The Scottish first minister is "eager and ready to get back to work" after the initial results for the Scottish Parliament.

Nicola Sturgeon says she feels "happy and confident" her party is "on track for a fourth election victory".

In for the long haulpublished at 18:14 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

18:14 BST 7 May 2021

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Can the SNP win a majority? That question won’t be answered until tomorrow. Constituency results have an impact on the regional list. We’re in this for the long haul.

But one of the first questions we were asking is “can the SNP win constituency seats they didn’t last time?”

The answer is yes. The East Lothian result is really important – Labour had held it since 1999. The party was confident tactical voting would help them get over the line. It didn’t.

There could be more seats like this. The SNP are confident in Edinburgh Central, where Angus Robertson is standing. Ayr is on a knife-edge. Dumbarton is the most marginal seat in Scotland and the SNP’s top target.

We said this morning the battle of the constituencies could be SNP turnout versus tactical voting. As things stand, in the key seats, the SNP will be encouraged.

But just remember the regional list knock-on. We can’t say anything for sure yet.

Will my result be Friday or Saturday?

It's just after 6pm, so probably time to take stock of where we're at with English council results. Although 54 councils have declared so far, there are still 89 to go.

• The Conservatives have control of 22 councils so far, an increase of four
• Labour so far have control of 20 councils, down three
• The Liberal Democrats have no council under their control yet, although they have 151 elected councillors, down five
• The Greens have so far amassed an additional 27 councillors, bringing their total to 43
• A new party, Reform UK has two councillors
• UKIP have so far lost all their councillors

The Conservatives have managed to take 128 additional council seats, bringing their total councillor number to 851.

Labour have lost 152 council seats, their total is at 504.

Of course, there's a whole weekend of results ahead of us...

Wales results promising for Labourpublished at 17:52 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

17:52 BST 7 May 2021

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Image source, PA Media

With 12 results now declared in Wales, it is beginning to look as though Labour are going to do significantly better than anticipated by the opinion polls conducted in the country prior to the election.

These polls suggested Labour would largely be treading water as compared with their 2016 performance, while the Conservatives would enjoy a significant advance thanks to the collapse of the substantial vote for UKIP in 2016.

However, so far Labour's vote is up by five points, the same as the Conservatives, also up five.

On these figures, Labour should at least be not far short of the 29 seats that the party won in 2016.

Reality Check

Celebrating the Conservatives’ win in Hartlepool, Boris Johnson said: "It's thanks to Brexit that we've actually been able to go ahead with the freeport in the whole of Teesside, do things like take back control of our borders, we’re able to deal with things like the European Super League".

There are about 80 freeports around the EU, so the UK could have had a Teesside freeport without Brexit – as we’ve pointed out before.

The tax breaks offered as part of the scheme can probably be more generous now they do not need to be cleared by the European Commission though. But, under the UK’s trade deal with the EU, any such subsidies need to be justified or they could – in theory – trigger action from the EU.

The UK has certainly made changes in its border policies, with a new immigration system and ending freedom of movement for EU citizens (which also applies to UK citizens going to the EU).

It is unclear how Brexit affected the government’s ability to deal with the European Super League. Big clubs in several EU countries refused to sign up to the breakaway competition (while six English clubs did) - which subsequently collapsed. We’ve asked Downing Street to explain this claim but have not heard back.

Image source, PA Media

Thanks for all the questionspublished at 17:34 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

17:34 BST 7 May 2021

That's where we'll close Your Questions Answered for today.

Keep following BBC analysis and election news as it breaks across online, TV and radio.

Here's how to follow the results across the BBC.

Why is it taking so long to count the votes?published at 17:29 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

17:29 BST 7 May 2021

Question from Hannah in Bristol

Image source, European Photopress Agency

Counting is taking longer this year for two main reasons. Covid-19 safety measures have to be in place at counts - there are fewer staff to allow for social distancing.

Secondly, there are a lot of elections going on – some delayed from last year because of the pandemic – so many areas have different polls to deal with.

When will the Amersham and Chesham by-election take place after the sad death of Dame Cheryl Gillan?published at 17:22 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

17:22 BST 7 May 2021

Question from Gavin in Buckinghamshire

Image source, UK Parliament

When an MP dies or steps down from the Commons, it’s up to their party to decide the date for the by-election. The process is started in parliament by something called "moving the writ", external.

It’s usually done within three months of a vacancy but hasn’t yet happened following Dame Cheryl Gillan’s death, so we don’t yet know when the by-election will be.

Gavin adds: Is there any point in voting if it’s destined to remain Conservative?

No outcome is guaranteed and, of course, it’s always worth voting to have your say!

