BBC Breakfast

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason tells BBC Breakfast that there is "loads more to come but the trends are pretty clear".

"Conservatives will be cheering," he says and Theresa May may be thinking that "if things carry on like this, I was justified calling the general election".

He thinks Jeremy Corbyn could face "big criticisms" within his own party for Labour's performance, while UKIP are "really struggling now to define what they exist for".

Meanwhile, a Lib Dem fight back "doesn't seem to have happened yet".

BBC Breakfast

Conservative Tim Bowles says he's "very, very humbled and excited" to be elected metro mayor for the West of England.

He tells BBC Breakfast that he will work with council leaders from other parties, including Bristol's Labour council.

Kamal Ahmed
Economics editor

The chief executive of the world's second largest investment bank has warned that London "will stall" because of the risks from the Brexit process.

Lloyd Blankfein said that his firm, Goldman Sachs, which employs 6,500 people in the UK, had "contingency plans" to move people depending on the outcome of the negotiations.

Mr Blankfein said he hoped the bank would not have to trigger the plans.

He wants to keep as much of its activities in the UK as possible.

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The Conservatives have made early gains in the annual council elections, with Labour losing ground, and UKIP failing to pick up a seat so far. 

The Tories have taken control of Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire County Councils, along with the Isle of Wight, all previously under "no overall control".

In Wales, Theresa May's party have taken Monmouthshire, while Labour have lost control of Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend.

Home Office Minister Brandon Lewis says the trend is encouraging, but insists his party is not complacent ahead of next month's general election.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

Image source, PA

If the final result to be declared in these local elections, much, much later today, is the summit of the electoral mountain, this morning we are barely above sea level.

Flip flops on, we are still on the beach.

But for those of us up all night to witness the nocturnal arithmetic, clear trends began to emerge very quickly.

The Conservatives up.

Labour and UKIP down.

The Liberal Democrats patchy.

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So far the swing in Cardiff from Labour to Conservative is averaging no more than 3%, says Professor of politics John Curtice.

Labour is the largest party but has lost seats, while the Conservatives have gained ground. Here are the numbers:

Image source, Michelle Dewberry

A winner of The Apprentice television programme is to stand for Parliament in the upcoming general election.

Michelle Dewberry is running as an independent in the Hull West and Hessle constituency.

The Hull-born business consultant was chosen as the winner of the 2006 series by Sir Alan Sugar.

Labour's Alan Johnson announced he was stepping down as an MP at the election after holding the seat for almost 20 years.

Ms Dewberry said she was providing an alternative to voters who supported the UK leaving Europe, but did not support other Conservative policies.

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UKIP has "done remarkably badly" in the local elections, having "failed to hold on to a single seat", John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, says.

He adds that it has also been "a pretty bad night" for the Labour Party, which has experienced its "worst result" since the 2010 general election. 

The Liberal Democrats have made "some progress", but hopes that they might significantly restore their local government base "are still not there", he says.

The SNP and Conservatives are expected to make gains in Scotland, and Labour to experience losses, he says, adding that the crucial question will be by how much the Conservatives and SNP are up.

Merthyr Tydfil Council hangs in the balance and it will not be decided until next month whether it will be run by Labour or independents. 

Thirty of the 33 seats on the authority have been contested, with independents winning 16 and Labour winning 14. 

But the election of three councillors in one ward was postponed after a candidate died, with this vote due to take place alongside June's general election.

This means either Labour or the independents could still reach the 17 seats necessary to have overall control of the council. 

Image source, Getty Images

The detailed voting figures for wards in Cardiff and Swansea so far reveal an average swing from Labour to the Conservatives of five points since 2012, Professor of politics John Curtice says.

"This is rather less than the 15 point swing that was anticipated by a recent YouGov poll in Wales," he says.

"Of course Cardiff and Swansea are not necessarily typical of the whole of the principality - but our limited results do not suggest that Labour's undoubted difficulties are necessarily any greater in Wales than they are in England."

Prof Curtice adds that because Labour had more safe seats in Wales than in the English counties it is losing around one in four of the seats it has been trying to defend, as opposed to two in five in the county elections in England. 

Conservatives have gained control of Monmouthshire from no overall control, winning 22 of the 43 seats so far, with some divisions still to declare.

The Conservatives look set to have their best local election results for 10 years, possibly for 25 years, Professor of politics John Curtice says.

But Labour looks set to perform worse than the last time these seats were contested in England in 2013, he says, adding that while the party's vote has held up in some places, it has also fallen apart in areas it had been vulnerable before.

The performance of the Lib Dems has been up and down, Prof Curtice says. "The trouble is the Tories are bouncing so strongly, any improvement is not enough to win the seats."

UKIP, meanwhile, "has lost everything they've been trying to defend", he adds.

Labour has retained control of Neath Port Talbot, winning 34 of the 64 seats with some divisions still to declare.