The Conservatives are preparing for a challenging week in the upcoming local elections, with some analysts predicting that the party could lose as many as 1,000 council seats. Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak has acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, as his party looks to contest over 8,000 seats in 2,000 councils. Labour is expected to make gains at the polls, with the party’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer, stating that the country is in need of change. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has claimed that many Conservative voters will turn to his party in the local election.

The upcoming local elections will be the first in England where people will be required to show photographic identification before casting their ballot. Accepted forms of ID include a passport, driving licence photocard, blue badge, Totum student discount card, and older person’s bus pass, as well as a voter authority certificate. The Electoral Commission has estimated that approximately 4% of the UK’s population may lack a valid form of photo ID to vote, the equivalent of just over two million people. The commission plans to record the number of people who are refused a ballot paper by polling station staff because they lack ID, but not if they are turned away after speaking to the greeters that will be deployed outside some polling stations. Photo by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, Wikimedia commons.