Labour have defied expectations in the English local elections so far, but suffered major setbacks in Scotland and Wales.
With two-thirds of votes counted (as of 11.00am this morning), the party had lost 26 councillors compared to predictions they would lose up to 170 council seats.
Labour managed to hold on to key swing councils such as Southampton, Crawley and Hastings. However, they have been pushed into third place in Scotland after the Conservatives more than doubled their representation north of the border.
At the time of writing, the Conservatives were up five, Lib Dems were up 15 and Greens were down four.
UKIP and the Conservatives have drawn level in the fight for Thurrock Council sparking speculation they will form a coalition.
Nigel Farage’s party went from being the third biggest group on the council to being joint first with a total of 17 seats. They took four from Labour, one from the Tories and one from an independent.
UKIP have been making gains across the country. After 87 authorities have returned their results, they have taken 20 seats - bringing their total to 28.
The party also came second to Labour in two Westminster by-elections, Ogmore, in South Wales, and Sheffield Brightside, in South Yorkshire.
In one of the night’s shock results, the politician in charge of local government reorganisation in Wales has lost his seat on the Welsh Assembly.
Labour’s Leighton Andrews lost his Rhondda seat on the Welsh Assembly to Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, who won with 11,891 votes.
Joe Anderson comfortably retained his position as elected mayor in Liverpool mayoral election in Liverpool. The results for mayors in London, Bristol and Salford will be revealed later this morning or tomorrow.
Click here to read our morning analysis of the results so far.
