In Pictures: Party chiefs lead the way as UK voters head to the ballot box

Updated

Voters around the UK are heading to the polls for local elections.

They are choosing local representatives in England, Scotland and Wales and there will also be an election for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Party leaders led the way, many of them heading out early to cast their own ballots.

Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria at the TRA Hall, London
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria at the TRA Hall, London (Aaron Chown/PA)
Sir Ed Davey leaving the polling station at Surbiton Methodist Church
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey leaving the polling station at Surbiton Methodist Church (Jonathan Brady/PA)

All 32 councils in Scotland and all 22 in Wales will be holding elections, with residents able to vote from the age of 16.

Nicola Sturgeon outside Broomhouse Community Hall polling station, Glasgow
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outside Broomhouse Community Hall polling station, Glasgow (Jane Barlow/PA)
Mark Drakeford and wife Clare after voting at St Catherine’s Hall, Pontcanna, Cardiff
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and wife Clare voted at St Catherine’s Hall, Pontcanna, Cardiff (Bronwen Weatherby/PA)

In Northern Ireland, five Assembly seats are up for grabs in each of 18 constituencies, to send 90 representatives to the Stormont Assembly.

2022 NI Assembly election
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson at Dromore Central Primary School (Brian Lawless/PA)
Michelle O’Neill at St Patrick’s Primary School in Co Tyrone
Michelle O’Neill at St Patrick’s Primary School in Co Tyrone (Niall Carson/PA)

Polling stations have been set up in some unlikely locations.

Local government elections
A polling station at the Crown and Cushion pub near Camberley in Surrey (Andrew Matthews/PA)
Local government elections
A mobile polling station at Aldershot Lido (Andrew Matthews/PA)
Local government elections
A temporary set-up in Whitley Bay, Northumberland (Owen Humphreys/PA)

… and there were all kinds of visitors.

2022 NI Assembly election
Dromore Central Primary School (Brian Lawless/PA)
Local government elections
Millie the dog at Notre Dame Primary School in Glasgow (Jane Barlow/PA)
Local government elections
Seven-year-old Oz, a German shepherd/labrador-cross, in Milton Keynes (Kavita Lyer/PA)
Local government elections
Baxter the King Charles spaniel in Bolton (Jamie McAndrew/PA)

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