Local elections 2024: Live updates as polling stations open for council and mayoral contests across England today

In a screenshot of a Whatsapp conversation, published by ITV political correspondent Harry Horton, Mr Hunt is seen asking for help from members following a “bit of drama”, adding: “Turns out I have no appropriate ID to vote tomorrow”.

It is too late to prevent this year’s general election from the risks of misinformation spread via artificial intelligence, an eminent computer scientist has warned.

Dame Wendy Hall, who co-chaired the Government’s 2017 AI review, also suggested social media sites could limit posts about politics on polling day as a means of preventing misinformation.

Elections across the world in 2024 could be impacted by AI-generated deepfake images and videos, the regius professor of computer science at the University of Southampton suggested while speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme podcast.

Asked about the risks of AI to the democratic process, Dame Wendy told the BBC: “It is almost too late to do it for this year now, to actually act in any concerted way.

“We should have been thinking about it earlier and I was worried, I think what the safety institutes are doing is incredibly important.

“But we should also keep thinking about how AI can be used for the bad in democratic elections and the use of deepfakes.

“The cat is out of the bag really, so we are going to have to, I think we need a lot of public awareness around this to make people – and I know that the media are thinking about this – to make people think about where have they got this information from, what is the provenance of this information.

“Because there is no time to change laws or bring in big technical fixes before these elections start happening now.”

With the Conservatives braced for a dreadful showing in the local elections, there’s one surefire way to ward off any revolt within the party, says Andrew Grice. Enough of the silly guessing games, prime minister – announce the date this weekend:

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Lord Houchen warned that his potential defeat in this week’s local elections should be “a wake-up call” for Tory MPs.

And in an extraordinary broadside at his own party, he said voters were pledging to support him, but not the Tories at the next general election.

Voters across England and Wales will take to the polls on Thursday for the latest round of local elections. Alongside thousands of councillors, a record 12 metro mayors are to be elected – including the high-profile Mayor of London.

Incumbent Sadiq Khan is hoping to secure a third term for Labour as he fights off Conservative candidate Susan Hall. They are amongst 11 candidates in total, including the controversial right-wing Reform UK party’s Jeremy Cox.

Mr Khan has sought to focus on his succcesses when on the campaign trail. These include an expansion to existing rail and bus lines, as well as frozen fares for Londoners.

Natalie Campbell, an independent candidate running for London mayor, has said she will take a “CEO’s approach” to leading the capital because the “party-political system is broken”.

Ms Campbell grew up in north-west London, and she is the co-CEO of the social enterprise Belu Water. She been the chancellor of the University of Westminster since 2022.

Speaking to The Independent, she said: “I absolutely love this city, but I know it’s not working anymore for most people.”

Voters head to the polls today in a series of local elections seen as the final test of public opinion before Rishi Sunak goes to the country later this year.

Most of the seats up for re-election were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson’s popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.

A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty between frontrunners, Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan and Tory challenger Susan Hall.

Conservative mayors Andy Street in the West Midlands, and Tees Valley’s Ben Houchen are also facing key re-election battles, with polls suggesting narrow contests with their Labour opponents.

Forecasts have consistently put Mr Khan ahead of Ms Hall, with a poll published on Wednesday by Savanta giving him a 10-point advantage after his lead tapered over the campaign.

Thursday’s local elections are a chance for voters to send “this out of touch Conservative government” a message, the Lib Dems have said.

Party leader Sir Ed Davey, who has visited so-called “blue wall” areas during the campaign, added: “In former Conservative heartlands like Tunbridge Wells, Dorset and Wokingham voters are switching to the Liberal Democrats after years of failure from this Conservative government.

“Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to elect a strong local champion, who will fight for a fair deal for you and your community.”

On the weekend reports emerged of a Tory plot to replace the PM with Penny Mordaunt, Mr Sunak has been warned that the unseating of Ben Houchen and Andy Street in next Thursday’s contests could further damage his standing.