The local elections don't hold up a perfect mirror to the whole country's desires, or exactly what would happen if a general election had just happened.
But they are a valuable measure of the state of the battle of the two main parties who seek to govern us all. Caveats aside, the events of the last 24 hours do matter.
Spin back a few weeks, and some Conservatives feared these elections would end in absolute calamity after months of extraordinary revelations about what had been going on in Downing Street during lockdown.
The party feared an angry public would punish them at the ballot box. And rising anxiety about making ends meet would translate too into a kicking for the government.
After all the turmoil, the prime minister's allies fretted. And some of Boris Johnson's detractors darkly hoped a meltdown would give them reason to act to oust him.
Now that nearly everything has been counted, the Tories have lost nearly 500 seats across the UK. That represents around a quarter of the council seats they contested.
'Beergate' and Tory losses - Tomorrow's front pages
Tommorrow's newspaper front pages point the finger at the leaders of Labour and the Conservatives for the performances of their parties in the location elections.
The Times says the Tories have been "punished" in the south on England, reporting that voters in the party's heartlands are questioning Prime Minister Boris Johnson's leadership.
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But the Daily Mail says it is Keir Starmer who is "in crisis". The paper has headlined on Durham Police's investigation into whether the Labour leader breached lockdown rules along with Labour's performance in the northern 'Red Wall', where the party made some gains but perhaps not on the scale that Labour might have hoped.
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The Guardian's coverage centres on criticism of Boris Johnson by senior Conservative figures, some of whom have blamed the PM for big Tory losses in London and the south.
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First women elected in Western Isles since 2012
BBC NewsCopyright: BBC News
Susan Thomson was one of eight women who stood for election in the Western IslesImage caption: Susan Thomson was one of eight women who stood for election in the Western Isles
Here's one story you might have missed in the flurry of updates today: the Western Isles in Scotland has elected female councillors for the first time since 2012.
Susan Thomson and Frances Murray were elected for the SNP, and will be the only two women among the area's 27 councillors. Six other women who stood were not elected.
Coin tosses and drawing straws... how some councillors won
It's been a tough day for plenty of would-be councillors, but perhaps even tougher for candidates who lost out through pure chance.
In at least three cases, ties for seats were decided through a sophisticated adjudication process - tossing a coin or drawing straws.
Independent Andy Solloway won the Skipton West and West Craven division of the new North Yorkshire unitary authority after a representative for Labour rival Peter Madeley drew the short straw. Both men had received 503 votes.
Similarly, in Carmarthenshire, one result was settled by the toss of a coin, with Labour's Philip Warlow winning a seat in the Bigyn ward after fellow Labour candidate David Darkin guessed incorrectly.
Darkin's mother, Janet Williams, had taken one of the ward's other seats.
BBCCopyright: BBC
Janet Williams won a seat - but her son lost out due to a coin tossImage caption: Janet Williams won a seat - but her son lost out due to a coin toss
She said she was "gutted" for her son.
Elsewhere, Tory Lilian Barker was elected in the Crackley and Red Street ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme, after drawing lots with Labour's Claire Radford.
Lib Dems triumph in the south
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey leaving a polling station in Kingston upon Thames yesterdayImage caption: Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey leaving a polling station in Kingston upon Thames yesterday
One of the main stories today has been how the Liberal Democrats have managed to take so many southern English council seats out of Conservative hands:
Meanwhile, Kingston-upon-Thames, a Liberal Democrat stronghold, has become even more Lib Dem after the Conservatives lost six seats. Of the 48 seats on the council, the Liberal Democrats now control 41
Elmbridge, which includes the constituency of Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, has seen six Conservative losses and four Liberal Democrat gains. The largest grouping is by a local party called Residents Association
Trans councillor hopes his election will help other young people
BBC NewsCopyright: BBC News
Dylan Tippetts came out as trans in 2018Image caption: Dylan Tippetts came out as trans in 2018
Dylan Tippetts became Plymouth's first openly trans councillor earlier today, as well as the first Labour councillor in the city's Compton ward.
