TODAY voters across Oxfordshire will go to the polls to choose a new police and crime commissioner and, in some areas, to elect councillors.

In Oxford 24 councillors- half the council- will be elected while voters in West Oxfordshire will elect one third of their district councillors.

Every seat on Cherwell District Council is up for grabs and there are also a number of parish and town council elections all over the county.

All of the elections give voters a huge say in how their part of the county will be run in the coming years.

The district and city councils take responsibility for areas such as planning, refuge collection, leisure facilities and environmental issues.

The candidate elected to serve as the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner for the next four years is responsible for securing and maintaining an efficient and effective police force.

They also hold the chief constable to account.

Voters therefore have their chance to influence how decisions are made over all of these areas, but the elections are part of a wider picture nationally as well.

There are council elections across England as well as for the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and National Assembly for Wales.

One year after the General Election the results will inevitably be seen as a test of how well the parties have been deemed to have performed since then by voters.

Incumbent parties often lose seats at such elections, but this time polling suggests the Labour Party will see a decline across England, as well as facing a testing time in Scotland.

Voters are therefore not just casting a ballot for how they thing their council should be run, but are making a statement about what they think of David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn, Nick Farron, Natalie Bennett and other party leaders.

None of Oxfordshire's councils where elections are being held are expected to change hands, with the Conservative Party set to remain in control of Cherwell and West Oxfordshire and Labour Oxford City.

But the Green Party has been vocal about how it would like to become the official opposition on Oxford City Council, something it could do if it took two seats off the Lib Dems.

For their part the Lib Dems are determined to show they are still a force in the city after a testing time nationally last year when they were decimated at the General Election.

Independent candidate Mick Haines is also hoping he can hold on to the seat he won in 2012 in a historic result.

UKIP is looking for its own piece of history as it aims to claim its first seats on the city council and there are three other independent candidates vying to represent their communities.

Polling stations are open from 7am until 10pm and anyone eligible to vote will have been sent a polling card telling them where their nearest station is.

Results in all the elections will be announced by the end of Friday, letting voters know what exactly the outcome of their ballot has been.