Symbolic victories for Labour - but is it a turning point?published at 06:28 British Summer Time 6 May 2022

06:28 BST 6 May 2022

Adam Fleming
Chief political correspondent

We are in the fog at the moment. There are quite a lot of results to go and we are trying to work out what the patterns are.

Labour have taken Wandsworth and Barnet in London - and look set to gain Westminster.

It would be very highly symbolic to take those councils where the Tories have been in power for decades.

The question is how well does the party perform elsewhere in the country.

It is looking like they are going to do about as well as they did in 2018 when Jeremy Corbyn was in charge

It calls into question the rhetoric from Labour that this is a turning point for them.

The Conservatives seem to have had quite a bad night and we are starting to see bit of criticism of Boris Johnson from outgoing Conservative council leaders.

What will really matter for the Conservatives is, at the end of the day, will they have had such a drubbing that more Conservative MPs call for a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson.

But, there are still loads of results to go - including in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg says, for Labour, the results so far are "not the kind of advance" that points to the party "cruising into No 10 - far from it".

But if the trajectory continues, she says, the results would mean Labour had won the biggest share of votes in a national election "for some years".

A key snapshot of the outcome of Thursday's elections is the so-called projected national share (PNS), which is produced by professor of politics, Sir John Curtice. This year's PNS is due later on Friday.

The PNS is an estimate of the share of the vote that the main parties would have won in a UK-wide general election if voters had behaved in the same way as those who actually voted in the local elections.

In 2018, when many of the seats contested in England on Thursday were last up for grabs, the BBC's PNS put Labour and the Conservatives neck-and-neck on 35%.

But the Conservatives were well ahead last year, when their projected share was put at 36%, against Labour’s 29%.

Image source, .

Earlier the leader of the Conservatives in Barnet Council conceded his party had lost the borough.

We now have confirmation that Labour have taken control of the council.

It's a historic victory for Labour, which had never had an outright majority on the council.

The result is another blow for the Conservatives in London after they lost Wandsworth to Labour.

Image source, .

For those of you who are just waking up - good morning! Here is a summary of what has happened overnight:

• Around half of councils in England (where there were elections) have been counting votes
• The Conservatives have suffered defeats and lost control of four councils, including Wandsworth in London to Labour
• Labour has also taken control of Southampton and Barnet, and look likely to take Westminster
• However the party has, so far, failed to make decisive gains elsewhere
• The Liberal Democrats have had a good night, taking seats in Conservative areas and winning Hull off Labour
• The Greens have made big gains in northern England winning seats in South Tyneside and the Wirral

Conservative MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond says Partygate was a big influence on voting.

He says his local area saw a high turnout as "angry Tories" voted against his party.

"That ought to be a clarion bell ringing in Downing Street to make sure we are concentrating on the cost of living," he says.

He also wants his leader to bring "talents back into the government".

"Any government that doesn't have people like Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt clearly isn't using all the talents available to it."

Asked about Boris Johnson's future, he says: "I think he has to prove his integrity to the country."

Labour is, not surprisingly, talking up its performance in the local elections.

It's claiming that, on vote share, it would have gained 16 Leave-voting seats if this had been a general election.

The party is also highlighting its victory in Southampton, and its "hugely symbolic gains" from the Conservatives in London. Wandsworth is confirmed and Labour says it also expects to take Barnet, "showing the progress Keir Starmer has made to regain the trust of Jewish voters", and Westminster.

It is very early in the morning but the Liberal Democrat's Baroness Susan Kramer has a big smile on her face.

She says her party had hoped to make modest progress but "frankly it is looking significantly better than that".

The former London Mayor candidate notes the Lib Dems have picked up seats in Sunderland and Richmond but have also been getting a good response in the south-west where she says people have been "feeling taken for granted".

"We're not confined to our strongholds any more," she says.

"The party is rebuilding."

The Conservative leader of Barnet Council Daniel Thomas says his party has lost control of the council

He blames his defeat on "a perfect storm of the cost of living crisis, 12 years of a Conservative government and redrawn boundaries".

"This is a warning shot from Conservative supporters - a fair number just stayed at home."

He says the issue of Partygate only came up "very occasionally" and that he doesn't believe there has been "a huge conversion" to Labour.

Former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick says he's "very sorry" for the Conservative councillors who've lost seats and particularly about the loss of Wandsworth - which he says has provided a "fantastic service" to local people and an example to the rest of the country.