Tippetts, 21, says he hopes his election will help young people who are yet to come out, as well as demonstrating that trans people are "just normal human beings".
"For me, it's bigger than just promoting equality and diversity in terms of trans people," he added.
"It's promoting the amazing diversity that we've got across our city in all walks of life."
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Labour MP Luke Pollard tweeted his support for Tippetts, writing: "As our city's first ever openly gay MP, I am simply over the moon.
"Now the hard work really begins."
What's been going on?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Let's take a look at what's been happening around the UK.
The Conservatives have lost more than 480 council seats across England, Wales and Scotland, losing key London councils to Labour, and southern English councils to the Liberal Democrats.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey hailed the results as a "turning point" for his party. Boris Johnson said the Tories had faced a "tough" time.
Labour struggled to make any major breakthroughs outside London, although it was already starting at a high watermark from 2018, when these seats were last contested. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party had had a "really good set of results today".
In Wales, Labour have had 65 more councillors elected, bringing their total to 522. Plaid Cymru lost nine councillors but the party now has control of three more councils. The Conservatives lost 82 councillors, bringing their total to 110. The Liberal Democrats have gained an extra 11 councillors, and the Greens have had their first Welsh councillors elected.
In Scotland, the SNP remain the firm favourite of Scottish voters - they've got 453 councillors, after having an extra 22 elected. Labour are up 20 at 282. The Conservatives have lost 63 at 214. There are now 87 Lib Dems, up 20, and the Greens are up 16 at 35.
In Northern Ireland, the picture is still emerging, but Sinn Fein have the largest first preference vote, followed by the DUP, who have lost around 40,000 first preference votes. Meanwhile, the Alliance party has made big gains.
Wakeford 'immensely proud' as Bury stays in Labour's hands
Christian Wakeford defected to Labour following revelations about lockdown parties in No 10Image caption: Christian Wakeford defected to Labour following revelations about lockdown parties in No 10
Defeated Tory leaders blame PM for lost votes
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media
Several Conservative council leaders have been blaming Boris Johnson after they suffered heavy local election defeats.
John Mallinson, who lost in the new Cumberland Council, said voters did not feel the PM could be "relied upon to tell the truth".
Wandsworth leader Ravi Govindia said "national issues" had caused the loss of the flagship council to Labour.
But Conservative party chairman Oliver Dowden said it was not time to change leader.
Johnson said he took responsibility for the results, adding that it was clear voters wanted his government to focus on issues that mattered to them.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she shed a happy tear at the news of Roza Salih's electionImage caption: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she shed a happy tear at the news of Roza Salih's election
We know that the SNP has again finished as the biggest party in the Scottish council elections and it has emerged that one of its candidates - Roza Salih - has become the first former refugee to be elected to Glasgow City council.
The 33-year-old says people in the city have "always welcomed" her.
"I've never given up, and now they've trusted in me," she said.
"I can't believe it. Twenty years ago I came to this country as a refugee, and to think back I would never have imagined to serve my city."
Salih's family fled Kurdistan in northern Iraq when she was a teenager.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that she had shed a "very happy tear" at the news.
Sinn Féin on course to win largest number of seats
Chris Page
BBC News Ireland correspondent
Sinn Féin has polled the largest number of first preference votes in the Northern Ireland Assembly election by a long way.
The first stage of the count is complete in all 18 constituencies. More than a quarter of a million people gave their “1” vote to the republican party.
Sinn Féin increased its share by just over 1% - while the DUP has seen a drop of almost 7%.
A fall in the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) vote - from 12% to 9% - suggests nationalist voters may have rallied around Sinn Féin.
A factor in this may be that pre-election polls suggested Sinn Féin could deliver a nationalist first minister for the first time.
