Coalition will be needed to run councilpublished at 17:20 British Summer Time 2 May

17:20 BST 2 May

Tim Parker
Political reporter, BBC Leicester

The Conservatives have lost control of Leicestershire County Council for the first time in almost a quarter of a century.

With all the local election results now in, Reform has won 25 of the 55 seats in all - that's three short of an overall majority.

The Conservatives won 15 seats, while the Liberal Democrats gained a couple of seats and now boast a group of 11.

Labour, meanwhile, are now down to two seats and independent Michael Charlesworth kept his seat in East Wigston.

There will also be representation from the Green Party, which gained its first seat at County Hall.

Among Reform's healdine wins was Michael Squires taking Valley from Conservative leader Nick Rushton.

So, what happens next? Well party leaders have got to agree some form of coalition so they can run the authority - that could take hours...or days.

Whoever does take charge will inherit unchanged issues - increasing demand for social care and special educational needs provision, financial challenges at County Hall and fixing the potholes.

And then, there's the matter of the whole council setup in Leicestershire being reorganised.

Deborah Taylor, who was acting leader of the council, was re-elected to the Bradgate division, but she will be returning to County Hall without many colleagues.

The Conservatives lost control of the authority after almost a quarter of a century, with Reform UK securing 25 seats, just shy of a majority.

The council is now under no overall control.

Taylor, addressing the situation, wrote on X: "Thank you to everyone that voted for me and supported me.

"Many valued colleagues have been defeated and I am sorry to see them go.

"Discussions will be held over the next few days as to the way forward for Leicestershire."

Adam Moss
BBC News, Leicester

Turnout overall across Leicestershire was 32.28% - a small decrease on the 33.3% of people who voted in 2021.

The final seat to declare was Glenfields, Kirkby Muxloe and Leicester Forests, which elects two councillors.

The Conservatives and Reform split the honour with Nick Chapman elected for the Tories and Kevin Crook for Reform.

Nick Chapman (Conservative) - 1,953

Kevin Paul Crook (Reform) - 1,733

Lee Martin Breckon (Conservative) - 1,705

Josh Walden (Reform) - 1,589

Tony Deakin (Green) - 1,165

Nick Cox (Green) - 1,086

Malcolm Francis Fox (Labour) 440

Shabbir Aslam (Labour) 410

Iain Edward Cameron Smith (Liberal Democrat) - 266

Eddie Pop Larkin (Liberal Democrat) -166

Naomi Bottomley will be the only Green Party councillor on the county council after winning the Sileby and the Wolds seat from the Conservatives.

Naomi Eleanor Bottomley (Green) - 1,335

Roger Michael Bacon (Reform) - 1,098

Jenny Bokor (Conservative) - 652

Kaisra Manzur Khan (Labour) - 199

Ian Robert Sharpe (Liberal Democrat) - 104

Andrew Innes has won the seat in Melton East for Reform.

Andrew Colin Gordon Innes (Reform) - 1,090

Pam Posnett (Conservative) - 989

Helen Cliff (Labour) - 581

Allen Thwaites (Independent) - 305

Alastair James McQuillan (Green) - 263

Ian Keith Ridley (Liberal Democrat) - 108

The Conservatives have held Loughborough South West, but will have a new councillor in the seat after Richard Bailey was elected to replace Jonathon Morgan.

Richard George Bailey (Conservative) - 1,144

Sara Goodwin (Labour) - 1,040

Jim Foxall (Reform) - 849

John Paul Barton (Green) - 328

David Robert Frank Walker (Liberal Democrat) - 253

The Conservatives have held Gartree, but Phil King will be the new councillor after being chosen by the party to replace Kevin Feltham.

Phil King (Conservative) - 1,832

Jonny Austin (Reform) - 976

Debbie Anne Louise James (Green) 475

James Francis Lindsay (Liberal Democrats) - 360

Leigh Wiseman (Labour) 213

Sarah Hill has won the seat for Market Harborough East from the Conservatives.

Sarah Hill (Liberal Democrats) - 1,335

Barry Champion (Conservative) - 1,199

Barry Walton (Reform) - 956

Maria Panter (Labour) - 331

Mary Scott Morgan (Green) - 328

Rosita Page has held her seat in Lutterworth, but with a reduced majority over the 2,170 she polled in 2021.

Rosita Page (Conservative) - 1,317

Martin Sarfas (Reform) - 1,250

Martin Cullen (Labour) - 642

Carl Albert Tiivas (Green) - 242

Asit Sodha (Liberal Democrat) - 182

Adam Tilbury will join the 24 other Reform councillors after taking the Forest and Measham seat, which was previously held by the Conservatives.

