The Alliance Party's Kellie Armstrong has become the first candidate to be elected in Northern Ireland, topping the first preference poll in Strangford, County Down.

She received 7,015 votes - the vote quota for that constituency is 6,811.

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

As the election results were rolling earlier, Boris Johnson was sitting with a class of children at Field End School in Ruislip, colouring pictures of the Queen ahead of the jubilee.

So what leadership lessons does he take from these election results?

His councillors who have lost their seats have been saying on the doorsteps they found he was a problem for many voters.

When I put that to Mr Johnson at the school, he replied “of course” before swiftly moving on to talk about “remarkable gains” Tories had made in some places.

Tories said he had to take responsibility for his own law-breaking in Downing Street, I said.

“Of course”, he replied, before changing tack to say these were a “mixed set of results.”

On the cost of living crisis the Bank of England says inflation will be 10% and a recession is coming, I said.

“That is completely right”, Johnson said, before adding that others had “failed” to invest in energy infrastructure for decades.

So the question left hanging is whether the prime minister does take any lessons away from the election? Will he alter his leadership and policies in a noticeable way? If so, how? Or does he think that isn’t necessary?

Projected national share of the vote is a valuable snapshotpublished at 14:31 British Summer Time 6 May 2022

14:31 BST 6 May 2022

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

The projected national share percentages are important numbers.

Local elections are not the same as general elections.

But they are a valuable snapshot based on real votes.

And these numbers suggest in that circumstance, Labour would be biggest party by a clear margin - but far short of having confidence they'd be able to form a government.

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Labour has taken control of Worthing - its second gain in West Sussex. The council was previously under no overall control.

So far, three seats on Worthing Council have gone from the Conservatives to Labour.

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Labour has taken command of Crawley in West Sussex. The council was previously under no overall control.

The authority was one of our top electoral battlegrounds to watch - with neither the Conservatives or Labour having a majority due to a single independent councillor.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

With more than 700 of the BBC's key wards now declared, we are estimating what would happen if the whole country had been voting in local elections on Thursday.

The outcome across Britain as a whole would have been:

• Conservative 30%
• Labour 35%
• Liberal Democrat 19%
• Others 16%

What this means

At 35%, Labour's estimate simply matches that for the party in 2018, which was Jeremy Corbyn's best set of local elections.

But it represents as much as a six-point improvement on its performance in last year's local elections.

And the five-point lead that Labour enjoy over the Conservatives is the largest in any local election since 2012.

In contrast, at 30% the Conservatives are down five points on 2018 and six points on last year.

With the exception of the 2019 local elections when the party was battered by its divisions over the Brexit negotiations, this represents the party's worst performance in a local election since before the EU referendum.

At 19%, the Liberal Democrat performance matches that in the 2019 locals, which had represented the party's best performance in any local election since it entered coalition with the Conservatives in 2010.

Image source, PA Media

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill has arrived at the count centre in Magherafelt, County Londonderry.

The vote is still under way there but O'Neill could become the first Irish nationalist to be nominated for first minister of Northern Ireland if her party wins the most seats.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin are vying for top spot in the election - whichever party wins the most seats is able to nominate the next first minister.

That position is nominated by the largest party overall, and the deputy first minister is nominated by the largest party in the next largest community designation.

The first and deputy first ministers share an equal role with joint power - but the the allocation of titles is significant, as a unionist party has always been the largest in the assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921.

Image source, Reuters

After that breaking news over the investigation into a Labour gathering during lockdown, we have now heard from the party.

A spokesperson said: “We’re obviously happy to answer any questions there are.

"And we remain clear that no rules were broken.”

Sir Keir Starmer was asked questions about it on a trip to Carlisle, where he was celebrating a win for Labour, but he made no comment.

In light of the news from Durham Police, let us take you back to what "beergate" is all about.

In January, The Sun published a photo of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer drinking a beer inside an MP's office in the city.