The DUP seems to have taken a hit not from the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party - but from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), which takes a more hard-line position.
The TUV has seen its vote share almost quadruple - to 7.6% - while the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is down 1.7%.
The final result will depend on the 2s, 3s 4s and beyond on the ballot paper. It’s a complicated process, and counting is now expected to pause overnight and resume on Saturday.
Most analysts believe Sinn Féin is on course to win the largest number of seats.
For breaking news developments in Northern Ireland, you can keep up here.
Time to get behind PM, minister urges
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
The chief secretary to the Treasury says his party "should be getting right behind the prime minister" despite losses in the local elections.
Simon Clarke told BBC News it had "not been an easy
night or day for the Conservative Party".
But he insisted that Boris Johnson had "made the right calls on a whole host of issues since he came in", such as Brexit, Covid and Ukraine.
Clarke conceded that the partygate issue had been "a difficult backdrop" to the campaign.
However, he said the PM had "rightly and repeatedly apologised" for the lockdown parties in Downing Street, and it was "not the only factor at play".
He added: "The government has lessons to learn and a new-found focus on delivery."
Tories' worst fears realised in Wales
Felicity Evans
BBC Wales political editor
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The results emerging from Wales confirm the worst fears of the Welsh Conservatives.
They were always expecting to suffer losses, but not on a scale that could wipe out all the gains they made in the last council elections five years ago.
Their leader, Andrew RT Davies, blames the issues that have plagued Boris Johnson's government in Westminster - the cost of living crisis and partygate.
He says he still supports the prime minister but "he has to use the summer months to build the confidence of the party" going forward to the next general election.
In north-east Wales, where the party routed Welsh Labour in the 2019 election, the Tories have fallen from the largest party in one council, Denbighshire, to fourth.
That's a result that will do nothing to calm Welsh Tory nerves about Boris Johnson's ability to keep those 2019 Conservative converts on board.
The Conservatives have lost control of their only council in Wales. Labour has become the biggest party in Monmouthshire, with the final results now declared in the county.
Labour secured 22 seats (up 12), Conservatives 18 (down 12), Greens one (up one). BBC Wales has been told that the Greens will work with Labour.
One seat in the Llanfoist ward had to be settled by a coin toss after the Labour and Conservative candidates finished neck and neck. The coin came down in favour of the Tory.
Elsewhere across Wales, Labour gained two councils and Plaid Cymru three. Labour regained Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend, and held Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Newport and Torfaen, while Plaid retained Gwynedd and gained Anglesey, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Conservatives in the Senedd, said he accepted things "might not have gone our way" in parts of Wales.
"We went into these elections with a difficult national picture and it appears that has had an impact," he said.
You can read more here about Monmouthshire and the wider elections results across Wales.
Ex-mayor convicted of election fraud re-elected in Tower Hamlets
PACopyright: PA
Lutfur Rahman, right, has defeated Labour's John Biggs, left, to become mayor of Tower Hamlets once againImage caption: Lutfur Rahman, right, has defeated Labour's John Biggs, left, to become mayor of Tower Hamlets once again
John Biggs, Labour's incumbent mayor of Tower Hamlets, has been beaten by Lutfur Rahman in a shock result.
However, he beat Biggs after second preference votes were counted.
Hull leader's 'magic pixies' rant and an 80s pop star loses his seat
Joseph Lee
BBC News
Here are some quirky stories we've found in this years election results...
After a decade of Labour rule at Hull Council, leader Darren Hale clearly wasn't taking defeat at the hands of the Liberal Democrats lightly.
He told the BBC that the loss was "a great disappointment", adding: "You can't please all of the people all of the time."
Sounding like a man who had received at least one too many letters of complaint from the public, he added: "I look forward to all the roadworks being completed in the middle of the night by magic pixies with no disruption to the public, but we'll see."
For all their importance, local elections aren't known for their star power.