The Labour leader says he takes "full responsibility" for Thursday's election results.

Sir Keir Starmer says the party has lost the trust of voters and he will "do whatever is necessary it takes to fix that".

The Green Party's only MP, Caroline Lucas, tells the BBC her party is "winning all round the country", outside of places often seen as the party's strongholds, in what she calls a "green spring".

The party has added 16 seats on English councils so far.

She cites gains in Stockport, Northumberland, Hastings and Derbyshire as evidence it is "no longer the case that Greens are winning only in places like Brighton or Bristol".

Ms Lucas has been the MP for Brighton Pavilion since 2010.

Conservative Ben Houchen has been re-elected the mayor of Tees Valley, receiving just under a 73% share of the vote.

Speaking to the BBC he says there is a "pride returning" to the area, adding it is "not true" the government has pumped lots of money into it over the past few years only because it was run by a Conservative.

He argues he has achieved more with the same amount of money than Labour mayors in the North West.

Houchen adds the problems in his area "won't be solved in a few years" but big projects - like the freeport and the airport - are "moving us in the right direction".

When can we expect the London mayoral results to start coming in?published at 16:54 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

16:54 BST 7 May 2021

Question from Leuan in Leicester

Image source, Reuters

While counting is already under way in parts of the capital, we don’t expect the final outcome until tomorrow night. It’s also possible delays could push the result back into Sunday.

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

This is a difficult moment for Keir Starmer, and I don't think he hid that.

He is somebody who is normally very composed but in that interview we can see these results have not just been a disappointment but a frustration.

He said the party had to be bolder and stronger, but when it came to the concrete steps - is he going to reshuffle his top team or set out new ideas - he wasn't in the mood today to answer any of that.

He might not be ready to set anything out but plenty of people in the Labour movement already have - from Len McCluskey to Peter Mandelson.

Starmer may have to shout quite loudly to be heard over the debate that is already raging.

One of his allies told me Starmer is going to have to take his party by the scruff of the neck.

If the Hartlepool by-election result were to be replicated in a general election, what would the outcome be?published at 16:40 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

16:40 BST 7 May 2021

Question from Amanda in Leamington Spa

Image source, Press Association

It’s very difficult to generalise from a single by-election result – they take place at a particular moment in time and local factors will be at play, plus there’ll be differences in turnout.

At the 2019 general election, the swing in the Tories’ favour varied considerably across the country.

The Hartlepool by-election saw a 16% swing from Labour to the Conservatives so if something similar did occur nationally at the next election, you would expect the Tories to pick up seats.

Image source, PA Media

In his first comments since Labour lost the parliamentary seat of Hartlepool, leader Sir Keir Starmer says the party has “lost the trust of working people particularly in places like Hartlepool” and acknowledges “we have not made a strong enough case to the country”.

He insists he is up to the job and says he wants to set out a "bold vision" to "end the injustice and inequality and people face every day".

Despite repeated questions, he avoids saying whether or not he will be reshuffling his shadow cabinet.

Are manifestos legally binding?published at 16:21 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

16:21 BST 7 May 2021

Question from Jake in Swindon

Image source, Press Association

Promises made at election time are not legally binding, although politicians of course can be - and are - held to account by their opponents and the media for not fulfilling pledges.

Legally binding manifestos would also raise a number of issues such as tying the hands of parliament, and who would bear responsibility for a broken promise.

The BBC looked into a similar question during the 2019 general election.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has comfortably held Glasgow Southside.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar came in second but was 9,000 votes behind Ms Sturgeon.

The SNP's share of the vote was 60.2%, down 1%.

Labour were up to 31%, with a swing of 4.8% from the SNP to Labour.

Full result here

Sir Keir Starmer says he is "bitterly disappointed in the results" and takes "full responsibility" for them.

He also says he takes full responsibility for "fixing things". He says his party has "lost trust" and he "intends to rebuilt that".

He urges his party to stop "quarreling amongst ourselves" and instead focus on "setting out a bold vision".

And he promises to "set out how things will change over the next few days".

Why isn't voting electronic?published at 16:06 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

16:06 BST 7 May 2021

Question from Ro Moh in Southampton

Image source, Science Photo Library

Allowing people to vote online is something that many countries have considered. The UK has even run electronic voting trials and there’s been a Parliamentary Commission , externallooking into the possibility.

But there have long been concerns about how secure online voting is – if people’s privacy could be adequately protected and whether any system would be vulnerable to a hack.

Labour has lost control of Sheffield City Council, which is now under "no overall control".

The Green Party took five seats off Labour, while the Liberal Democrats won three.

Labour has also lost control of Rossendale council, ceding three seats to the Conservatives.