Voting takes place in local elections

Voters are heading to the polls in 176 local authorities across England today, with 4,361 seats up for grabs across the country.

All 32 London boroughs will be holding polls, while there will also be mayoral elections in three parts of the capital, and in Watford.

Turnout for local elections is typically low – about one third of those eligible to vote turn up to the ballot box, compared to almost two thirds in a general election.

However, today's poll is being watched carefully by all the main political parties, with Labour in particular braced for heavy losses following a fortnight of bad headlines.

Earlier this week, the prime minister urged voters to ignore the row over foreign prisoners, NHS deficits and John Prescott's affair with his secretary, and instead focus on everything Labour has achieved since 1997.

On the ground, Labour activists have been campaigning on the fact that councils controlled by the party have lower council tax bills, on the progress made in fighting anti-social behaviour and on the huge investment in education made in the last eight years.

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are both hoping to make gains from Labour's woes, but they are also under pressure, particularly as today's polls will be the first electoral test for David Cameron and Menzies Campbell as respective party leaders.

Under the slogan 'vote blue, go green', the Tories have focused on the environment as a key part of their campaign, demonstrating how their councils have improved recycling and come up with school bus schemes to cut congestion.

But Mr Cameron insists 'being green' is not just about climate change, but also cleaning up litter, creating more parks and open spaces and fighting vandalism and graffiti.

For their part, the Lib Dems are fighting the election on a 'safer, greener, fairer' ticket, promising to improve neighbourhood safety, increase the use of recycling and other environmental measures, and also abolish council tax.

They want to replace the tax with a local income tax which, although it would see some people pay more, they argue would benefit lower-income households who are currently suffering under high council tax bills.

Meanwhile, many smaller parties are also hoping to make gains – the UK Independence party (Ukip) are challenging all Tory seats, the Greens are aiming for current strongholds in Oxford and Norwich, Respect is seeking to build on the election of its first MP, George Galloway, in Tower Hamlets last year, and the BNP are building support in Dagenham.

Polls are open from 7am until 10pm on May 4th, with the results expected to start coming in early Friday morning.