And Thurrock Council in Essex lost its bit of celebrity sparkle when Conservative councillor and former 80s singer David Van Day - half of pop duo Dollar - lost his seat to Labour by 20 votes.
Still, it's not the first time he's bounced back from disappointment.
After stepping out of the limelight, Van Day began to build a business career in the 2000s selling hamburgers, doughnuts and ice creams in Brighton - earning him the nickname "Burger Van Day".
While UK general elections allow voters to choose just one candidate in their local area, NI Assembly elections see voters rank multiple candidates.
Under the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system, voters can choose as many candidates as they like and rank them in order of preference by writing a number next to their name.
For each constituency, a quota of votes is calculated using a mathematical formula, based on the number of seats and the number of votes cast. Candidates who reach this number of votes from 'first preference votes' (where voters choose them as number one) are elected.
If these candidates get votes above the quota number, their extra votes are transferred to other candidates - so the candidate marked "2" on those ballot papers gets those votes instead.
The candidate with fewest votes is eliminated and their second preferences get transferred to other candidates.
The same process continues round by round with the lowest candidate being knocked out and their votes being transferred to candidates who are still in the race.
Sinn Féin has received the most first-preference votes by a wide margin in Northern Ireland's Assembly election.
The party received 250,388 first preferences, compared with the 184,002 returned for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - first preference votes for it have dropped by about 40,000.The Alliance Party has increased its first preference vote by about 44,000 to 116,681.
Under the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system, NI voters can choose as many candidates as they like and rank them in order of preference by writing a number next to their name.
The DUP and Sinn Féin have been vying for top spot in this election, which comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister.
While the offices of the first and deputy first minister are equal with joint power, the allocation of the titles is regarded as symbolically important.
A unionist party has always been the largest in the assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921.
Read more about the results in Northern Ireland here.
What's happened so far?
We're about two thirds of the way through this marathon. The final results should be all done by tomorrow evening.
The story of the night is that the Liberal Democrats have made big gains while the Conservatives have sustained heavy losses across the country. Labour, entering this fight from an already high watermark in 2018, has made further gains from a strong starting point.
The Greens, too, are finding they have seats in some councils for the first time.
In Scotland, counting is complete and the SNP have retained their first-place position in many councils, but Labour have now taken second place as the pro-union opposition. Until recently, that lead opposition job fell to the Conservatives. The SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens have all made gains at the expense of the Conservatives.
In Wales, the Conservatives have suffered more losses, with Plaid Cymru making gains for control of some local authorities. Labour have put in a strong performance.
Northern Ireland has had some seats announced for the Northern Ireland Assembly, with more results expected to be announced this evening and into tomorrow.
Live Reporting
Emily McGarvey, Natasha Preskey, Richard Morris, Paul Gribben and Jasmine Taylor-Coleman
All times stated are UK
Analysis
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BBC NewsCopyright: BBC News Susan Thomson was one of eight women who stood for election in the Western IslesImage caption: Susan Thomson was one of eight women who stood for election in the Western Isles View more on twitterView more on twitter 
BBCCopyright: BBC Janet Williams won a seat - but her son lost out due to a coin tossImage caption: Janet Williams won a seat - but her son lost out due to a coin toss 
ReutersCopyright: Reuters Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey leaving a polling station in Kingston upon Thames yesterdayImage caption: Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey leaving a polling station in Kingston upon Thames yesterday - Woking saw the Liberal Democrats take control of the council from it being hung, the Conservatives lost five seats and the Lib Dems gained four
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In Colchester, Conservative council leader Paul Dundas lost his seat to the Lib Dems
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Meanwhile, Kingston-upon-Thames, a Liberal Democrat stronghold, has become even more Lib Dem after the Conservatives lost six seats. Of the 48 seats on the council, the Liberal Democrats now control 41
