UKIP leader Gerard Batten says the results are disappointing but predicts that come the next general election the party's fortunes "may be surging again".

He claims people are realising "they are not going to get the Brexit they voted for".

When asked about his colleague likening the party to the black death, Mr Batten says it wouldn't have been his choice of medieval historical analogy.

He adds: "We've certainly been a plague on the houses of Labour and Conservatives."

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Away from the local election results, we've heard the election for the general secretary of Britain's biggest union - Unite - won't be re-run, which means Len McCluskey, a key ally of the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, will stay in post.

One of the defeated challengers, Gerard Coyne, had complained to the trade union watchdog - the Certification Officer - that the original election last year should not have gone ahead as there was no genuine vacancy and the union's executive shouldn't have agreed to it.

His case was that Len McCluskey had resigned at a time that suited him in order to stand again when he could have continued in office until 2018, and then wrongfully used the resources and facilities of the union to campaign for re-election, preventing a level playing field.

The Certification Officer asked retired judge Jeffrey Burke QC to examine the evidence.

Gerard Coyne's complaint says that the union continued to issue public material on a huge variety of issues after Len McCluskey's apparent resignation, which "promoted Mr McCluskey's views as general secretary of the union and thus increased his profile in the election campaign".

But the Certification Officer ruled against Mr Coyne.

Unite welcomed the ruling, and pointed out that the legitimacy of the election hadn’t been challenged when it was initially called.

The ruling was met with a huge sigh of relief privately from Jeremy Corbyn’s allies.

Had the election been re-run and Mr Coyne proved victorious, then it is almost certain he would have ensured the union’s representatives on Labour’s ruling National Executive were more critical of the party leader. That scenario has now been avoided.

However, Jeffrey Burke will now examine eight other complaints by Mr Coyne at a hearing in June.

These question the conduct of the campaign, rather than whether the election should have taken place at all.

Image source, PA

On the Lib Dems, Professor Sir John Curtice says: "At 16% their performance is an improvement on the party's vote in the latter days of the coalition between 2013 and 2015, but is in fact two points down on its estimated performance in last year's county council elections.

"It is thus far from clear that the party has secured a marked revival in its overall performance this year.

"Its projected share is certainly well down on the 25% or so of the vote that was routine for the party in local elections held before the formation of the coalition in 2010."

Another unsurprising result as Islington Council - home to Jeremy Corbyn's London constituency - stays red.

The party won almost all the seats - with just one going to the Green Party.

Image source, Getty Images

Professor Sir John Curtice says: "At 35% the Conservatives' estimated vote is three points down on what it achieved in last year's county council elections and is on a par with its performance in the local elections held on the same day as the 2015 general election.

"However, it is better than its performance in any of the local elections held between 2012 and 2014 and the local elections in 2016.

"The Conservatives will therefore be able to claim that this is a relatively credible performance for a party that is in government."

Labour MP Jess Phillips said she was “disappointed” and “sad" at the results, which she says have left the major parties in a “stalemate”.

But she believes it is up to Labour to reach out to the working-class areas of the country to win back their votes.

“For about ten years, probably longer, there have been towns and parts of cities, just like where I live, where apathy and a decline in industrial towns has led to people to feel really and utterly out of trust with politicians,” she told BBC News.

“At the moment, they don’t find they have anywhere obvious to go to trust people to help them [and] to care about their lives."

Ms Phillips also said the party could have won back some of the UKIP voters who turned to the Tories.

“Clearly [Labour] is not reaching out to them,” she said. “There is the argument that the UKIP vote isn’t something necessarily that Labour would feel comfortable chasing, but I think a lot of that UKIP vote originated with the Labour party.

“So, without feeling that we have to have dog whistle racism on our side, we have got to go out and really listen to those people.”

No surprises as the Conservatives remain in charge in Tunbridge Wells - but they lost two seats, with Labour and the Lib Dems pick up one each.

Image source, EPa

Professor Sir John Curtice says: "There is insufficient evidence to be able to claim with any confidence that either the Conservatives or Labour would have been ahead in a general election in which the pattern of voting reflected that in today's local elections.

"Labour's projected 35% is the party's best performance in a PNS (projected national share) since 2012 when it scored 38%.

"However, whereas in 2013, 2014, and 2016 the party was estimated to be narrowly ahead of the Conservatives, this time it is only neck and neck with them.

"Nevertheless Labour are able to claim that, relative to the Conservatives, though not in terms of the party's absolute share of the vote, their performance was better than in last year's general election."

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Labour MP Chuka Umunna has called for an internal inquiry into his party's local election campaign, saying the results do not give confidence for the next national poll.

Mr Umunna said the gains that an opposition party can expect to make at this stage in the electoral cycle under a "divided and incompetent" government had not happened.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The World At One, he said that "the whole Labour leadership" had to address the failure to capitalise on government divisions, flawed Brexit negotiations and voter concern over the economy and public services.

He added: "From a Labour point of view there needs to be a proper post-mortem - I think the National Executive Committee should appoint somebody to do that - on this result.

"We haven't gone forwards and if we are looking to form an election-winning majority, we cannot be confident of that happening based on the results yesterday."

Mr Umunna admitted allegations over anti-Semitism had "undeniably" impacted the results in areas like Barnet, along with "frustration" that Labour's Brexit policy is not "more distinct" from the Conservative government's.

Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice told the BBC it was "a draw", so far as both parties' national performance was concerned.

The Lib Dems are on 16% according to the BBC estimate, which uses the results of key wards to estimate what a Britain-wide vote would have been.

The party gains four seats to win the authority while Worcester stays under no overall control.

The Conservatives take five seats off the Lib Dems giving them a total of 31 seats and control of Harrogate.

In Woking, the Conservatives lose a seat to the Liberal Democrats but retain their hold of the council.

In Elmbridge, Surrey, the Conservatives have 24 seats, the Residents' Association party are on 15 and the Lib Dems have nine.

This means the council stays under no overall control.

The Lib Dems gain one seat - taking them to 26 seats - in Watford, Hertfordshire.

Labour come second with ten seats, meaning the Lib Dems retain control of the council.