Emily Hudson
BBC Radio Solent, Hants and IoW political reporter

It's a complictaed situation in Portsmouth where a third of the seats on the city council have been up for grabs.

The Lib Dems and Conservatives currently have an equal seats with Labour supporting a Lib Dem leader – Gerald Vernon Jackson. His seat is one of those which was up for election.

Labour have voted with the Conservatives locally recently on a number of issues. But, given the current national political climate, could they bring themselves to support a Conservative leader?

Image source, Marathon

Peter Henley
Political editor, South of England

Portsmouth Lib Dem leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson is in confident mood as counting gets underway. A third of seats on the city council are being counted.

"It looks like a good night for the Lib Dems," he said. The party currently runs the council with support from Labour.

Conservative Donna Jones admitted the national political climate played a "large part" in how people votes. "It looks like we'll go in with 17 seats and come out with 17 seats so that's testimony to the hard work we've done over the last four years."

Stephen Morgan of Labour said the party had fought a "posative campaign" and was "hoping to make gains".

Turnout 31.5% this year, slightly down on last year.

Counting is underway in Eastleigh. Thirteen seats are up for grabs in the Liberal Democrats' most reliable council - they've held it since the 1990s despite losing the parliamentary constituency.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Voters at 20 local authorities in Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Oxfordshire have been to the polls. Counting is being carried out through the night and into Friday.

Here the approximate timetable of when we are expecting results, although of course these times are subject to change.

Unitaries electing all the councillors:

• Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole- Result expected 18:00
• Dorset- Result expected 17:00
• Bracknell Forest - Result expected 05:00
• West Berkshire - Result expected 18:00

Unitary councils electing one third of councillors:

• Portsmouth - Result expected 02:00
• Reading - Result expected 03:00
• Southampton - Result expected 04:30

District councils electing all councillors:

• Basingstoke & Deane - Result expected 16:00
• East Hampshire - Result expected 04:00
• New Forest - Result expected 04:00
• South Oxfordshire - Result expected 08:00
• Test Valley - Result expected 05:00
• Vale of White Horse - Result expected 08:00

Districts electing one third of councillors:

• Cherwell - Result expected 17:00
• Eastleigh - Result expected 03:30
• Hart - Result expected 02:00
• Havant - Result expected 02:30
• Rushmoor - Result expected 02:00
• West Oxfordshire - Result expected 13:00
• Winchester - Result expected 05:00

Voters have been to the polls in 343 councils in England.

They provide a wide range of services, depending on their shape and size.

These include housing, road maintenance, parking, rubbish collection, leisure and cultural facilities, school funding and admissions, environmental health, planning and social services.

The largest local authorities are also responsible for adult social care and children's services.

The elections will decide who runs councils locally, but are also seen as an important test of public and political opinion for Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and the other national party leaders.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Politics

These council elections decide on things like where houses get built, who runs the buses and which pubs get late licences.

But last year only one in three people went to the polls. So what is the vote all about?

Welcome to our live coverage of the 2019 Local Council Election results.

We've got reporters at all the key counts so grab a cup of cocoa and settle in for a night of results and reaction as we discover who will be running 20 local authorities in Berkshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire.