What elections are happening in Norfolk in May?

Voters across Norfolk will go to the polls to elect councillors to two local authorities.

They were on. Then they were off. Now they are on again.

Local elections, originally scheduled for Norfolk, then postponed, will now take place on 7 May.

But after what one political leader called "the elections hokey-cokey", the voting could have a major effect on how Norfolk is run.

So which ones can you vote in?

Yes they are.

After being called off in 2025 and briefly postponed at the end of last year, all 84 county council seats are up for grabs - and every registered voter in Norfolk can take part.

The authority is currently dominated by the Conservatives, who have 51 councillors.

With 10 seats, the Liberal Democrats are the largest opposition party, followed by Labour on nine and the Greens on four.

There are also six independent councillors and two vacant seats.

The biggest change to the electoral scene will be the emergence of Reform, who only contested three county council seats at the last election in 2021.

However, it now has two members on the authority, after winning a pair of by-elections last May and the party plans to have candidates for every seat.

Great Yarmouth First, set up by the town's MP Rupert Lowe, has said it will also contest the nine seats in the area.

Norwich City Council is the only district council in the county where voters can go to the polls this year.

Unlike most other authorities, when it holds elections only a third of seats - 13 of 39 - are up for grabs.

However, a by-election will also take place following the resignation of Green councillor Liam Calvert.

While Labour has run the council since 2006, it no longer has a majority and its position is under threat from the Greens.

If the Greens take three seats from the party (and retain all of theirs) they will seize control.

The only other party on the council, the Liberal Democrats, will be defending a single seat.

The Conservatives, who last had a councillor in Norwich in 2012, will not be expected to make much of an impact.

However Reform, who finished behind by just one vote in a by-election last year, will be looking to establish themselves on the council.

There are three ways to vote:

• in person at your local polling station on election day between 0700 BST and 2200 BST
• by postal vote
• by nominating someone to vote on your behalf - a proxy

To vote on 7 May, you needed to be on the electoral register by 23:59 BST on Monday 20 April.

The deadline has also passed to request a postal vote, which was was 17:00 BST on Tuesday 21 April.

However there is still time to apply for a proxy vote. If you are already registered to vote, the deadline is 17:00 BST on Tuesday 28 April.

You must be 18 to vote in the local elections in England.

Breckland, Broadland, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, North Norfolk and South Norfolk last held elections in 2023.

Their next ones are due in 2027, although if the plans to reorganise local government go ahead, these councils will have been scrapped by then.

But Great Yarmouth will hold a by-election for a seat in Caister South, following the death of Councillor Malcolm Bird.

When Labour came to power nationally, it revealed plans for the biggest shake-up of local councils in decades.

The proposals for local government reorganisation will see Norfolk's existing county and district councils scrapped and re-formed into either one, two or three local authorities.

Meanwhile, a plan for devolution will also see the county sharing a mayor with Suffolk.

To allow time for all of that to take place, the 2025 elections for Norfolk County Council were put back by one year.

To provide even more time, the government was going to postpone it again – as well as this year's Norwich City Council elections – but dropped that plan following a legal challenge from Reform.

• What other elections are taking place in May?
• What can't you do at a polling station?
• When is the next general election?

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