Elections 2024: When is the next election and who will I be voting for?

Once polling stations close and votes are counted, ballot boxes are usually put away for at least 12 months before they're dusted off again. But voters won't have to wait that long before a new set of polling cards drop onto doormats throughout the UK.

Hertfordshire went to the polls on Thursday, May 2 to elect their police and crime commissioner, who must hold Hertfordshire Constabulary to account. The winner must set countywide police priorities and balance the force's budget each year.

Similar polls took place throughout England and Wales, including in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex and the Thames Valley. Seven (out of 10) Hertfordshire boroughs and districts hosted local elections, where voters chose new councillors - in Broxbourne, North Herts, St Albans, Stevenage, Three Rivers, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield.

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Londoners have elected new assembly members across the capital, and the Mayor of London. They will look after a range of services including the city's housing, tourism and development masterplan, known as the London Plan, the Metropolitan Police Service, and Transport for London - responsible for several bus, rail and tube routes in Hertfordshire.

There were also local and mayoral elections elsewhere in England, plus a Parliamentary by-election in Blackpool South, triggered after the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton.

So, what comes next?

A general election in the 'second half of this year'

Speaking to broadcasters in January, Rishi Sunak said his "working assumption is, we will have a general election in the second half of this year". The Conservative prime minister only has a few weeks left before that six-month window begins in July.

On polling day, Hertfordshire's voters will elect 12 members of Parliament - out of 650 across the UK. Election winners will sit on green benches in the House of Commons, in Westminster, where they will shape and make laws.

Of the 11 constituencies in Hertfordshire before the general election, 10 are represented by Conservative MPs - including Hertsmere which is held by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden. One is represented by a Liberal Democrat MP - the party's deputy leader Daisy Cooper, in St Albans.

Even if Mr Sunak does not call a vote to be held in the second half of this year, a general election is guaranteed in early 2025. The current Parliament first sat on December 17, 2019, after Boris Johnson's landslide victory the previous week. It will be dissolved automatically when this Parliament hits its fifth anniversary this year, and a general election will be held 25 working days later. This means the latest possible date for a general election is January 28, 2025.

Hertfordshire County Council election in 2025

From buses and potholes to libraries, education and social care, Hertfordshire County Council looks after a £1.1billion budget which it spends on county-wide services.

There are 78 county councillors. Among them are 45 Conservatives, who have a majority and overall control of the council. In opposition are 24 Liberal Democrats, seven Labour councillors, one Green Party councillor, and one independent councillor.

A vote is due in May 2025.

More district council elections in 2026, 2027 and 2028

Councillors serve four-year terms.

Six authorities in Hertfordshire elect their councillors one-third at a time - in Broxbourne, St Albans, Stevenage, Three Rivers, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield. Votes in these areas will next take place in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

In 2027, district and borough councils in Dacorum, East Herts and Hertsmere will hold all-out elections, when all seats go up for election. North Herts will next go to the polls in 2028.

These authorities are responsible for a range of local services, including household bin collections, district masterplanning and council housing.

The next London Assembly and Mayor of London elections will also take place in 2028.