Local elections 2023 news today: Voters head to UK ballot stations as Rishi Sunak deals with very first electoral test

Voters can utilize an ended ID at ballot stations – as long as it still appears like them, the Electoral Commission’s director of interactions has actually said.

Speaking on Sky News, Craig Westwood verified that ended image IDs consisting of passports, driving licences, and impairment blue badges might be utilized to enact regional elections on Thursday as long as the image appeared like the user.

He said: “There is a specific list of around 20 (forms of ID) so I urge people to check that list.

“One important thing is that I have not checked the dates on your IDs but what I can say is that they all look like you and that’s the really important thing.

“If you’ve got an ID which has expired that doesn’t matter as long as it still looks like you.”

The Bibby Stockholm is because of get here in Cornwall later on today, and will be refitted and go through checks prior to being transferred to Portland Port.

The Independent comprehends that asylum candidates are not anticipated to be proceeded board till late June or July, as the Home Office continues a dissentious campaign to move asylum candidates out of hotels into ships and military bases.

Sir Keir Starmer has actually been implicated of being “shifty” over concerns about Sue Gray and has actually been advised to “fess up” about when contact with her about a leading Labour job was initially made.

The opposition leader has actually consistently declined to divulge the timeline of the talks accepted the partygate detective about her becoming his chief of staff.

Levelling up secretary Michael Gove said Sir Keir was “avoiding the question” when it concerned disclosing when the job deal was made to the previous senior civil servant.

An occasion due to be held at the Stand funny club in which Ms Cherry was to be spoken with as part of a series has actually been cancelled.

The club said “key operational staff” had actually raised issues about the MP’s views and explained they did not wish to operate at the occasion.

Both the Conservatives and Labour have actually been increase their particular expectation management efforts on how the regional election outcomes will work out.

CCHQ firmly insists the Tories will lose 1,000 seats while Labour says they will acquire 400 – figures that have actually been dismissed by professionals as too expensive and too low.

Rob Ford, teacher of government at the University of Manchester, informed the Politico website that if the Conservatives  “are above 28 percent they have done better than they did in 2019. If they’re at 25 percent that’s the worst they’ve ever done.”

For Labour, “38 percent-plus is a really good yardstick because it is the best they did in this spell of opposition under Ed Miliband in 2012… If it’s lower than 38, questions start being asked of ‘is this good enough to deliver the sort of swings we need next year.’”

Voters in the UK will be needed to present image recognition to show they are who they state they are when they reach ballot stations, after a modification in the law prompted by the UK federal government.

The brand-new stricture can be found in as part of the Elections Act 2022, initially tracked in the Queen’s Speech of May 2021 and gone by parliament last April in the interest of enhancing election security. It will not use to those voting by post.

An overall of 230 regional authorities are holding contests on 4 May, varying from little rural councils to a few of the biggest towns and cities – though no elections are scheduled in London or Birmingham.

Polls are likewise occurring to select mayors in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough.

Senior Conservatives have actually revealed issue that even citizens with image ID danger being turned away from ballot cubicles if brand-new guidelines are strictly used at regional elections on Thursday.

Former cabinet ministers advised staff manning ballot stations to be “flexible” when evaluating a similarity versus old pictures.

The federal government is already under pressure over the law following cautions that more than a million individuals might be not able to vote as they do not have a legitimate form of ID.

Kate Devlin and Archie Mitchell report:

Polls have actually opened throughout England, with Rishi Sunak set to face his very first significant electoral test given that getting in No10 simply over 6 months back.

The prime minister anticipated a “hard night” for his celebration at the regional elections, however said that the Conservatives were now moving far from “box set drama” politics.

The regional elections are likewise most likely to be the last set of surveys prior to the next basic election, with the outcomes anticipated to provide an indicator of whether Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer might be on course for Downing Street.