Polls open for local elections in Herts and Bucks

Following a review of wards by the Boundary Commission, 97 councillors are being elected for the Buckinghamshire unitary authority

Polling stations in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire have opened for the 2025 local elections.

People will be able to cast their votes from 07:00 until 22:00 BST.

A total of 97 councillors will be elected across 49 wards for the Buckinghamshire unitary authority - and 78 in Hertfordshire for the county council.

Anyone intending to vote in person will need to take an approved form of photo ID to the polling station.

Seventy-eight county councillors will be elected for Hertfordshire

As it stands, both councils are run by the Conservatives and historically they are the only party to have had full control of either authority.

Hertfordshire County Council was set up in 1974, while the Buckinghamshire unitary is having only its second set of elections, having been formed in 2020, when the previous two-tier local government structure was scrapped.

Following a Boundary Commission review, the number of councillors standing in Buckinghamshire has been reduced from 147 to 97.

Votes will be counted in Buckinghamshire on 2 May at Stoke Mandeville Stadium near Aylesbury, with an estimated time for the full results from 19:00.

Votes will be counted for Hertfordshire on 2 May at 10 venues, with an estimated result due at about 17:00.

More than 20 forms of ID will be accepted, including passports, driving licences and older or Disabled Person's bus passes.

Voters in England who have lost ID or it has been stolen, damaged or destroyed can apply for an emergency proxy vote, until 17:00 on polling day.