The Local Government elections, Salford City Mayor election and Greater Manchester Mayor election take place on Thursday 6 May 2021.
These are the elections that have been postponed from May 2020. We have made provisions to ensure that voting at polling stations will be as safe as possible during the current COVID-19 situation. The safety of members of the public and employees is of the upmost priority so a range of appropriate safety measures will be in place that you will need to follow. It’s important to remember to wear face coverings to help keep people safe. We’re also encouraging voters to bring their own pen or pencil to complete their ballot papers.
Further guidance for voters is available below. All candidates standing in both the local and mayoral elections can be found in downloadable documents at the bottom of the page.
Our Local Government elections will be ‘all out’ elections where all 60 councillor seats will be up for election. Councillors are elected to represent their local area and residents, and contribute to the development of local policies in areas such as social care, housing, planning, highways, and education. Voters can choose three candidates in the local election which is the election of councillors for their own ward.
Voters also get to choose who they want to be Salford City Mayor and who they want to be the Greater Manchester Mayor.
The Salford City Mayor is Salford’s political, strategic and community leader and has overall responsibility for the delivery of all Salford City Council’s services. The Mayor for Greater Manchester is a major figure in the political life of the city-region, with unique powers and responsibilities – more details on the GM Elects website.
All Salford voters will receive a mayoral booklet with a full list of candidates for Salford City Mayor and their election address, you can download a copy at the bottom of this page. Similarly all voters across Greater Manchester (GM) will receive a mayoral booklet with candidates for the GM Mayor You have two votes in both mayoral elections, one for your first choice candidate and one for your second choice. This is called the supplementary vote system and is explained in more detail in the videos below.
Please follow the instructions sent with your postal pack ensuring that you provide your signature and date of birth on the security statement that you return with your ballot papers.
This short video explains how to complete your postal pack.
If you can't hear the video or don't have sound on your device you can turn on the captions option. Just go to the CC button in the bottom right hand corner of the video and click on English.
Please note that the Royal Mail has Priority Post Boxes which have collections at earlier and later times as well as weekends. They were set up to help with the collection and onward delivery of COVID test kits, but as elections are also a priority, voters are also encouraged to make sure of this enhanced collection service. Find a priority box for your area.
If you forget to send your postal vote back in time, you can hand deliver it to any polling station in Salford before 10pm on Thursday 6 May.
The location of your polling station is shown on your poll card and it will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 6 May. If you’re unable to vote on the day you can apply for a proxy vote, to appoint someone trusted to vote on your behalf. For urgent help, please call customer services on 0161 793 2500.
As this year’s election is one of the biggest in Salford for years we have created a couple of videos (below) to explain what to expect when you visit your polling station and the different ways of voting on the ballot papers. The Salford City Mayor election ballot paper will be green, the Greater Manchester Mayor election ballot paper will be yellow and the local election ballot paper will be white.
Video 1 – how to vote on the ballot papers
Video 2 – what to expect at a polling station
Your vote doesn’t belong to anyone who intimidates you, pretends to be you, tries to bribe you, or enter the polling booth with you. It’s your vote and yours alone.
If someone tries to take your vote, or the vote of anyone you know, contact Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111 or visit the Crimestoppers website.
The votes will be counted from 11am on Friday 7 May for the local elections and from 11am on Saturday 8 May for both mayoral elections. The results of the local election will be published in the evening of Friday 7 May 2021 and the results of both mayoral elections will be published in the same place on Saturday 8 May 2021.
This video below shows the drawing of lots for the order in which candidate’s election addresses appeared in the mayoral election booklet.
To ensure that the electorate can be as informed as possible about the choices before them in these elections, the government has changed legislation to enable a range of COVID-secure campaigning nationally. From Monday 8 March, door to door canvassing can go ahead only for those directly campaigning in support of/against outcomes in May. When leafleting and canvassing, campaigners must follow COVID secure rules at all times.
These include wearing face coverings, staying two metres apart and two metres from doorsteps and not entering a private home. Residents in the city should continue to follow the national guidelines of social distancing, staying local and staying at home wherever possible. For more details visit the GOV.UK website.
More information regarding the election timetables and any other important information will be added to this page in the coming months.
Find out more about the Greater Manchester Mayoral Election. More information will be added throughout the election process.
If you are unable to view documents of these types, our downloads page provides links to viewing software.