Adam Rowland Tilbury (Reform) - 1,353

Andrew Christopher Woodman (Conservative) - 759

Michelle Holdcroft (Labour) - 609

David Wyatt (Liberal Democrat) - 136

Pritesh Patel (Green) - 124

Oadby is one of two areas on Leicestershire County Council where two seats were up for grabs - and they've both gone to the Liberal Democrats, who shared the ward with the Tories after the election in 2021.

Dean Adam Gamble has been re-elected and will now be joined on the council by Moin Durranti.

Moin Durrani (Liberal Democrat) - 2,456

Dean Adam Gamble (Liberal Democrat) - 2,445

Salim Boodhoo (Conservative) - 1,467

Harry Rai (Conservative) - 1,314

Mark James Hunt (Reform) - 953

Duncan William Thompson (Reform) - 743

Matthew William Luke (Labour) - 486

William John Pugsley (Labour) - 427

Bethan Lucy Painter (Green) - 408

Doreen Elaine Shipton (Green) - 342

The Conservatives have held on to Market Bosworth, but will have a new councillor after Joshua Mellen was elected as Bertie Harrison-Rushden's replacement

Joshua Melen (Conservative) - 1,357

Tony Birch (Reform) - 1255

Bill Crooks (Liberal Democrats) - 590

Carole Anne Cecelia Sharma (Labour) - 202

Alec Duthie (Green) - 183

Harrison Fowler has taken Bruntingthorpe for Reform from the Conservatives.

Harrison Fowler (Reform) - 1,493

Jonathan Francis Bateman (Conservative) - 1,359

Stephen James Crozier Walkley (Liberal Democrats) - 918

Paul MacIntyre (Labour) - 301

Mandy Sanders (Green) - 298

Reform support has swept across the regionpublished at 16:18 British Summer Time 2 May

16:18 BST 2 May

Pete Saull
Political correspondent, BBC East Midlands

A turquoise tide has swept across the East Midlands.

Local politicians of all parties expected Reform to do well, but few thought the results would be this emphatic.

Nigel Farage’s party now has big working majorities in both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire – and is also comfortably the largest party in Leicestershire.

I’m at County Hall in Notts, where at times it’s felt like a wake because only Conservative councillors have made it in to the central results hub.

Reform has had a sensational day, but as one local Tory put it to me - “Nigel Farage can’t lead all of these councils from London.”

The party still doesn’t have local group leaders and it’s unclear what the process will be, in the coming days, to elect new council leaders.

In Leicestershire, a deal may have to be struck with the Conservatives to get things done.

Remember, these new administrations inherit the same problems; increasing demand for social care and special educational needs provision, and then there’s fixing the potholes.

Other parties point out that few of those elected today have any experience as councillors.

At future elections, just like the Conservatives and Labour, Reform UK will have a record in office to defend.

The Melton West seat was previously held by the Conservatives, who have been beaten into third place behind Reform candidate Kerry Knight and Independent Sharon Brown.

Kerry Lyn Knight (Reform) - 1,017

Sharon Brown (Independent) - 563

Roma Frisby (Conservative) - 480

Nick Flatt (Labour) - 269

Jack Walker (Green) - 215

Marilyn Mary Gordon (Independent) - 84

Victor Richard Kaufman (Liberal Democrats) - 64

Adam Moss
BBC News, Leicester

Reform also claimed another win from the Conservatives in Shepshed, with Helen Butler taking the seat previously held by Christine Radford.

Helen Butler (Reform) - 1,859

Christine Radford (Conservative) - 1,054

Jane Lennie (Labour) - 742

Katy Brookes-Duncan (Liberal Democrat) - 276

Kelly Swann (Green) - 211

Nick Holt has won Enderby and Lubbesthorpe for the Lib Dems from the Conservatives.

Nick Holt (Liberal Democrats) - 802

Moin Mohammed Siddiqui (Reform) - 668

David John Findlay (Conservative) - 564

Ravinder Kaur (Labour) - 400

Florence Eleanor Turner (Green) - 119

Matt Bunn
BBC News, Leicester

It has been a good day for Reform candidates across the East Midlands, where the party has taken control of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire county councils.

Leicestershire has fallen into no overall control as Reform fell three seats shy of the magic 28 mark, with 25 seats.

Confirmation of the results are continuing to filter through, but here is a rundown of the vote share:

• Reform - 32.4%
• Conservative - 28.4%
• Liberal Democrats - 16.3%
• Labour - 11.7%
• Green Party - 9.2%
• Independent - 1.8%

Adam Moss
BBC News, Leicester

Dan Harrison, who was a Conservative member for Ibstock and Appleby until he defected to Reform a few months before the election, has now been elected to the Ashby de la Zouch seat.

Dan Harrison (Reform) - 1,457

Damilola Ojuri (Labour) - 864

Raymond Leslie Morris (Conservative) - 665

Martin Cooper (Liberal Democrats) - 416

Drew Timms (Green) - 306