The picture was taken in the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election in April 2021, when gathering indoors with people from outside your household or support bubble was against the law - with an exemption for "work purposes".

Labour insisted no rules had been broken and the local force cleared Starmer of breaking any Covid rules.

But in recent weeks, Tory MPs have been calling on Durham Police to re-open its investigation.

The force had initially resisted, but now says it has "significant new information" so it will look again at the event.

Both Starmer and his party have continued to deny any wrongdoing, saying it was merely staff taking a break from work to eat a curry for dinner.

And the party accused Tories of "mudslinging" in the final days of the local election campaign.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson, his wife and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have been fined for breaking lockdown rules.

Durham Constabulary has confirmed that it has launched a new investigation into whether Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer broke Covid lockdown rules after he was pictured having a beer with colleagues indoors in the city of Durham last April.

The force had previously concluded that no offence had been established and decided to take no further action.

However, the force has said that "following the receipt of significant new information over recent days, Durham Constabulary has reviewed that position".

It says that following the end of the local election campaign it is investigating "potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations relating to this gathering".

The past few minutes has seen a number of councils in England and Scotland declaring their results - with the following seeing changes to the party in power, or falling to no overall control.

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If you're just joining us, welcome along to our live coverage where we'll be bringing you the UK's election results. Here's how things are looking at the minute:

• Boris Johnson admits his party faces a "mixed set of results" as the results for local elections in England come in
• The prime minister has acknowledged a "tough night" for the Conservatives in some places but believes that his party is making "remarkable gains" elsewhere
• In England, 91 out of 146 councils have declared their results
• Votes are also still being counted in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• So far, Labour have taken three symbolic London councils from the Conservatives. Westminster had been controlled by the Tories since 1964; Wandsworth since 1978; and Labour has won Barnet for the first time
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says his party has reached a "big turning point" - however it is yet to make major gains outside London
• The Liberal Democrats have gained a net 70 council seats so far - the most of any party - and the Greens are also doing well, gaining 25 seats

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SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford tells the BBC he believes that council election results so far show voters have "rejected" the Conservatives.

Very early results indicate the SNP's seat tally holding, with Scottish Labour and the Scottish Lib Dems gaining and Scottish Conservatives dropping. However, we have not had full council results yet.

Mr Blackford says the Downing Street parties and worries about the cost of living have influenced voters.

He says: "What really is important today is that the voters have sent a message to Boris Johnson."

He adds that the prime minister should "respect democracy" and allow Scotland to vote in a referendum on Scottish independence before the end of 2023.

The results of around 80 English council elections have so far been declared, but there are still more results to come in from across England, Wales and Scotland.

Here is a reminder of some council battlegrounds to watch.

• In Crawley, there is a battle between Labour and the Conservatives with neither party having a majority due to a single independent councillor. Both sides could win.
• Labour and the Tories are neck and neck in Worthing. Two gains for Labour would be enough for outright control for the first time ever
• Labour has held the council in Bury for over a decade but their majority has become precarious. They lost both parliamentary constituencies to the Conservatives in the 2019 general election, before Christian Wakeford defected to the Labour party. This so-called "red wall" council is one to watch.
• Flintshire is one of the best chances for a Labour gain in Wales. It would be their first majority there for 20 years.
• In Hastings, Labour's majority was cut back sharply in 2021. A repeat performance could see them lose control and the Conservatives triumph.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Declarations in the English local elections so far have registered the largely anticipated reverse for the Conservatives but Labour has not always proved capable of profiting.

Instead it has been the Liberal Democrats and the Greens who have registered a notable advance, albeit on relatively low past baselines.

So far, the Conservatives have lost approaching one in four of the seats they have been trying to defend, and have suffered a net loss of 126 seats.

The party's reverse seems to have cost it control of councils in Southampton, West Oxfordshire, Worcester, Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet - Wandsworth and Westminster will be regarded as totemic losses, as until now the Conservatives have been able to retain the boroughs for 40 years or more on the back of a low council tax policy.

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Labour's spokespeople have been keen to argue that the results demonstrate the party has been making progress.

Also enjoying gains of seats are the Greens, who have currently added 23 seats to more than double their existing tally.

Doubtless the debate will now begin as to whether or not the decline in Conservative support is sufficient to justify a challenge to the prime minister's leadership of the Conservatives in the wake of the partygate crisis.

Earlier this morning, Huw Edwards confessed on-air that he had devoured a croissant just before the camera cut back to him.

The presenter was "ashamed to say" he had been eating in the studio while the camera was firmly fixed on his colleague Reeta Chakrabarti providing an overview of council results.

But polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice was not impressed, external when asked if he had also been helping himself to some French baked goods.

"I was just about to say, Hugh, whether you were going to send them up to us, because they've certainly not reached here yet," the renowned psephologist said.

A delivery was promised by Huw but we haven't had an update on that...

Leila Nathoo
BBC political correspondent

Sir Ed Davey's mood matched the beaming sunshine on Wimbledon Common earlier, as local activists congratulated him on Lib Dem gains across England.

Wimbledon is a target parliamentary seat for the Liberal Democrats at the next general election - they almost snatched it from the Tories in 2019.

Sir Ed claimed the tectonic plates of British politics were shifting and said people had had enough of Boris Johnson.

His hope is that voters who backed his party this time aren't merely registering a protest against the two main parties at Westminster at this particular political moment.

A national election will be a completely different and tougher context for the Lib Dem's to show they've moved on from having been tarnished from the coalition days.

Image source, Reuters

Some defeated council leaders have been speaking out - with several ousted Tories expressing their feelings that the result reflects less on their own performance running their councils and far more on their Westminster colleagues.

Cumberland - north-west England

Labour won control of a new authority that is effectively replacing Carlisle City Council.

John Mallinson, the Conservative leader who is now out of office, blamed Boris Johnson, referred to Partygate as an "integrity issue" and said: "I just don't feel people any longer have the confidence that the prime minister can be relied upon to tell the truth."

Wandsworth - south London

Outgoing Tory leader Ravi Govindia said the behaviour of Westminster MPs had been raised on the doorstep - citing Neil Parish's admission that he had watched porn on his phone in the chamber.

He said: "Of course national issues were part of the dilemma people were facing [when they voted]."

Barnet - north London

After seeing the council go red for the first time in its history - outgoing Tory chief Daniel Thomas said the loss was a "warning shot" to the party's leadership.

He said: "They [Labour] won the council, if they win our parliamentary constituencies as well, then it doesn't bode well for us to form a government in future general elections."

Hull - east Yorkshire

Even a Labour leader ousted by a Liberal Democrat took issue with the Conservative government.

Outgoing Labour leader Darren Hale said a key factor in the result in Hull City Council was the collapse of the Tory vote. But his Lib Dem replacement disputed this, saying people had felt failed by more than a decade of Labour leadership in the city.

Watch Boris Johnson describe the council elections across England as a "tough night" for the Conservatives.

The prime minister says it had been a "mixed set of results" for the party, with gains in some places and losses in others.

Asked by broadcasters during a visit to a school in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in west London if he took responsibility for the results, Mr Johnson says: "Of course."

Boris Johnson is also asked about the Northern Ireland Protocol - the post-Brexit arrangement to prevent a border on the island of Ireland.

While the Democratic Unionist Party are saying they want it scrapped, other Northern Irish parties say it mitigates against issues arising from leaving the EU.

And the polls suggest it will be nationalist Sinn Fein, not the unionist DUP, who get the largest vote share in the NI election.

Asked by reporters if he would work with them to make the protocol function, the prime minister said: "The most important thing is that we continue to support the balance of the Good Friday Agreement across all communities in Northern Ireland.

"Whatever arrangements we have, they have got to have cross-community support, that's what the Good Friday Agreement is all about, that's what the government is going to do."

He adds: "But as for the rest... we'll have to wait and see what the results are in Northern Ireland."