British voters cast ballots in local elections seen as a verdict on Keir Starmer’s leadership

LONDON — British voters cast ballots Thursday in local and regional elections that could shake up the country’s politics and deliver a heavy blow to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer

LONDON — British voters cast ballots Thursday in local and regional elections that could shake up the country’s politics and deliver a heavy blow to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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Starmer’s center-left Labour Party is bracing for big losses in polls that will choose about 5,000 local councilors and a handful of mayors across England, as well as semiautonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales. They are the biggest set of elections since Labour swept to power in a landslide in July 2024, and Starmer’s opponents have painted them as a midterm referendum on the prime minister.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 10 p.m. (5 p.m. ET). Some local authorities will count ballots overnight, but the bulk of the results are likely to be declared on Friday afternoon.