CANDIDATES are heading for count centres in Cornwall and will be waiting anxiously to find out who will win seats on Cornwall Council today.

Residents went to the polls yesterday to elect representatives to County Hall and all the votes are being counted at the Royal Showground Wadebridge, at Truro Cathedral, and at Carn Brae Leisure Centre from 10am.

Results will be announced as the day goes on with the count set to be complete by 4pm.

Meanwhile where town and parish councils have had elections, these votes will be counted tomorrow (Saturday May 8), and for the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner, the count is being carried out on Monday with the final declaration expected at around 6pm.

Senior lecturer in Politics at the University of Exeter Dr Joanie Willett said there has been a lot of enthusiasm for this year’s local elections in Cornwall.

"Although turnout is often much lower, local elections are really more important than the national ones, as it is our local representatives who quite literally shape the communities in which we live, love, and work. It’s a real mistake, I think, to conflate local politics with national party political jostling.

"If electors are voting along party lines, then that means they are not voting for a familiar face who they know has done a lot in their community. And that means that we have a serious breakdown of local democracies."