By Ben Kerrigan-
Education minister Michelle Donelan has described Boris Johnson as “an asset, not a liability” amid the local elections.
Millions of people in the Uk are expected to take part in elections across the UK, after polling stations opened at 07:00 BST.
Voters in England, Scotland and Wales will choose the local councilors they want to run services that affect everyday life in their area.
Polling stations are expected to close at 22:00 and most results will be known by Friday evening.
Counts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also expected to begin on Friday.T
There are more than 300 local authorities in England, but on Thursday elections are only being held in 146 councils including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and all 32 boroughs in London.
South Yorkshire will be voting for a regional mayor and there will be elections in 1,000 parish councils.
Votes will take place in all of Scotland’s 32 councils and all of Wales’ 22 councils.
Asset? Boris Johnson
Figures released last month suggested the number of people registering for postal votes in Scotland had increased by 38% between 2020 and 2021.
Sandy Taylor, the head of electoral statistics at the National Records of Scotland, said the sharp rise was “most likely driven by the Covid pandemic
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner had claimed Tory election candidates were trying to distance themselves from the government by running as “local Conservatives” and pleading with voters not to “punish” them for the Partygate scandal.
“It speaks volumes that Boris Johnson’s own Conservative candidates are ashamed to be associated with him and trying to pull the wool over voters’ eyes,” she said.