VOTERS have begun heading to their local polling station to choose their councillors and European MPs.

The polls opened at 7am and will shut at 10pm.

The average local elections turnout four years ago was 60 per cent although in Kensington less than half the electorate bothered to vote, dragging down the average.

London councils are elected wholesale once every four years and there are 481 council seats up for grabs at the eight West London councils that GetWestLondon.co.uk covers.

Five authorities are Conservative controlled - although the Tories took power in Harrow last year from an Independent Labour administration that itself deposed Labour, who won the 2010 local elections with a majority of five.

Labour go into the elections running three councils.

All the results will be up later as soon as we get them.

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Will you be voting today?

Brent is counting the votes overnight and expects results in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Ealing, Harrow and Hillingdon are counting during the day tomorrow.

The local elections - normally held on the first Thursday in May - were pushed back to coincide with the European Parliament elections.

The eight MEPs representing the London constituency will be chosen via the party list proportional representation system.

London has one Liberal Democrat, one Green, one UKIP, three Conservative and two Labour MEPs.

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YOUR BOROUGH

Brent - 63 seats - Labour controlled - 2010 turnout 61%

Ealing - 69 seats - Labour controlled - 2010 turnout 62%

Hammersmith and Fulham - 46 seats - Conservative controlled - 2010 turnout 62%

Harrow - 63 seats - Conservative controlled (although Labour won the 2010 election and were later deposed) - 2010 turnout 65%

Hillingdon - 65 seats - Conservative controlled - 2010 turnout 63%

Hounslow - 65 seats - Labour controlled - 2010 turnout 60%

Kensington - 50 seats - Conservative controlled - 2010 turnout 47%

Westminster - 60 seats - Conservative controlled - 2010 turnout 54%


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