Parties Make Final Pitches on Last Full Day Before UK Local and Devolved Elections

Political parties and their candidates pressed their final appeals for votes on the last full day of campaigning before elections in England, Scotland and Wales.

Voters in Scotland and Wales will select their national governments, while dozens of English councils and mayoral seats face contests.

Polls open from 0700 BST to 2200 BST on Thursday, May 7, with results due Friday and over the weekend. These elections mark the biggest public opinion test since Labour's 2024 general election victory.

Polls point to growing fragmentation in British politics, with support scattering across more parties in all three nations.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party seeks a fifth straight devolved election win to hold power and fend off Labour and Reform UK.

Reform UK and Plaid Cymru compete to lead the Senedd in Wales, threatening Labour's hold on government since devolution in 1999.

Labour risks heavy losses in England to Reform UK and Green Party candidates on councils where it holds majorities or leads.

Results may also show views on the Labour government's record and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, whose position has faced recent strain. Talk has swirled of a leadership challenge if Labour fares poorly.

Party leaders hit the trail Wednesday to court voters. In the Mirror newspaper, Starmer called the elections a "clear choice": "Unity or division. Progress versus the politics of anger. The right plan for our country up against easy answers that will lead us nowhere."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told London broadcasters that the Tories offer the "only serious party" plans, including getting Britain working, cheap power through North Sea oil and gas drilling, tax cuts, ending stamp duty and scrapping business rates for small firms.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said in Surrey his party alone can block Reform UK's rise in English communities. "While Reform offers nothing but Trump-style division and empty slogans, Liberal Democrat local champions are focused on the issues that actually matter: fixing the church roof, ending our GP surgery crisis, cleaning up the sewage in our rivers, and tackling the cost of living," he said. Davey posted on X about his pride in pushing wealth taxes, bill cuts and opposing "genocide".

"If you want real change in national government and in the approach to local government, we are the change option," Nigel Farage said.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney urged Scots "to vote positively for an SNP government that will always be on Scotland's side".