May 6 is being dubbed 'Super Thursday' because of the high number of political battles set to take place on that date around the UK, including some that were postponed from last year because of Covid-19.

In England, voters will be choosing a mixture of councillors, local mayors, regional mayors and police commissioners. Those on the electoral roll in Swindon can take part in the borough council elections in just over three weeks' time.

Plus, voters will decide who they want to take up the role of Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and replace outgoing PCC Angus Macpherson.

The contest was due to take place last year but was delayed due to the pandemic.

With the voter registration deadline looming, we've taken a look at what turnout has been like across Swindon in recent years.

Electoral Commission data shows that at the last local council elections in 2019, 156,500 people in the area were eligible to vote, with 51,900 of them returning valid ballot papers.

That was a turnout of 33.2 per cent, which was slightly higher than the England average for council elections of 32.3 per cent.

Around 17,700 postal votes were included in the count, but the Swindon ballot box turnout rises to 33.7 per cent when including rejected votes.

Different figures show that 49,100 people in Swindon returned valid votes at the Wiltshire PCC election in 2016 – 32.4 per cent of those who were eligible to take part.

Elsewhere in Britain, Welsh and Scottish voters will be heading to the polls on May 6 to elect new parliaments.

The scale of Super Thursday means that every voter will be able to take part in at least one type of poll, making it the biggest event of its kind outside a general election.

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: "This May, voters across Great Britain will be going to the polls to vote and choose the people that make decisions which can impact their day to day lives.

"There are several ways for people to vote – you can choose to vote at a polling station, by post, or by appointing someone you trust to vote as a proxy on your behalf."

A YouGov survey carried out on behalf of the Electoral Commission in February found that the majority of voters would feel safe attending a polling station despite current public health challenges.

However, it added that absent voting is likely to play an important role in delivering elections during the pandemic, with 22 per cent of people surveyed in England who normally vote in person saying they intend to vote by post this year.

You must registered to vote by midnight on Monday April 19, or apply for a postal vote by 5pm on April 20.