00:01Voting is underway in local and regional elections in the United Kingdom on Thursday
00:06that could deliver a heavy blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
00:10Local elections usually focus on issues like rubbish collection,
00:15but Starmer's opponents have painted Thursday's vote as a referendum on the centre-left Labour Party Prime Minister.
00:22Voters will elect some 5,000 local councillors and a handful of mayors across England.
00:28Meanwhile, in Scotland and Wales, voters will choose their regional assemblies,
00:33which govern many aspects of their life, as all parliamentary seats are up for election.
00:38Luke Trill from Poster Mooring Common believes these elections are likely to see the total collapse
00:44of the traditional two-party system, dominated for decades by the Labour and Conservative parties.
00:51The big winner is expected to be Hard Right Party Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage,
00:57which is aiming for votes with an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message.
01:02The main opposition Conservative party is also expected to lose ground,
01:08while the centrist and pro-EU liberal Democrats, as well as the Greens, are expected to make gains.
01:14Polls will close at 10pm continental time, and results are likely to be declared on Friday afternoon.
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