South Tyneside elections 2026: All you need to know

South Tyneside Council will hold an all-out election on Thursday 7 May.

All 54 seats will be contested, with three councillors representing each ward.

The deadline to register to vote in the local elections is Monday 20 April. This can be done online.

The local authority is responsible for services including waste management and planning applications. Councillors represent their wards and help shape the council's direction.

The list of candidates will be published sometime after Thursday 9 April.

Prospective councillors must have their nominations submitted between 20 March and 9 April.

South Tyneside Council is currently led by the Labour Party, and is composed of:

• Labour Party - 27 seats
• Independent - 18 seats
• Green Party - 9 seats

Polling stations are open from 07:00 to 22:00 BST on Thursday 7 May.

As long as you are in the queue by 22:00 you will be able to vote.

If you are registered to vote at a polling station, you will get a poll card about five weeks before the election with details of where to vote, the council says.

The deadline to submit an application for a postal vote or a postal proxy vote is 17:00 on 21 April, and the deadline to submit an application to vote by proxy is 17:00 on 28 April.

South Tyneside will have 82 polling stations open across the borough.

Voters can vote for up to three candidates on the ballot paper.

They do not need to cast all three of their votes, but three councillors will still be elected.

There is a requirement for voters to provide photographic identification at polling stations.

This can include passports, driving licences or some other government issued documents. You can also apply for a "free voter authority certificate" if you do not already have an accepted form of photo ID.

Ballot papers can be marked with a pencil or pen.

You can bring your own with you, and they will be available at the polling station too, the council says.

Mark a cross (X) in the box opposite the name of the candidate you are voting for.

If you would prefer to vote by post, you can apply here.

South Tyneside Council said it would count the votes on Friday 8 May and is planning to declare half the wards between 12:00 to 13:00, and the second half between 16:30 to 17:30.

This year's elections on South Tyneside are the most significant for more than two decades.

All 54 seats are being contested because of boundary changes. The last time that happened was in 2004 and since then generally only a third of seats have been up for grabs in any one year.

Given changes over the last 10 years, Labour could lose its grip on this traditional stronghold, encompassing the towns of Jarrow and South Shields.

The party has ruled in this borough since the first election in 1973, apart from a brief spell in the late 1970s when no party was in overall control.

Eight years ago, all but one of the councillors in the chamber were Labour, strangling opposition voices.

Since then, however, Labour's firm grip on the council has been weakening.

With every subsequent election, the Greens and independent candidates have been chipping away at the party's vast majority.

The 53 seats Labour held in 2018 have reduced in successive elections to 28, when voters last went to the polls in 2024.

And Labour go into this 2026 election having already lost its official majority control, after one of its councillors resigned from the party last summer.

The once-dominant party now has 27 seats, one short of the number needed for an overall majority.

They share the chamber with 18 independents and nine Greens.

This spring, those opposition voices will be looking to eat further into Labour's falling majority.

And Reform UK will be keen for a large slice of the pie, too.

Labour will be working hard to hold on to its seats, at a time when the party has decided to raise council tax by 4.5% from April.

It says it is facing significant financial pressures, but will likely point to its record on regeneration in the area including South Tyneside College, Holborn Riverside and cultural assets like the Customs House. It will also point to forthcoming investment through Labour's Pride in Place funding.

The independents will hope to strengthen their collective voices as the official opposition in the chamber. They will campaign on their record of holding the Labour majority to account, as well as their own individual policies.

But nipping at their heels and fighting for their places at the table will be both Reform UK and the Greens.

Reform UK will be looking to burst on to the scene and repeat the success they enjoyed in nearby County Durham in 2025, when the party came from nowhere to take control of the council.

In 2024, Reform UK only fielded candidates in two of the 16 wards where elections were held. Those candidates came third in their contests. This year, Reform UK will be looking to field candidates in each ward.

Reform UK will be campaigning on their record so far at Durham County Council where they have raised council tax by the lowest amount in the North East -1.99% for 2026/27.

Durham, though, did enjoy the highest funding settlement from central government of all the region's councils for the next financial year.

The Greens will be keen to take more seats on South Tyneside, too, and perhaps capitalise on the success of the recent Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election win.

South Tyneside is a target area for the Green Party, being the authority where they have enjoyed the most electoral success in the North East.

Until the last election they were the official opposition. The Greens will campaign on community-focused issues like youth services, public health and supporting families, as well as environmental issues in this coastal borough.

The Conservatives lost their last remaining councillor in 2024. They will criticise Labour's financial management at the council, but may struggle to make inroads.

The Liberal Democrats have not had a seat on South Tyneside Council since 2012 and did not field any candidates in the last local elections in 2024.

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