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Race for West Midlands mayor could be closepublished at 15:00 British Summer Time 4 May 2021

15:00 BST 4 May 2021

In 2017 the difference between victory and defeat in the West Midlands mayoral race was just 3,776 votes, and it may be just as close this time.

The result will give us an indication of how Labour and the Conservatives are now faring in the traditional Labour-voting communities which turned blue at the last general election.

The city region, made up of seven large Metropolitan Boroughs with Birmingham at its heart, is home to 3 million people.

Voters in the Black Country were some of the most ardent supporters of Brexit anywhere in England, and areas such as Walsall and Dudley have been drifting away from Labour for a decade.

Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership the party lost MPs in West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Dudley.

The victory for the Conservatives by former John Lewis boss Andy Street in 2017 was a foreshadowing of those losses.

A win for the Conservatives in this election could suggest the changes in voter behaviour in 2019 represent a more permanent shift.

For Labour’s candidate, MP and former cabinet minister Liam Byrne, much will hinge on voter turnout in Birmingham, a huge population base where the party has the advantage.

However, unlike the rest of the West Midlands conurbation, Birmingham is not holding widespread council elections this time. His team have been buoyed by a recent narrowing in national polls.

There are five candidates standing in the election for West Midland's mayor.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Gett

Image source, Getty Images

• UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, in north Wales for the day, has pointed to First Minister Mark Drakeford's leadership during the pandemic and the "careful, reassuring way in which he has led Wales through to a position now where the virus level is lower in Wales than anywhere across the UK". Mr Drakeford meanwhile has been out in key battleground seats of Rhondda, currently held by Plaid Cymru, Bridgend, a Tory Westminster seat and Llanelli in south Wales, which Plaid Cymru is looking to take.
• Whilst Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts is campaigning in the north, Plaid Cymru's Senedd leader Adam Price was taking his message to a Labour stronghold, Neath in south Wales. He said traditional Labour voters were moving to Plaid because they felt it was "time to give someone else a chance to take Wales in that new direction with new ideas and new leadership".
• Andrew RT Davies, Senedd leader of the Welsh Conservatives, has focused on the economy, saying there is a need to "kickstart" the Welsh industrial engine as he visits Llandudno in north Wales.
• The rural economy, along with tourism, is at the front of the Welsh Liberal Democrats concerns as leader Jane Dodds visits the mid Wales towns of Aberystwyth and Aberaeron, both heavily dependent on the tourist pound.

BBC London’s work & money correspondent Marc Ashdown has been looking at some of challenges ahead for the next mayor.

London is in the middle of a housing crisis - there’s simply not enough accommodation to go around.

The next mayor of London will have to make building more affordable homes a priority.

The powers the mayor has tend to involve setting targets on numbers and affordability, and working on them with local authorities and developers.

But he or she can also reject or approve larger house-building projects.

There is one thing above all that politicians crave during an election campaign - momentum.

Increased support in the polls provides assurance that their campaign message is going down well and gives them reason to hope that yet more voters might also swing their way.

However, so far at least, none of the main parties has developed any discernible momentum in the Scottish election campaign.

Four polls have been conducted and published over the last 10 days.

True, as compared with the equivalent polls earlier in the campaign, these polls put Labour's vote up on average by a couple of points on both the constituency and the list vote. At the same time, the party's new leader, Anas Sarwar, has made a favourable impression on some voters.

According to YouGov, as many as 39% now feel that he is doing well as Labour's leader, more than twice the proportion who were of that view in March (18%).

But a leader's personal popularity does not necessarily translate into votes.

What else do the polls say? Read Prof Sir John's full analysis here

Thank you for your questions about Thursday's elections.

Our political correspondent Helen Catt will join us here at 15:00 BST.

Click here - or use the link above - to send it to us, and we'll do our best to answer.

• The Scottish Greens have said their plans to drive down emissions will help create a "green industrial age" while out on the campaign trail with a £7.5n investment plan which they say will create 100,000 jobs
• Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said that if elected, his party will urge the next Scottish Parliament to make Covid recovery a priority - "not independence"
• NHS recovery was also the focus for the SNP - the party has promised to deliver a pay-rise for NHS staff and to open three fast-track cancer diagnosis centres within 100 days of government
• Former footballer John Hartson has backed Scottish Labour's cancer care plan - party leader Anas Sarwar said Scotland "faces a choice" between clearing the backlog in cancer care or "another divisive referendum"
• Former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson has written an open letter urging people to vote Conservative on the peach ballot paper, saying this would "stop an SNP majority and another independence referendum"

West Yorkshire gets its first metro mayorpublished at 13:47 British Summer Time 4 May 2021

13:47 BST 4 May 2021

James Vincent
Political Editor BBC Look North

West Yorkshire will finally get a metro mayor this week.

Politicians here have been looking jealously over the Pennines at Manchester and Liverpool - and down the M1 at South Yorkshire - who already have elected mayors.

At last, West Yorkshire joins the party after five years of arguing amongst themselves and with Westminster about what form of devolution would be best.

While they bickered about whether all of Yorkshire should have one deal - or three separate ones - other areas got access to big pots of cash and spent it.

There are still plenty of arguments about whether the powers of individual mayors are strong enough.

However, what will be interesting to look out for is how the mayors of the north may decide to band together for a louder voice.

Expect to hear a stronger Yorkshire accent in political debate.

There’s a feeling that Yorkshire needs to be deciding things for itself rather than waiting for Whitehall.

There are seven candidates standing for West Yorkshire's first mayor.

Aaron Scullion, from South Shields, was homeless throughout his 20s.

