Voters are set to go to the polls to shape the make-up of Hartlepool Borough Council. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday, 7 May, with a third of seats on the local authority up for election, one in each of the area’s 12 wards.
The 57 candidates will find out if they are successful when the results come through in the early hours of Friday morning – with the final declaration currently estimated to take place around 2am.
Heading into the elections the council is made up of 20 Labour members, five Reform UK councillors, eight independents, two Conservatives and one Hartlepool Independent Union representative.
It means the local authority is currently led by a Labour administration, as it has been since May 2024, with 19 seats needed for an outright majority.
Of the 12 seats up for election, six are currently held by Labour representatives, two by Conservatives, two by independents, one by Reform UK and one by the Hartlepool Independent Union.
Councillor Pamela Hargeaves, local authority leader since October 2025, is one of several key figures from the ruling Labour administration who will be defending their seat in the elections.
Others include Councillors Moss Boddy, Gary Allen, Melanie Morley and Owen Riddle, who all currently hold committee chair positions on the local authority.
Reform UK are standing candidates in all 12 wards and will be seeking to make gains on the council after success in the last two local authority by-elections, whilst they have also been boosted by defections to the party.
Elsewhere the Conservatives will be looking to regain numbers on the council, and the Green Party will be hoping to secure its first councillor in the borough, with candidates standing in every ward.
With only a third of seats on the local authority up for election it means no party other than Labour would be able to leave with an outright majority.
However if the currently leading group ends the night with fewer than 19 seats the council would be in a state of “no overall control”.
Cross-party talks would then be held over potential agreements and coalitions.
The council will hold its annual general meeting later in May where it will be confirmed who takes up the leadership positions for the coming year.