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Elmbridge, which includes the constituency of Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, has seen six Conservative losses and four Liberal Democrat gains. The largest grouping is by a local party called Residents Association
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The new Somerset authority was easily won by the Liberal Democrats, who won 37 seats
BBC NewsCopyright: BBC News Dylan Tippetts came out as trans in 2018Image caption: Dylan Tippetts came out as trans in 2018 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images 
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PA MediaCopyright: PA Media Christian Wakeford defected to Labour following revelations about lockdown parties in No 10Image caption: Christian Wakeford defected to Labour following revelations about lockdown parties in No 10 
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media 
EPACopyright: EPA First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she shed a happy tear at the news of Roza Salih's electionImage caption: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she shed a happy tear at the news of Roza Salih's election 
ReutersCopyright: Reuters 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
PACopyright: PA Lutfur Rahman, right, has defeated Labour's John Biggs, left, to become mayor of Tower Hamlets once againImage caption: Lutfur Rahman, right, has defeated Labour's John Biggs, left, to become mayor of Tower Hamlets once again View more on twitterView more on twitter 
RUI VIEIRACopyright: RUI VIEIRA 
PA MediaCopyright: PA Media
Latest PostThank you and good night
Thank you for joining us today. We're closing up now but you can find the latest numbers for England, Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly on our results pages. Scotland's counts are now complete, and the full results can be found here. You can also search for results in your local area here.
The live coverage of the Northern Ireland Assembly results continues here.
An uncomfortable night for Tories and Labour
Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor
The local elections don't hold up a perfect mirror to the whole country's desires, or exactly what would happen if a general election had just happened.
But they are a valuable measure of the state of the battle of the two main parties who seek to govern us all. Caveats aside, the events of the last 24 hours do matter.
Spin back a few weeks, and some Conservatives feared these elections would end in absolute calamity after months of extraordinary revelations about what had been going on in Downing Street during lockdown.
The party feared an angry public would punish them at the ballot box. And rising anxiety about making ends meet would translate too into a kicking for the government. After all the turmoil, the prime minister's allies fretted. And some of Boris Johnson's detractors darkly hoped a meltdown would give them reason to act to oust him.
Now that nearly everything has been counted, the Tories have lost nearly 500 seats across the UK. That represents around a quarter of the council seats they contested.
Read more from Laura here
'Beergate' and Tory losses - Tomorrow's front pages
Tommorrow's newspaper front pages point the finger at the leaders of Labour and the Conservatives for the performances of their parties in the location elections.
The Times says the Tories have been "punished" in the south on England, reporting that voters in the party's heartlands are questioning Prime Minister Boris Johnson's leadership.
But the Daily Mail says it is Keir Starmer who is "in crisis". The paper has headlined on Durham Police's investigation into whether the Labour leader breached lockdown rules along with Labour's performance in the northern 'Red Wall', where the party made some gains but perhaps not on the scale that Labour might have hoped.
The Guardian's coverage centres on criticism of Boris Johnson by senior Conservative figures, some of whom have blamed the PM for big Tory losses in London and the south.
First women elected in Western Isles since 2012
Here's one story you might have missed in the flurry of updates today: the Western Isles in Scotland has elected female councillors for the first time since 2012.
Susan Thomson and Frances Murray were elected for the SNP, and will be the only two women among the area's 27 councillors. Six other women who stood were not elected.
The islands had been seeking greater female representation on the local authority Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and held a workshop earlier this year aimed at encouraging more women to stand.
In 2017, for the first time in its history, no women were elected to the comhairle. Seven women stood for election that year.
You can read more on this here.
Coin tosses and drawing straws... how some councillors won
It's been a tough day for plenty of would-be councillors, but perhaps even tougher for candidates who lost out through pure chance.
In at least three cases, ties for seats were decided through a sophisticated adjudication process - tossing a coin or drawing straws.
Independent Andy Solloway won the Skipton West and West Craven division of the new North Yorkshire unitary authority after a representative for Labour rival Peter Madeley drew the short straw. Both men had received 503 votes.
