Voting guide 2024: what to expect on polling day in Tower Hamlets
As polling day approaches on Thursday 4 July, here’s your guide on how to vote, the candidates vying to be your next MP, and when to expect the results.
How to vote and ID requirements
You now must bring proof of identity to vote, following changes to regulations last year. You only need to show one form of photo ID, and it needs to be the original, not a photocopy or a digital version.
Valid forms of photo ID include a passport, a driving licence or a PASS-accredited student card. Find a full list of accepted photo IDs here.
If you’re registered to vote but unable to vote on Thursday because of work or illness, you still have time to request an emergency proxy vote. You have until 17:00 on the day of the election to fill out an emergency proxy vote form and return it to the elections team at Tower Hamlets Council. You can email them at electoralservices@towerhamlets.gov.uk.
Your polling station
Polling stations will open at 07:00 this Thursday, and close at 22:00. If you’re registered to vote, you will have received a polling card in the post, confirming the name and address of your polling station.
You cannot vote at another polling station; you must vote at the station named on your card. You should bring your polling card with you on Thursday, as it’ll speed up the overall process, but don’t worry if you forget — you’ll still be able to vote.
You can also search online to find where your polling station will be by entering your address or postcode into Tower Hamlets Council’s polling station finder.
Constituency of Bethnal Green and Stepney
- Labour Party: Rushanara Ali (incumbent)
- Conservative: Oscar Reaney
- Liberal Democrats: Rabina Khan
- Social Democratic Party: Jon Mabbutt
- Green Party: Phoebe Gill
- Animal Welfare Party: Vanessa Hudson
- Reform UK: Peter Sceats
- Independent: Ajmal Masroor
- Independent: MD Somon Ahmed
- Independent: Reggie Adams
- Independent: Sham Uddin
Wards in Bethnal Green and Stepney
Bethnal Green, St. Dunstan’s, St. Peter’s, Shadwell, Spitalfields & Banglatown, Stepney Green, Weavers, and Whitechapel.
Constituency of Poplar and Limehouse
- Labour: Apsana Begum (incumbent)
- Conservative: Freddie Downing
- Liberal Democrats: Richard Flowers
- Green Party: Nathalie Bienfait
- Reform UK: Tony Glover
- Workers Party of Britain: Kamran Khan
- Social Democratic Party: Manny Lawal
- Independent: Ehtashamul Haque
Wards in Poplar and Limehouse
Blackwall & Cubitt Town, Bromley-by-Bow, East India & Lansbury, Limehouse, Mile End East, Millwall, St Katherine’s & Wapping, and Shadwell.
Constituency of Stratford and Bow
- Labour: Uma Kumaran
- Conservative: Kane Blackwell
- Liberal Democrats: Janey Little
- Green Party: Joe Hudson-Small
- Reform UK: Jeff Evans
- Workers Party of Britain: Halima Khan
- Independent: Fiona Lali
- Independent: Nizam Ali
- Independent: Omar Faruk
- Independent: Steve Hedley
Wards in Stratford and Bow
London Borough of Tower Hamlets wards of Bow East, Bow West and Bromley North. London Borough of Newham wards of Forest Gate North, Forest Gate South, Green Street West (nearly all), Maryland, Stratford and Stratford Olympic Park.
Election results
The exit poll, released at 22:00, will give us the first indication of the general election results. Exit polls take place at around 144 polling stations across the country, where tens of thousands of voters are asked to fill in a mock ballot upon exiting. It has been very accurate in the past at predicting the next government and the distribution of seats.
The poll is shared with BBC, ITV and Sky, and will mark the first time on Thursday that we have a concrete sense of where voters stand.
According to Press Association we should expect the counts to be concluded and results announced for each constituency at the following times:
Bethnal Green and Stepney 03.30
Poplar and Limehouse 04.30
Stratford and Bow 05.30
The overall results will be revealed by 07:00 am on Friday 5 July.
For more of our general election coverage, read Is this the end of Rushanara Ali? The rise of the independents and the battle to oust Labour from Tower Hamlets
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