Now he has a job and a safe home - and will be voting for the first time on Thursday.

"I'm excited to learn about what people have to offer and what people have got to offer me and people who have been in my situation," he said.

He wants the local council to hire street rangers and provide more support for homeless people.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Across England thousands of council seats will also be up for grabs but not in all areas.

Approximately 28 million people will be able to vote for about 4,650 positions of power.

Last year's vote was delayed because of Covid, so this year we will see a bigger-than-usual number of positions up for election.

Councillors are in charge of many services - from bin collections to social care, sports facilities and libraries.

Here's a simple guide to the English council elections

Thank you to those of you who have already sent us your questions about the elections taking place in England, Scotland and Wales.

There's still time to send us questions on the matters that are most important to you.

Our political correspondent Helen Catt will join us here at 15:00 BST.

Click here - or use the link above - to send it to us, and we'll do our best to answer.

Members of two of the UK's parliaments - Holyrood in Scotland and the Senedd in Wales - will be elected on Thursday.

These parliaments are responsible for areas like health, housing and education.

The powers were moved away from the Westminster Parliament under a process called devolution.

But how does it work, and what powers does the UK government still have?

Read our guide here.

Image source, PA Media

Nearly 5,000 seats are up for grabs in the local elections in England, but only a third of candidates are women.

New research by the Fawcett Society and the Democracy Club shows the figures for police and crime commissioners are even lower - fewer than one in four candidates are female.

Their report reveals that women make up 42% of candidates in the Green party, 39% in Labour, 30% in the Liberal Democrats and 25% in the Conservatives.

The Fawcett Society says the findings are as women are already "chronically under-represented" in local government.

It wants more to be done to encourage females in to politics.

Do you have a question about the elections taking place in England, Scotland and Wales?

As the campaign draws to a close and polling day nears, we want to answer the questions that matter to you most.

What's your burning issue? Click on the link at the top of the page to send it to us.

Our political correspondent Helen Catt, external will be with us here at 15:00 BST, and we'll to try to give you some answers.

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of the Senedd elections, we asked people what they would change. Ben Quigley wants better transport links.

After moving to Wales, Ben was looking forward to exploring Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons and other beauty spots.

But he was better connected to much of the country when he was living in Birmingham than he is now in Cardiff.

He does not drive and found it strange he had to travel into England by train to move from south to north Wales.

"I had been to Snowdonia on school trips and really like the area, but it's very difficult to get to as I don't drive and it's some distance," he said.

Scottish election: Will the result trigger a debate on the future of the union?published at 12:04 British Summer Time 4 May 2021

12:04 BST 4 May 2021

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The elections on Thursday will matter for your local area and the wider political picture.

But the vote in Scotland could play a big role in whether the UK stays together.

The SNP are hoping to do something the Holyrood electoral system makes very hard; and win a majority.

If they do, you can expect the independence debate to be a big part of the UK political debate in the next few years.

The SNP will say they have a strong mandate for another referendum, though Boris Johnson is adamant he won’t agree to one.

That would mean a constitutional Mexican stand off - and could pave the way for legal battles.

Even if the SNP don’t win a majority on their own, they could get a pro-referendum one with the help of the Greens and maybe even Alex Salmond’s Alba party.

Then there’s the race for second. The Conservatives want to stay the largest opposition party at Holyrood.

They argue they’re the strongest anti-independence voice and are urging all unionists to consider voting tactically for them. Labour disagree and although they are opposed to another referendum, they are focussing on recovery from the pandemic.

The Lib Dems have a similar message too.

The aim of the unionists parties is to deprive the SNP of a majority to argue there isn’t appetite for another referendum any time soon.

There are 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs): 73 constituency members and 56 regional members.

The regional MSPs are elected using the Additional Member System – a system of proportional representation.

There’s a little bit of maths involved when they count all the ballots, so the final make up of the Scottish Parliament is representative of how all the votes are cast.

BBC Scotland’s Connor Gillies talks through exactly how MSPs are elected.

Scotland, Wales and London Assembly

• You have two votes - one to choose who represents your constituency, and one to choose which party represents your wider region

English councils

• You have one vote for each available seat in your area
• In most cases, that means one vote - but large wards may have multiple seats
• Whoever receives the most votes wins the seat
• If no party has a majority, parties will often join forces (known as a coalition)

Mayors and police and crime commissioners

• You select a first and second preference - if no candidate receives 50% of first-preference choices, the top two go into a run-off
• The second preferences of voters whose favoured candidates have been eliminated are then taken into account

Do you have a question about the elections taking place in England, Scotland and Wales?

As the campaign draws to a close and polling day nears, we want to answer the questions that matter most to our readers.

Click here - or use the link above - to send it to us, and we'll do our best to answer.

Image source, PA/ Getty

One of the key results in this week's mammoth set of ballots will be the Hartlepool by-election.

It is the first time Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer will have faced each other in a national contest, and the stakes are high for both leaders.

The Labour leader will be trying to show that he is rebuilding the party and cutting through to voters after it suffered its worse losses since 1935 at the last general election - although he admitted this morning that Labour has a "mountain to climb".

And for Boris Johnson, if the Conservatives manage to take the seat - which has been held by Labour since 1974 - it will be seen as a vindication that the Conservatives are encroaching further on Labour's so-called 'red wall' and talking about the issues that people care about, despite allegations of sleaze.

A new Survation poll for ITV's Good Morning Britain put the Conservatives on 50% - 17 points ahead of Labour.

As with all polls, caution is needed and the sample size of this one was small - Survation interviewed 517 Hartlepool residents aged 18 and over by telephone between April 23 and 29.