Similarly, in Carmarthenshire, one result was settled by the toss of a coin, with Labour's Philip Warlow winning a seat in the Bigyn ward after fellow Labour candidate David Darkin guessed incorrectly.
Darkin's mother, Janet Williams, had taken one of the ward's other seats.
She said she was "gutted" for her son.
Elsewhere, Tory Lilian Barker was elected in the Crackley and Red Street ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme, after drawing lots with Labour's Claire Radford.
Lib Dems triumph in the south
One of the main stories today has been how the Liberal Democrats have managed to take so many southern English council seats out of Conservative hands:
Outside of the South, the Lib Dems gained control of Kingston-upon-Hull council, after taking it from Labour control. Labour lost two seats and the Lib Dems gained three.
Trans councillor hopes his election will help other young people
Dylan Tippetts became Plymouth's first openly trans councillor earlier today, as well as the first Labour councillor in the city's Compton ward.
Tippetts, 21, says he hopes his election will help young people who are yet to come out, as well as demonstrating that trans people are "just normal human beings".
"For me, it's bigger than just promoting equality and diversity in terms of trans people," he added.
"It's promoting the amazing diversity that we've got across our city in all walks of life."
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Labour MP Luke Pollard tweeted his support for Tippetts, writing: "As our city's first ever openly gay MP, I am simply over the moon.
"Now the hard work really begins."
What's been going on?
Let's take a look at what's been happening around the UK.
The Conservatives have lost more than 480 council seats across England, Wales and Scotland, losing key London councils to Labour, and southern English councils to the Liberal Democrats.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey hailed the results as a "turning point" for his party. Boris Johnson said the Tories had faced a "tough" time.
Labour struggled to make any major breakthroughs outside London, although it was already starting at a high watermark from 2018, when these seats were last contested. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party had had a "really good set of results today".
In Wales, Labour have had 65 more councillors elected, bringing their total to 522. Plaid Cymru lost nine councillors but the party now has control of three more councils. The Conservatives lost 82 councillors, bringing their total to 110. The Liberal Democrats have gained an extra 11 councillors, and the Greens have had their first Welsh councillors elected.
In Scotland, the SNP remain the firm favourite of Scottish voters - they've got 453 councillors, after having an extra 22 elected. Labour are up 20 at 282. The Conservatives have lost 63 at 214. There are now 87 Lib Dems, up 20, and the Greens are up 16 at 35.
In Northern Ireland, the picture is still emerging, but Sinn Fein have the largest first preference vote, followed by the DUP, who have lost around 40,000 first preference votes. Meanwhile, the Alliance party has made big gains.
Wakeford 'immensely proud' as Bury stays in Labour's hands
Bury, which made headlines in January when Bury South MP Christian Wakeford defected from the Conservatives to Labour, has seen Labour hold on.
The Conservatives lost four seats and the Lib Dems lost three while Labour gained one. Six more independent councillors have been elected.
Wakeford tweeted that he was "immensely proud of the results", describing them as a "testament to the hard work all year round by Bury Labour".
Defeated Tory leaders blame PM for lost votes
Several Conservative council leaders have been blaming Boris Johnson after they suffered heavy local election defeats.
John Mallinson, who lost in the new Cumberland Council, said voters did not feel the PM could be "relied upon to tell the truth".
Wandsworth leader Ravi Govindia said "national issues" had caused the loss of the flagship council to Labour.
But Conservative party chairman Oliver Dowden said it was not time to change leader.
Johnson said he took responsibility for the results, adding that it was clear voters wanted his government to focus on issues that mattered to them.
Read more on this story here.
Former refugee becomes SNP councillor
We know that the SNP has again finished as the biggest party in the Scottish council elections and it has emerged that one of its candidates - Roza Salih - has become the first former refugee to be elected to Glasgow City council.
