Who can vote in local elections in Essex this May?

Voters will be casting their ballots on 2 May in nine areas in Essex, and for the county's police, fire and crime commissioner (pictured is a ballot box arriving in Thurrock in 2023)

More than one million people in Essex will be able to head to the polls on 2 May to vote in local elections.

Paul Whiteley, professor of government at the University of Essex, says it will be "a good guide" for how well parties perform at the general election.

Registered voters in Essex can choose a candidate for the police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) role.

Nine out of the 14 district and unitary councils in the county are also holding elections.

Most of the seats up for grabs were last fought over in 2021, when the Conservatives did well taking Harlow and Basildon councils from Labour.

Back then, Boris Johnson was the prime minister and the Covid-19 vaccine rollout was under way.

"Labour has been about 20% ahead for several months," said Prof Whiteley,

"It looks like the Conservatives are really going to suffer because there is a lot of disillusionment out there."

What seats are up?

A third of the seats on the following councils are being voted on:

• Thurrock

• Southend

• Rochford

• Colchester

All councillor positions are up for election in the following councils, after ward boundaries were redrawn to better represent population change and new housing:

• Harlow

• Basildon

• Brentwood

• Epping Forest

• Castle Point

Runners and riders

It is possible every council could change power in Essex this May.

Labour will be hoping they can retake Harlow and Thurrock and make gains in Basildon and Southend.

The Conservatives hope to hold those areas along with Epping Forest, and retake Castle Point, which has been run by local independent parties since 2022.

The Lib Dems lead Brentwood after wrestling it from the Tories last year, although they do not have an outright majority there.

Similarly, Colchester City Council is run as a minority administration by Lib Dems, and they will by vying with their former Labour coalition partners in the borough's urban areas.

The PFCC is responsible for how an area is policed; the fire service's objectives; the budgets of both emergency services; and how much tax is levied on the population to fund them.

Politics professor's analysis

Professor of government at the University of Essex, Paul Whiteley, says this year's local elections will be a 'good guide' to what happens in the general election

Prof Whiteley says this year's local elections "will be quite interesting in terms of what will happen in the general election”.

"If the results are very bad for the Conservatives, they may trigger another leadership contest in the Conservative party, and it looks like that might be possible," he explained.

“Reform [UK] could well undermine the Conservative vote and disillusioned Conservative voters could stay at home”.

One factor to watch will be apathy among the public, and he added: “If people are feeling a bit miserable, which the country is at the moment, that might mean lower turnouts."

• The deadline to register to vote in the local elections is midnight on Tuesday 16 April, and for a postal vote, by 17:00 BST on Wednesday 17 April.