EA Bulletin: 414 England

We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who helped to ensure the successful delivery of Thursday’s elections. Our initial assessment is that the elections were well-run and voters across the country were able to participate in the polls.  

As you know, at each set of elections, the Electoral Commission collects key administrative data from Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers. This data provides important evidence to support our work in reporting on elections across the UK.  

We will collect the data using our usual data portal. From Friday 2 May 2025 you will be able to log on to the data portal and fill in data. You will have received an email to your electoral services email address with details on how to log on/reset your password on 2 May 2025.  

We will be collecting the core administrative data for the local elections as usual and for the first time, we will also collect data for all the Combined Authority Mayoral elections. The deadline for completing this data will be Friday 30 May 2025.  

For local authorities that want to return voter ID data, we will collect this via the same data portal (this will be set up for the same VIDEF data as we collected in 2024). It is entirely optional to complete this data. If you do choose to collect and return the ID data to us, the deadline is also Friday 30 May 2025.  

For full details on the data we are collecting, see the complete list (opens in new window). There are separate tabs for the core administrative data - one each for local elections and CAMs, and the optional voter ID data. You can view our user guide here (opens in a new window). If you have any questions about the data collection, please contact [email protected]. 

Further to Bulletin: 411 England, we are running the following feedback exercises following the May polls:

Polling station staff survey  

We are carrying out a survey of polling station staff to collect feedback about their polling day experiences. We would appreciate your help in highlighting the survey to your polling station staff.  

There are two ways for staff to access the survey:  

• The polling station handbook (hard copy and digital) features a QR code which staff can scan using a smart phone to access the survey.  

• Here is a link to the online survey which you can circulate to your polling station staff (opens in a new window). In both cases, the link to the survey will go live on the afternoon of polling day. If you have any queries about the survey, please contact [email protected]. 

Feedback from electoral administrators  

We would also like feedback from administrators and Returning Officers responsible for running the polls. This not only informs our post-election reporting but will also help us to improve how we support you in delivering well-run elections in the future.  

The survey can be completed by visiting this link (opens in a new window). The deadline to provide feedback is Friday 30 May 2025.  

If you have any queries about the feedback survey, please contact [email protected]. 

Following the local elections that took place May 1 across England, we are hosting a post-election webinar and a series of online advice surgeries for candidates and agents.  

Webinar

Our webinar will be hosted Wednesday 14 May between 12.00-13.00. The session will offer an overview of the candidate spending return and practical tips on how to report campaign spending and donations. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions.  

To register for the webinar, attendees will need to complete this form (opens in a new window). Completing these questions will help us tailor the session to ensure it is as useful and relevant to attendees as possible. 

Post-poll advice surgeries

Throughout the day on 20 and 21 May 2025, we are hosting online advice surgeries for candidates and agents to support them with the submission of their candidate spending return.

The surgeries will provide a 20-minute one-to-one slot for any candidates or agents who have questions, or would like advice or guidance. 

To register for the advice surgeries, on 20 and 21 May 2025, attendees will need to complete this form (opens in a new window). 

If you are aware of any potential candidates and agents who may benefit from attending the webinar, separate advice surgeries or both, please forward this information to them.