ELECTIONS 2026
On Thursday 7 May 2026, elections will take place in many parts of the UK.
This includes elections for the Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru and English Council & mayoral elections.
You can find out whether here is an election in your area using this page from the Electoral Commission.
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Register to vote
You need to be registered to vote before voting.
You must register to vote every time you move house.
Registering to vote is simple.
All you need is a couple of minutes and your National Insurance number.
The deadline to register to vote is April 20th. Click on the link below to register.
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Vote by post
Anyone can choose to vote by post rather than going to the polling station.
You don’t need to give a reason.
You do not need photo ID to vote by post.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote for May’s elections is the 21st of April.
The link below will take you to the application.
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Get photo ID
Voters will need to show photo ID at polling stations in England.
Accepted photo ID includes a Passport, Driving Licence, Older Person’s Bus Pass, and more. See the full list of accepted ID.
Or you can apply for free Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) below. You’ll need to apply by 29th April to get a VAC for the May elections.
The Representation of the People Bill
The Representation of the People Bill is making its way through Parliament and will introduce Automatic Voter Registration. This will get millions of missing voters onto the electoral register.
We’ve campaigned for this for years, and now it’s finally happening!
But we want to make this Bill even stronger. We need an annual donation cap so that mega-donors can't drown out the influence of ordinary voters.
And the Bill must move the UK towards a fairer, more proportional voting system.
We can only run these campaigns thanks to our generous members.
Will you become a member of Unlock Democracy today?