The 33-year-old says people in the city have "always welcomed" her.
"I've never given up, and now they've trusted in me," she said.
"I can't believe it. Twenty years ago I came to this country as a refugee, and to think back I would never have imagined to serve my city."
Salih's family fled Kurdistan in northern Iraq when she was a teenager.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that she had shed a "very happy tear" at the news.
You can read more on this here.
Sinn Féin on course to win largest number of seats
Chris Page
BBC News Ireland correspondent
Sinn Féin has polled the largest number of first preference votes in the Northern Ireland Assembly election by a long way.
The first stage of the count is complete in all 18 constituencies. More than a quarter of a million people gave their “1” vote to the republican party.
Sinn Féin won 29% of the first preference vote - with the Democratic Unionists receiving 21.3%.
Sinn Féin increased its share by just over 1% - while the DUP has seen a drop of almost 7%.
A fall in the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) vote - from 12% to 9% - suggests nationalist voters may have rallied around Sinn Féin.
A factor in this may be that pre-election polls suggested Sinn Féin could deliver a nationalist first minister for the first time.
The DUP seems to have taken a hit not from the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party - but from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), which takes a more hard-line position.
The TUV has seen its vote share almost quadruple - to 7.6% - while the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is down 1.7%.
The final result will depend on the 2s, 3s 4s and beyond on the ballot paper. It’s a complicated process, and counting is now expected to pause overnight and resume on Saturday.
Most analysts believe Sinn Féin is on course to win the largest number of seats.
For breaking news developments in Northern Ireland, you can keep up here.
Time to get behind PM, minister urges
The chief secretary to the Treasury says his party "should be getting right behind the prime minister" despite losses in the local elections.
Simon Clarke told BBC News it had "not been an easy night or day for the Conservative Party".
But he insisted that Boris Johnson had "made the right calls on a whole host of issues since he came in", such as Brexit, Covid and Ukraine.
Clarke conceded that the partygate issue had been "a difficult backdrop" to the campaign.
However, he said the PM had "rightly and repeatedly apologised" for the lockdown parties in Downing Street, and it was "not the only factor at play".
He added: "The government has lessons to learn and a new-found focus on delivery."
Tories' worst fears realised in Wales
Felicity Evans
BBC Wales political editor
The results emerging from Wales confirm the worst fears of the Welsh Conservatives.
They were always expecting to suffer losses, but not on a scale that could wipe out all the gains they made in the last council elections five years ago.
Their leader, Andrew RT Davies, blames the issues that have plagued Boris Johnson's government in Westminster - the cost of living crisis and partygate.
He says he still supports the prime minister but "he has to use the summer months to build the confidence of the party" going forward to the next general election.
In north-east Wales, where the party routed Welsh Labour in the 2019 election, the Tories have fallen from the largest party in one council, Denbighshire, to fourth.
That's a result that will do nothing to calm Welsh Tory nerves about Boris Johnson's ability to keep those 2019 Conservative converts on board.
Read more analysis of results in Wales here.
Tories lose their only council in Wales
The Conservatives have lost control of their only council in Wales. Labour has become the biggest party in Monmouthshire, with the final results now declared in the county.
Labour secured 22 seats (up 12), Conservatives 18 (down 12), Greens one (up one). BBC Wales has been told that the Greens will work with Labour.
One seat in the Llanfoist ward had to be settled by a coin toss after the Labour and Conservative candidates finished neck and neck. The coin came down in favour of the Tory.
Elsewhere across Wales, Labour gained two councils and Plaid Cymru three. Labour regained Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend, and held Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Newport and Torfaen, while Plaid retained Gwynedd and gained Anglesey, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Conservatives in the Senedd, said he accepted things "might not have gone our way" in parts of Wales.
"We went into these elections with a difficult national picture and it appears that has had an impact," he said.
You can read more here about Monmouthshire and the wider elections results across Wales.
