local elections.
More than 8,000 council seats in England are up for grabs across 230 local authorities, ranging from small rural areas to some of the largest towns and cities.
It is the first big electoral test for Rishi Sunak since he entered No.10 six months ago, with the prime minister predicting a “hard night” for his party.
The results, which will trickle in over the early hours of Friday morning and throughout the day, will be examined for an indication of whether Labour leader Keir Starmer is course to win the next general election.
For the first time voters in England will to have to show photo identification in order to cast their ballots.
Critics of the move, instigated by the Conservatives, argue it could deter young people and ethnic minorities from voting.
Peter Stanyon, the chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, warned staff at polling stations had only limited flexibility.
“The only leeway is they have got to be satisfied that the photo is a likeness,” he told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.
“If someone turns up at the polling station without the ID or the wrong type of ID, they are duty bound to actually say we cannot give you the ballot paper unless you return with the correct form of ID before close of poll.
But Stanyon said it was not “one hit and you have lost out” when it came to presenting ID.
“If you haven’t got the ID with you, you will be advised what you need to actually bring back later on, and as long as you arrive back before close the poll at 10pm this evening and it is the right form of ID you will then be permitted to go through the process as normal,” he said.
Tory polling guru Lord Robert Hayward told HuffPost UK he expected the Conservatives to lose around 800 seats.
He predicted Labour would see their number of councillors increase by 550, while the Lib Dems would gain 250.
The Tories currently hold 3,290, with Labour on 2,062 and the Lib Dems on 1,205. Independents and others make up the remaining 1,600 seats.
Speaking on the eve of polls opening at an event hosted by the conservative Onward think-tank, Sunak said: “We should be prepared that tomorrow night is going to be hard for us.
“Good councillors will lose their seats because of all that has happened over the past year,” the Daily Telegraph reported him as having said.
“I’ve only been prime minister for six months but I do believe we’re making good progress. Just think about where we were then and where we are now.”
The Tories trailed heavily behind Labour in opinion polling leading up to today’s vote.
Labour is riding high, according to an Opinium survey carried out online between April 26 and 28, which indicated the red team could secure 44% of the vote share, versus the Tories’ 26% – a lead of 18 points.
Hayward said Labour securing more than 10% of the projected national vote share — a method of applying the local election outcome on a national basis, as if everyone had the chance to vote — could be a marker Labour was on course for a general election win.
The seats were last contested in 2019, two months before Theresa May was forced from office amid bitter Tory in-fighting over her Brexit deal.
At those elections, the Tories lost lost over 1,300 seats. But Labour - then led by Jeremy Corbyn - also went backwards, losing over 80 seats.
The Lib Dems made huge gains, picking up 700 seats, while the Greens gained almost 200.