Local Elections 7 May 2026

Sutton Council Local elections will take place on Thursday, 7 May 2026. All 55 seats of the Council will be up for election. 

Registered voters in Sutton will vote to elect 55 Councillors to represent them in one of the following Wards:

• Beddington
• Belmont
• Carshalton Central
• Carshalton South & Clockhouse
• Cheam
• Hackbridge*
• North Cheam
• South Beddington & Roundshaw
• St Helier East*
• St Helier West
• Stonecot*
• Sutton Central
• Sutton North
• Sutton South
• Sutton West & East Cheam
• The Wrythe
• Wallington North
• Wallington South
• Worcester Park North*
• Worcester Park South*

Wards indicated with a * have two seats to elect and so voters will cast two votes on their ballot paper.  All other wards have three seats to elect and so voters will cast three votes on their ballot paper.

Photo ID is now required when voting at a polling station. Anyone who does not show a valid form of photo ID will not be able to vote.

Standing as a Candidate

If you wish to stand as a candidate, you will need to submit nomination papers by 4pm, 9 April 2026.

Nomination papers can be delivered to the Electoral Services Office, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA between 10am - 4pm from  Thursday, 26 March - Thursday, 9 April, 4pm. Contact martha.matheou@sutton.gov.uk for further information or to make an appointment.

The Electoral Commission has published guidance on standing as a candidate or acting as an agent. You can download a Nomination Paper or contact Electoral Services, who can email a copy to you.

Please contact martha.matheou@sutton.gov.uk if you require any further information.

When you become a Candidate or Agent

Candidates and agents can attend the issuing and opening of postal votes, or send a postal voting agent on their behalf.  To do so, email jodie.heath@sutton.gov.uk the names of any agents you wish to attend.  Sessions will take place in Meeting Room 1, Ground Floor, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA.  There is no public access to these proceedings.

Session times and dates:

OPV1 - Wednesday, 29 April - 11am - 5pm - Meeting Room 1, Civic Offices

OPV 2 - Thursday, 30 April - 10am - 5pm - Meeting Room 1, Civic Offices

OPV 3 - Friday, 1 May - 10am - 5pm - Meeting Room 1, Civic Offices

OPV 4 - Tuesday, 5 May - 10am - 5pm - Meeting Room 1, Civic Offices

OPV 5 - Wednesday, 6 May - 10am - 5pm - Meeting Room 1, Civic Offices

OPV 6 - Thursday, 7 May - 11am - 4pm - Meeting Room 1, Civic Offices

OPV 7 - Thursday, 7 May - 8pm - 1am  Westcroft Leisure Centre, Library

Who can vote

To vote in these elections, you must be:

• aged 18 or over on polling day
• a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen (including Cyprus and Malta)
• a European Union citizen (check EU eligibility criteria)
• registered to vote

Find out more about who is eligible to register to vote

Who cannot vote

• under 18 years old on Thursday, 7 May, are not eligible to vote in this election
• registered overseas electors

Ballot papers

Registered voters will receive one white ballot paper.

• Voters vote for the number of candidates depending on their Wards (see above)
• Local elections voting system is First Past the Post
• The candidates with the most votes are elected

How to Register

If you are not yet registered or have just moved, the quickest way is to register to vote online before the deadline at midnight on Monday, 20 April 2026 (you need your national insurance number, it takes 5 minutes to complete). You can request a paper application form if that is easier from electoral.services@sutton.gov.uk or telephone our helpline: 020 8770 4179.

You do not need to re-register if you are already registered to vote at your current address. You will receive a poll card between March 26 and 30.

How you can vote

You can choose to vote:

• at your local polling station
• by post
• appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf (if you have a reason why you cannot attend your polling station)

Voting at a polling station

Sutton has 63 polling districts and 57 polling places. You will be allocated to a specific polling station and can only vote at that station (unless you have organised to vote by post). Find your polling station in Sutton.

Nominated proxies must vote at the allocated polling station for the voter they are acting as a proxy for. If your proxy is voting at your polling station, they will need to bring their own photo ID to vote.

Poll cards (in the form of a letter) will be sent to all registered voters by the end of March with information about the location of their polling station.

Find your Polling Station - enter your postcode to search. Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm on Thursday, 7 May 2026.

On the day of the election, go to the polling station shown on the poll card letter, give your address and name and show an acceptable voter ID to be issued your ballot paper.

There is a lot of information in the polling station to help you, and our staff will be available to support you. You do not need your poll card letter to vote; it is for your information only, but you do have to be a registered elector.

Accessibility

Do you need additional support completing your postal vote pack during elections? If yes, contact my office and let us know how we can help. We would be happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments, if required, that we are able to accommodate.

Some adjustments take time to arrange, so please contact us as soon as possible on 020 8770 4179 or via email to electoral.services@sutton.gov.uk.

Our Accessibility page lists all the items we have at polling stations to support voters on the day.

If your polling station is inside a School Street scheme

We encourage sustainable travel to polling stations. If this is not possible and you are arriving by car, we request you park in a safe and legal manner, not causing any obstructions to pedestrians or other vehicles.