Ex-mayor convicted of election fraud re-elected in Tower Hamlets
John Biggs, Labour's incumbent mayor of Tower Hamlets, has been beaten by Lutfur Rahman in a shock result.
Rahman, standing for the Aspire party, was removed as mayor of the east London borough in 2015 and banned from office for five years after being found guilty of election fraud.
However, he beat Biggs after second preference votes were counted.
Hull leader's 'magic pixies' rant and an 80s pop star loses his seat
Joseph Lee
BBC News
Here are some quirky stories we've found in this years election results...
After a decade of Labour rule at Hull Council, leader Darren Hale clearly wasn't taking defeat at the hands of the Liberal Democrats lightly.
He told the BBC that the loss was "a great disappointment", adding: "You can't please all of the people all of the time."
Sounding like a man who had received at least one too many letters of complaint from the public, he added: "I look forward to all the roadworks being completed in the middle of the night by magic pixies with no disruption to the public, but we'll see."
For all their importance, local elections aren't known for their star power.
And Thurrock Council in Essex lost its bit of celebrity sparkle when Conservative councillor and former 80s singer David Van Day - half of pop duo Dollar - lost his seat to Labour by 20 votes.
Still, it's not the first time he's bounced back from disappointment.
After stepping out of the limelight, Van Day began to build a business career in the 2000s selling hamburgers, doughnuts and ice creams in Brighton - earning him the nickname "Burger Van Day".
How does Northern Ireland's voting system work?
We have been hearing that Sinn Féin has secured the most first-preference votes in Northern Ireland's Assembly election. So how does the system work?
While UK general elections allow voters to choose just one candidate in their local area, NI Assembly elections see voters rank multiple candidates.
Under the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system, voters can choose as many candidates as they like and rank them in order of preference by writing a number next to their name.
For each constituency, a quota of votes is calculated using a mathematical formula, based on the number of seats and the number of votes cast. Candidates who reach this number of votes from 'first preference votes' (where voters choose them as number one) are elected.
If these candidates get votes above the quota number, their extra votes are transferred to other candidates - so the candidate marked "2" on those ballot papers gets those votes instead.
The candidate with fewest votes is eliminated and their second preferences get transferred to other candidates.
The same process continues round by round with the lowest candidate being knocked out and their votes being transferred to candidates who are still in the race.
You can read more on this here.
Sinn Féin tops NI first-preference vote
Sinn Féin has received the most first-preference votes by a wide margin in Northern Ireland's Assembly election.
The party received 250,388 first preferences, compared with the 184,002 returned for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - first preference votes for it have dropped by about 40,000.The Alliance Party has increased its first preference vote by about 44,000 to 116,681.
Under the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system, NI voters can choose as many candidates as they like and rank them in order of preference by writing a number next to their name.
The DUP and Sinn Féin have been vying for top spot in this election, which comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister.
While the offices of the first and deputy first minister are equal with joint power, the allocation of the titles is regarded as symbolically important.
A unionist party has always been the largest in the assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921.
Read more about the results in Northern Ireland here.
What's happened so far?
We're about two thirds of the way through this marathon. The final results should be all done by tomorrow evening.
The story of the night is that the Liberal Democrats have made big gains while the Conservatives have sustained heavy losses across the country. Labour, entering this fight from an already high watermark in 2018, has made further gains from a strong starting point.
The Greens, too, are finding they have seats in some councils for the first time.
In Scotland, counting is complete and the SNP have retained their first-place position in many councils, but Labour have now taken second place as the pro-union opposition. Until recently, that lead opposition job fell to the Conservatives. The SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens have all made gains at the expense of the Conservatives.
In Wales, the Conservatives have suffered more losses, with Plaid Cymru making gains for control of some local authorities. Labour have put in a strong performance.
Northern Ireland has had some seats announced for the Northern Ireland Assembly, with more results expected to be announced this evening and into tomorrow.