Election count under way as poll puts Boris ahead in London
Boris Johnson looks set to beat his rival Ken Livingstone for a second time in the London mayoral battle, as council seats are decided around the UK.
The deciding vote may have gone to the Great British weather as political parties report a low turnout.
With counting under way, more than 4,700 seats are up for grabs on 128 English councils.
And three mayors will be chosen; in Liverpool, Salford and London where Boris Johnson, Conservative, is expected to win his latest battle with Labour’s Ken Livingstone.
Every seat on Scotland’s 32 unitary authorities is up for election. The make-up of 21 unitary authorities in Wales is also being decided.
More from Channel 4 News: What the 3 May elections mean for the UK
Referendums on whether to elect a mayor have been held in 10 English cities: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield.
Meanwhile, people in Doncaster have been voting on whether to abolish or keep their directly-elected mayor.
Labour look set to win around 650 seats which would be a 9 per cent swing from Conservative to Labour.
The Conservatives could lose 250-400 seats, according to recent polls, while the Liberal Democrats could also lose around 250.
Earlier in the campaign, David Cameron called for a “flat-out full-throttle fight” from the Conservatives. The party’s heartlands traditionally lie in the south of England, but Mr Cameron insisted his party could speak for all of Britain.
Labour leader Ed Miliband promised “real change to help people in tough times”.
In Scotland, pollsters will be watching Glasgow closely, the jewel in Labour’s crown. Director of the political forecasting unit at the Nottingham Business School Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams told Channel 4 News: “If they lost that, it would be a game-changer for SNP/Labour balance in Scotland.”
Council results should be largely complete by 5am.
Boris v Ken
In London, voters could be forgiven for thinking they had fallen into a time warp with the “Ken v Boris” fight dominating the mayoral contest as it did in 2008. This year’s race has been high on emotion and swear words.
You can read all about the expletive-strewn campaign in Cathy Newman‘s FactCheck here. The winner is not expected to be known until at least 9.30pm on Friday but a final poll by London’s Evening Standard puts Boris Johnson on course to score a 53-47 per cent win over his old rival.
Elsewhere, Labour is expected to win the mayoral battles in Salford where Ian Stewart is the favourite, and in Liverpool where Joe Anderson is the frontrunner. These results are due at 2am and 5am respectively.