Mayor of Croydon and Croydon Council elections - Thursday 7 May 2026

Results will appear here shortly after they are declared.

The count process

• Mayor of Croydon election - vote count on Friday 8 May 2026
• Croydon Council ward elections - vote count on Saturday 9 May 2026

Polling stations close at 10pm on Thursday 7 May at which point the presiding officer in charge of each polling station will seal the ballot boxes at their polling station. The sealed ballot boxes will then be sent to the count venue.

Like several other authorities in London, we will count votes for the Mayoral election on Friday 8 May, and for the council elections on Saturday 9 May.

Once the ballot boxes arrive at the count venue on Thursday night, they will be receipted and securely stored overnight. There will be security staff on duty all night with the ballot boxes. There is also CCTV coverage throughout the venue. 

The ballot boxes will only be unsealed when we start the count at 8am on Friday 8 May. This will be done in front of candidates and their counting agents.

Ballot paper verification

The count starts with the verification process. This is where we check that the number of ballot papers in each ballot box matches the numbers we expect to receive from the polling stations. Count staff record the number of used, unused and spoilt ballet papers. This is a legal requirement and essential for accuracy and transparency around the count process.

Candidates and agents can witness the verification and request copies of the verification records. Find out more about the verification process.

Once we have verified the ballot papers for both the Mayoral and council elections, the ballot papers for the council elections will be placed back in the ballot boxes and sealed. Those boxes will remain in the count areas in locked cages until Saturday morning, when we will begin counting the votes for the council elections. 

Candidates also have the option to place their own seals on ballot boxes following the completion of the verification.

The count

We start counting the votes for the Mayor of Croydon election on Friday 8 May, with the results declared later that day. 

After this is complete, security staff will remain on duty all night with the ballot boxes containing the council ballot papers. These boxes will be unsealed at the start of the council election count at 9am on Saturday 9 May.

The Returning Officer will declare the results for each council ward as they are available. Final results are expected on Saturday afternoon.

Media accreditation at the count

Media representatives wishing to attend the count must apply for accreditation in advance.

Accreditation requests should be emailed to press@croydon.gov.uk.

For each individual attending this must include:

• name and contact details
• role (for example, reporter, photographer, camera operator)
• organisation
• media category (print, online, TV, radio)
• which count you wish to attend (mayoral, local, both)

Accreditation closes at midnight on Wednesday 29 April 2026. Requests received after this deadline will not be accepted.

All attendees must be accredited in advance. Anyone who is not registered will not be permitted entry to the count.

Submitting a request does not guarantee accreditation, as capacity at the count is limited. Successful applicants will be contacted with access details after 29 April 2026.