School Street schemes, which include Polling stations within the restricted area, will not be enforced on Election Day.

Polling stations impacted are:

1. Abbey Primary School, Glastonbury Road, Morden, SM4 6NY (St Helier West)
2. Muschamp Primary School, Muschamp Road, Carshalton, SM5 2SE (The Wrythe)
3. Robin Hood Junior School, Thorncroft Road, Sutton, SM1 1RL (Sutton West & East Cheam)

Any other School Street Schemes in Sutton will remain in place and will be enforced as normal.

I don’t have an acceptable voter ID - what to do

If you want to vote at your polling station, you can apply online for a free Voter Authority Certificate. The deadline to apply for this to be valid for the May elections is Tuesday, 28th April, at 5pm. If you are unable to complete the online application, you can request a paper application or contact our helpline: 020 8770 4179 for more information.

Or you can apply online to vote by post or;apply online to vote by proxy for a particular election if that is easier for you.

Voting by post

The deadline for these elections to register for a postal vote, or to change or cancel an existing postal vote, is 5pm on Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

How to vote by post

You can apply online to vote by post. The last day to apply to vote by post or to change or cancel an existing postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

Postal voting packs will be sent via Royal Mail 1st class. Postal voting packs must be returned to us by the close of the poll - 10pm on Thursday, 7 May 2026.

All postal votes will include a prepaid 1st class envelope for the postal vote to be returned in. All postal votes need to be received by 10pm on Thursday, 7 May 2026.

Important changes regarding hand-delivering postal votes

The law changed and you now must complete a form if you hand-deliver your postal ballot papers to the Civic Offices or a Polling Station. Voters can hand in their postal ballot papers from 9am - 5pm in normal office hours, or at any polling station in the borough before 10pm on Thursday, 7 May 2026. There is a limit to the number of postal votes someone can hand deliver. You can hand in your own postal vote and postal votes for up to 5 other voters. A political campaigner can only hand in their postal vote plus the votes of up to 5 family members or people for whom they provide regular care.

When voters hand-deliver postal votes, they must complete a form to be attached to the postal vote. Staff at the Civic Offices or at the polling station will provide you with this form. Please allow extra time to do this when hand-delivering postal votes. If the person who hand delivers does not complete a form to accompany postal votes, the vote(s) will be rejected.

Voting by post and haven’t received a postal ballot paper - what to do

If you are a postal voter and you have not received your ballot papers, you can apply for a replacement.  We are not able to re-issue your ballot papers until Thursday, 30 April 2026.

Please note:

• If you do not receive your postal pack by Thursday, 30 April 2026, you must make contact with the office so you can be issued with a replacement postal pack.
• the deadline to apply for a replacement ballot paper pack is by 5pm Thursday, 7 May 2026.
• You will need to provide a photo ID

Contact our helpline on 020 8770 4179 for further advice.

I vote by post and have spoiled my paper – what do I do?

If you are a postal voter and you have spoiled your postal pack, you can apply for a replacement immediately. Contact our helpline on 020 8770 4179

• If you spoil your papers, you must bring the old pack with you for us to replace it; do not throw it away.; You will also need to bring a photo ID with you.
• The deadline to apply for a replacement ballot paper pack is 5pm on Thursday, 7 May 2026.

How to vote by proxy?

You can appoint someone to go to your polling station on Election Day to vote on your behalf.; This is known as a Proxy.; The proxy you appoint must be eligible to vote in the election they are voting in and must be registered to vote with their local authority.; They must show their own voter ID when voting at the polling station.; You can apply online to vote by proxyfor a particular election. The last day to apply to vote by proxy is by 5pm on Tuesday, 28 April 2026.

You can download and complete paper application forms if you require a permanent proxy due to disability, employment or education. You cannot apply online for these applications currently.

The last day to apply to vote by proxy is 5pm on Tuesday, 28 April 2026.

If your proxy cannot go to your polling station, they can apply to vote by post as a proxy.; The proxy would need to download and print a postal proxy application form. They can return the application either by post (the return address is shown on the application form) or scan and email the form to electoral.services@sutton.gov.uk.  The last day a proxy can apply to vote by post as a proxy is by 5pm, Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

I can’t go to the polling station due to a medical/occupational emergency

If you are unable to go to the polling station due to your employment, a medical emergency, or you do not have an acceptable form of Voter ID (and it is too late to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate), you can apply to vote by emergency proxy.  The deadline to apply for an emergency proxy is by 5pm on Thursday, 7 May 2026.

Contact our helpline on 020 8770 4179 for further information. 

Important dates

Notices (please note notices will be added here on their expected dates - see timetable below)

Where to view the results

The count commences at 10pm after the close of the poll on Thursday, 7 May 2026.

Results will be added here on Friday, 8 May 2026.

Contact Electoral Services

We are available and here to help.

• Helpline: 020 8770 4179
• Email: electoral.services@sutton.gov.uk
• Office Address: Electoral Services Office, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA - (appointment only)