Local elections: Reaction as counting continues after polls in England and NI

Summary

Elections are held for 248 English councils, six mayors and all 11 councils in Northern Ireland
Conservatives and Labour both see vote shares fall compared with 2015
The Tories lose 44 councils and 1,334 seats
Theresa May says results message is: "Just get on and deliver Brexit."
Labour loses six councils and 82 seats
Lib Dems take control of 10 councils and won 703 seats
Greens and independents also make significant gains
Anger over Brexit appears to be influencing voters, say experts

Live Reporting

Arryn Moy and Hamish Mackay

Counters getting down to businesspublished at 22:14 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
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What to look out for?published at 22:13 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
BBC political correspondent tweets...
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When will the first results come in?published at 22:09 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
The first results are expected to start coming in at just after midnight.
Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, Halton in Cheshire and Swindon in Wiltshire are among the councils expected to declare first - at about 00:01 BST on Friday.
More results will come in from 00:30, and by 06:00 results from just under half of the English councils (108) are expected to have been announced.
The rest - 140 - are scheduled to come in throughout Friday, mostly between midday and 19:00 BST.
Cheshire East is expected to declare last at 21:00.
The Northern Irish results will take longer to come through because of a more complicated voting system.
The wait begins...published at 22:08 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
BBC Merseyside tweets...
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Local elections test crazy national politicspublished at 22:06 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor
Whatever happens in the next 24 hours as the results emerge, bear in mind that the results of these local elections are not a beautifully clear, let alone reliable, crystal ball that will reveal the future. But these contests are an enormous set of elections, much bigger than the normal set of local ballots, and an important chance to test how the craziness of our national politics right now is going down with the public.
Polling matters of course, and goodness knows, there is plenty of that about. Recent surveys are certainly not pretty reading for the government, nor do they suggest their main opponents, Labour, streaking ahead. They are a useful but only hypothetical guide to the currents of the public's thinking.
Real votes in real elections are what count, and tonight's a real chance to get a flavour of what the Great British voting public really thinks.
Read more from Laura here.
The polls have now closedpublished at 22:00 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
Breaking
With the clock having ticked past 22:00, polling stations around the UK are now closed.
Elections for 248 English councils, six mayors and all 11 councils in Northern Ireland have taken place, and the counts will now begin.
Just under half the results are expected overnight - from around midnight to 06:00 - with the rest during Friday daytime.
The Press Association predicts we will see results from Broxbourne and Halton councils first, with both expected to declare at 00:01 on Friday.
Almost time for the countspublished at 21:46 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
The scene is set in Swindon, with results there expected at around 01:00 BST.
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Half an hour to go...published at 21:30 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
We're into the final 30 minutes of voting now.
There's still just about time to have your say if you haven't already - but you'll have to be quick!
When will the results come in?published at 21:26 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
Image source, AFP
Results for about 108 English councils are expected to be declared before 06:00 BST on Friday.
The remaining 140 are scheduled to come in throughout Friday, mostly between midday and 18:00.
ICYMI: Our local elections quizpublished at 21:05 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
It might seem like people can't agree on much these days, but one thing everyone can get behind is a good quiz.
As much of the UK votes to elect councillors, why not test your knowledge of the people in charge of your bin collections (and lots of other really important stuff)?
You can take the BBC's local election 2019 quiz here...
Move over, dogspublished at 20:57 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
#Dogsatpollingstations may be trending but cat owners are determined to get in on the act...
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In-depth coverage on local radiopublished at 20:42 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
BBC political reporter tweets...
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Ninety minutes to go…published at 20:29 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
Image source, PA
There’s still time to vote if you haven’t done so already.
If you're looking for a reason to vote, here are some of the things that the councillors you elect are responsible for.
Of the 248 elections taking place in England, 168 are district councils which are in charge of setting and collecting council tax, bin collections, local planning and council housing.
There are also elections taking place for 47 unitary authorities and 33 metropolitan boroughs which look after education, public transport, policing and fire services, as well as all the services of district councils.
In Northern Ireland, councils are responsible for services including local planning and licensing, waste collection and enforcing safety regulations to do with food, workplaces and the environment.
They also maintain public areas like parks, cemeteries and arts centres.
The very best of #dogsatpollingstationspublished at 20:27 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
People have been embracing the - relatively recent - tradition of posting pictures of dogs at polling stations on social media today.
Here's a look at some of the most shared so far:
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Other pets are available...
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See more of today's #dogsatpollingstations here.
Who is electing a mayor?published at 19:56 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
There are six mayoral elections this year. The biggest is North of Tyne combined authority which encompasses Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside.
Middlesbrough, Leicester, Mansfield, Bedford and Copeland are also electing mayors.
Not all local authorities have a directly elected mayor. Whether or not they have one is decided by the authority itself, often after a local referendum.
The "metro mayors" - or combined authority mayors - are different. The North of Tyne mayor will be the ninth person elected to head up a combination of local authorities.
London has had one since 2000 and six other areas, including Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, elected mayors for the first time in 2017.
'Thundery showers': This evening's weather forecastpublished at 19:45 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
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Voters can expect wet conditions in parts of England and Northern Ireland this evening.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 BST and will close 22:00 BST.
The Met Office has forecast "showery rain" for some parts, with "wintry showers" in the North East of England, while the South and West are likely to stay "mainly dry".
Voters in Northern Ireland can expect "sunny intervals and the odd shower", the Met Office says.
But the rain hasn't stopped some voters from heading to the polling station...
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Coverage of election resultspublished at 19:25 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
BBC presenter tweets...
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NI turnout 'steady'published at 19:16 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
Media caption,
A guide to voting in the local elections
The Electoral Office has described voting in the Northern Ireland council elections as "steady".
Turnout reports from polling stations at 5pm ranged from a low of 15% in east Belfast to as high as 36% in one venue in the north of the city.
The final turnout in the last council elections five years ago was just over 51%.
A total of 819 candidates are competing for 462 seats in 11 council areas.
Read more here
'That time of year again'published at 18:45 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
BBC political editor tweets...
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Gearing up for an all-nighterpublished at 18:37 British Summer Time 2 May 2019
Journalists tweet...
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