Patrick Burns
Political editor, Midlands

UKIP MEP Bill Etheridge has said he has been let down by the leadership of the party.

He was speaking after he lost his Dudley Council seat of Sedgley.

Image source, Getty Images

"We've all been obliterated," he said and placed the blame firmly with Gerard Batten who assumed party leadership in February.

Mr Etheridge said Mr Batten "cannot lead" and "should be ashamed" of the lack of support for local council candidates.

In an interview on the Daily Politics Show on Tuesday, Mr Batten said he had inherited nothing when he assumed the leadership, and that there was "no election campaign".

The Dudley UKIP group leader Paul Brothwood lost his Wordsley seat and also blamed the national party leader.

Rob Mayor
Political reporter, BBC WM

The Conservatives have gained two Dudley seats from UKIP and Labour so far.

Halesowen North is a Tory gain from UKIP. Belle Vale ward was a former Labour seat.

Jake Cooper, 18, said: "The Conservatives are giving young people a chance to stand up for their communities".

The Conservatives will keep running Dudley Council for the next year.

Labour cannot take overall control of Dudley with results from 21 of the 24 wards up for election declared. The party had needed to win at least 12 wards to take control.

Sinn Féin's Órfhlaith Begley has won the West Tyrone parliamentary by-election.

Here's a quick recap of where we're up to a little under four hours after the polls closed.

• Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is predicting a "really mixed night" for Labour, with the party failing to take targets such as Swindon, Amber Valley and Walsall
• The results are being shaped by the collapse of the UKIP vote - particularly strong when local elections were held alongside the European poll in 2014
• The Conservatives have made some gains in areas that voted Leave in the EU referendum, such as Peterborough and Basildon
• Labour has done better in wards with a higher proportion of Remain voters
• The Liberal Democrats have made some gains

Some 39 of the 150 councils holding elections have declared full results but counting continues in thousands of seats.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The turnout in the BBC key wards so far is running at 33%, down just a point on 2014. This looks as though it's an election where turnout is around its usual relatively low level but no worse than that.

The Conservatives have gained a seat in Peterborough from Labour, taking control of the council. It was previously under no overall control.

Lib Dem Ouseburn councillor Gareth Kane has been ousted by 12 votes after a recount.

He lost to Stephen Powers of the Labour Party 931 to 919 votes.

Foreign Office Minister Mark Field tells Sky News he believes the Conservatives will retain control of Westminster.

Meanwhile, the Guardian's deputy political editor has suggested Labour has given up hope of claiming another London borough:

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Labour has failed to gain control of either Walsall or Amber Valley, where the party only needed a small swing in order to win an overall majority. Yet it is clear on the results declared so far that it is not going to achieve either objective in these predominantly Remain voting areas.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan sounds less than upbeat about the prospect of taking councils in the capital from the Conservatives.

Instead, he points to "incredibly impressive" swings to Labour in 2014 and - asked if that meant it wasn't expecting to win control of any new town halls - says: "The key thing is to keep what we've got and see if we can make progress in terms of councillors."

He says the Conservatives have huge majorities in some council wards where Labour has little party infrastructure to campaign.

The party continues to hold 19 of the authority's 33 seats.

Fergus Hewison
BBC Newcastle political reporter

Labour retain control of Newcastle City Council. The party now has 49 seats so far out of 78.

The Lib Dems have three.

Sam Francis
BBC News, London

The Liberal Democrats are looking positive in Richmond.

Not only are they suggesting there could be substantial gains, putting them "on the verge of taking control", but group leader Gareth Roberts has been seen sporting a pair of yellow trainers.

The south-west London council is a key target for the Lib Dems, who haven't run the borough since 2006. The Conservatives currently have a 21 seat majority.

According to election guru Sir John Curtice the Lib Dem vote is up by five points on average in key wards declared so far.

Energy Minister Claire Perry suggests we're at the point in the electoral cycle when "the incumbent government expects to lose seats to whichever party is gathering momentum". But she tells the BBC her governing Conservatives haven't taken "the hit" they might have expected.