Mr Jenrick says there have been good results for Labour in London, but he doesn't see evidence of Labour progress elsewhere.

These results do not suggest, he adds, that "people are flocking to Keir Starmer's banner" or that Labour is on course to win the next general election.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

It does look as though we're heading for a slightly lower turnout than in other recent local elections.

On average the turnout is down by 1 percentage point on 2018 in the BBC's key wards, and by 2.5 points on last year.

However, there is no sign that where turnout fell the most, the Conservatives particularly suffered as a result.

Image source, .

Another Labour gain - this time in Southampton, which the party have taken from the Conservatives.

Labour increased their number of seats by four, while the Conservatives lost the same number.

Image source, .

The Conservatives have lost control of West Oxfordshire council, but no party has a majority.

West Oxfordshire is home to Witney, the former constituency of ex-Prime Minister David Cameron.

The Tories have so far lost three seats - two to the Liberal Democrats and one to the Greens.

The Liberal Democrats saw a 13% increase in their share of the vote.

The outgoing Conservative leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia says "inevitably other events have clouded the judgement of people in Wandsworth" he says and admits people raised "the issue of Boris Johnson" during the campaign.

He says he has run the "most successful council" which has cut council tax and frozen rent

"We have done exactly what the residents of Wandsworth wanted - to find that counts for nothing is a sad reflection of importance of local government not being recognised."

Labour have taken control of Wandsworth, overturning a Tory majority on the council.

Chief executive of the Conservative Home website Mark Wallace says he’s being told that the party will lose control of Westminster, which it has held since the council was created in 1964.

Wandsworth has already been taken by Labour and Barnet is expected to follow, so Westminster is set to form part of a triple blow for the Tories in London.

Image source, Getty Images

Bristolians have voted to ditch the mayoral system and change the way Bristol City Council is run.

In a city-wide referendum, about 59% voted in favour of scrapping the mayor against 41% who preferred to maintain the status quo.

It means that from 2024, the political set-up at the local authority will change.

Labour’s two-term current mayor Marvin Rees, will stay in post until 2024.

Work will now begin on the transition phase to a system where full council and a series of committees of councillors, such as for housing, transport, adult social care and children’s services, will take over the decisions that have been made since 2012 by a mayor and cabinet.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Mr Rees says there would be a lot of disappointed people waking up to read the news.

"I hope that the committee system isn't as bad as I think it possibly will be," he says.

It comes almost exactly 10 years since the first Bristol mayoral referendum when the turnout was 24 per cent and the decision was made to create the post of Mayor of Bristol.

The cost of living crisis has been blamed for the elections results in Southampton, a city MP said.

We are still waiting for the final results to be announced.

But the Conservatives appear to have lost control of Southampton City Council.

Conservative MP Royston Smith, who represents Southampton Itchen, has told the BBC the cost of living crisis is one of the reasons for today's results.

He said it was the main issue that came up on the doorstep.

Mr Smith launched a message to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor saying more needs to be done to help people cope with the rising costs.

Image source, .

Labour have taken control of Wandsworth, in south London, where the Conservatives had held power since 1978.

The party overturned a Tory majority of 6 by gaining 8 seats from their opponents. Labour now holds 35 seats, the Conservatives 22.

Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen Royston Smith has conceded that his party will lose control of Southampton to Labour.

"We can't now numerically save it", he told the BBC.

Mr Smith blamed mid-term blues, but also called on the prime minister and the chancellor to do more to help people deal with cost of living issues.

Image source, Reuters

Labour are now echoing what their Conservative rivals were saying earlier on in the night - that Labour have won Wandsworth council.

A Labour source tells the BBC: "Boris Johnson losing Wandsworth is monumental.

"This was the Tories' jewel in the crown. Voters in Wandsworth have put their trust in the change Keir Starmer's Labour represents."

Speaking on the BBC, Minister for London Paul Scully says it would be "disappointing" if his party lost the council, saying it has been "a beacon", providing low tax and good services.

Salford's Labour mayor Paul Dennett says his party needs "real clarity on what national policy is to enable us to bolster what we are trying to do locally".

He admits he is a "little bit disappointed" after his party lost three seats in the city council elections - two to the Lib Dems and one to the Conservatives - although Labour remain in overall control of Salford.

"There is a lot going on, we have years and years of austerity and we're facing a cost-of-living crisis," says Mr Denyer.

"When we're doorknocking we see people are really frustrated at the moment with the political system."