Where are the 2026 local elections taking place in the South East?
BBCAll-out elections in East and West Sussex and a massive shake-up of local government in Surrey mean 2026 has the potential to be a year of big political change in the South East.
All three counties are among the formerly traditional Conservative heartlands that continue to be targeted by both the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.
Labour faces tests in some of the councils it won on the Sussex coast, where Reform UK and the Greens may also be hoping to make gains.
These elections come as councils find themselves under financial pressure from the cost of delivering essential services like caring for vulnerable adults and housing homeless people while dealing with roads pitted with potholes.
We take a look at the local elections planned across the region on 7 May.
All change at Surrey elections
Surrey is going to see massive change, although it might not be noticed immediately.
All of the 12 existing councils are being scrapped and replaced with two brand new unitary authorities from April 2027.
Elections this May will be for the two new bodies: East Surrey and West Surrey.
Unusually, that means the people elected will not take over running services on 8 May.
They also will not really be responsible for dealing with residents' individual issues, known as case-work, until 2027, unless they are already an elected councillor.
Instead they will set up and then serve on the new councils, while the current Surrey County Councillors will continue in office for an extra 11 months to keep things running.
The Liberal Democrats might reasonably anticipate doing well here and perhaps taking control of at least one of the new councils.
There is another interesting angle to the county's political landscape.
Surrey has an established history of electing residents' groups to its councils in significant numbers so how will that play out in these new, bigger authorities?
While often seen as a wealthy county, Surrey is not immune to the financial challenges shared by other neighbouring councils, particularly around the cost of transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and the higher cost of running services in the South East.
It also receives less government money than some other areas and officials have warned that the new councils will increasingly have to rely on funds raised from council tax.
Where are the local elections in Sussex?
East and West Sussex also have the potential to see significant change as every single seat on both county councils will be up for grabs.
Both have historically mostly been run by the Conservatives but since 2023 the Tories have run East Sussex without a majority after the party lost two by-elections.
East Sussex is also facing one of the most challenging financial situations of any of the South East's councils and applied to the government to borrow an additional £70m this year.
Reform UK will be likely to have West Sussex in particular in its sights but could be well-placed to make gains on all of the councils up this year.
It will be worth watching if any parties can break on to Labour-run Crawley, which has historically been dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.
Labour also won both Adur and Worthing on its path to power but only by small margins.
These elections will be a test of whether it can retain them.
Along the coast, Hastings is also shaping up to be a battleground for the left after some former Labour councillors quit the party in 2025 with the intention of joining Your Party.
It left the Greens in charge as a minority administration so they are likely to be trying to push to win overall control.
The most notable thing about the elections in Sussex is that they were not expected to happen.
A government U-turn in February means they are now back on but there is a question about how long those councillors elected in May will serve, as Sussex continues to move in the same direction as Surrey in reorganising local government.
Some Sussex councils have also suggested that holding the elections this year could have an impact on that process.
Will there be local elections in Kent?
Kent is taking a back seat in 2026, after a seismic set of elections in 2025 that saw Reform UK win control of Kent County Council.
There is just one set of elections happening in the county: for a third of the seats on Liberal Democrat-controlled Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.
Medway Council, which was won by Labour in 2023, is not due another set of elections until 2027.
