The Conservatives currently have 11 councillors in Richmond, after winning 32.2% of the popular vote in 2018.

The council is one of three neighbouring Lib Dem run boroughs in London.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio CWR

Another result here in the West Midlands - Coventry City Council remains in Labour's control and they have kept their majority as the Tories lost a councillor to the Green Party.

The win for the Greens, as Stephen Gray took the Holbrook ward, gave the party their first ever seat in the city.

Labour remain the largest party with 39 councillors, 25 ahead of the Conservatives as their total fell to 14.

You may remember earlier we reported that the Conservative council leader in Worcester had gone home having thrown in the towel.

Before he left he told the BBC the public had found the government's performance "wanting".

It has now been confirmed that his party has lost control of Worcester.

The Conservatives lost three seats to Labour, the Greens and the Lib Dems - meaning no party has a majority.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

There are still signs of the legacy of Brexit in tonight's results.

If we compare them with what happened in the 2016 local elections, shortly before the EU referendum, the Conservative performance is clearly stronger in the most pro-Leave areas - up 8 percentage points - than it is in the most pro-Remain ones - down 9 points.

Labour's performance is also up compared with where it was in 2016 in pro-Remain areas, but weaker in the most pro-Leave ones.

Although not as stark, some of this pattern is also evident in the change since 2018, when these seats were last contested. The Tories are down 7 points in the most Remain areas, but only by 2 points in the most pro-Leave ones.

These figures illustrate the limitations in the success of Labour's attempt to woo Leave voters away from the Conservatives and back in their direction.

Image source, Getty Images

We are well into the early hours of the morning, so now seems like a good time to have a look at the overall scorecard for the bigger parties:

• So far only one council has changed hands - and that is in Hull which the Lib Dems have taken from Labour
• A newly-formed council - Cumberland - was won by Labour
• Overall Labour have made net gains of two seats, while the Conservatives have a net loss of 57
• The Liberal Democrats are up by 30
• And the Green Party see a rise of 18 seats

Sam Francis
BBC News, London

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Labour are looking the happier of the two main parties at the count at Westminster Council.

This is despite the Conservatives winning the only two wards that have been announced so far. Both Regents Park and St James' ward have returned two Tory councillors, as they did in 2018.

The council is a key target for Labour despite being Conservative-run since 1964.

In the 2017 general election, there were swings of around 10% to Labour in both of the borough’s parliamentary constituencies.

A year later the Conservatives lost three seats to Labour but still controlled 41 of the council's 60 seats.

Since then a £6m disaster in the shape of an incomplete artificial hill has eroded the council's reputation.

It will be an uphill battle but if Labour were to win here it would be a huge blow to the Conservatives.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

An interesting feature of these elections has been that some independent candidates in key wards have done remarkably well. On average, they've scored 26% of the vote where they have stood. In Portsmouth, the Portsmouth Independent Party has so far won 22% of the vote across the wards it stood in.

It looks like the Conservatives and Labour are suffering in particular from the success of these independent candidates.

The leader of the Labour group on Barnet council said the party was confident of taking the council from the Tories.

Barry Rawlings told the BBC: "I've been feeling confident for a while, I think we've had a very good campaign, got good candidates, it feels good on the streets."

The north London borough has a large Jewish community and he said the "stain" of anti-Semitism had been removed from the party under Sir Keir Starmer. "We've certainly turned a corner on anti-Semitism since Keir's been the leader," he said.

"Obviously I've been leader (in Barnet) for six years so it hasn't always been the most comfortable six years to represent Labour in a place like Barnet, where there's about 15% of the population - but if you're talking about regular voters, it's probably about 20% are Jewish.

"But of course it means that there's a lot of non -Jewish people who have Jewish friends and so anti-Semitism was a stain on us. We were a tainted brand."

Sir Keir launched Labour's London election campaign in Barnet, which showed the "symbolic value" of the borough.

The Conservative Party have kept control of Tamworth Borough Council but have seen their majority reduced.

A third of the authority's 30 seats were being contested this year and the Tories held seven.

But they lost one to an Independent. Labour held their two seats.

The outgoing Conservative leader of Carlisle City Council John Mallinson tells the BBC his party have "had a very bad night".

He says both Partygate and the cost of living came up during the campaign.

"It wasn't helping we were getting comments from [the Environment Secretary] George Eustice talking about people using value brands to ease their shopping bills - that has gone over very patronisingly," he says.

He adds that there was "a lot of animosity towards the prime minister" and that "people no longer have the confidence their prime minster can be relied on to tell the truth."

He says he expects Conservative MPs to now trigger a leadership contest.

The Lib Dems have pulled off the first decisive victory of the night, taking control of Hull City Council from Labour.

The Lib Dems added three seats to their tally, giving them 26 in total and a majority of one.

This was a rare direct battle between the Lib Dems and Labour, whose majority was reduced at the last election in 2021.

The council had been controlled by Labour since 2011, when it took over from the Lib Dems.

Now the Lib Dems are back in power after a result that will dismay Labour.

The constituencies of Kingston upon Hull East and North are both held by Labour MPs.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

With about a third of the wards in Southampton declared, there's been a swing of seven percentage points from the Conservatives to Labour. If this continues, Labour should take control of the city.

This is one of the few councils that the Tories appear to be at serious risk of losing.

It is still early days but the Greens are so far having a good night.

The party have gained 12 seats in areas around the country, including the Wirral and South Tyneside.

Speaking to the BBC, co-leader of the Green Party Carla Denyer, says Partygate came up on the doorstep but it was "far from whole story".

She says her party has been making gains "year-on-year" and that tonight's results are "part of a broader pattern".

"As people learn about the Greens they see they agree with us... there is no such thing as a safe seat for the Conservative and Labour anymore," she says.

Labour had hopes of removing the Conservatives from power after 22 years in Peterborough, as Brian Wheeler found when he visited the city last week.

The Conservatives had to win a handful of seats to govern on their own, without relying on the support of independents.

In the end, very little changed. Labour won a target seat from the Tories, and the Tories won a Labour seat, with the council officially remaining in No Overall Control.

The BBC's Ben Schofield, who is at the count, says the mood in the Labour camp is buoyant, and they have hopes of putting together a deal with the Lib Dems, Greens and independents.

Barnet in north London is a key Labour target. The Conservative leader of the council Daniel Thomas is sounding very downbeat about the prospect of retaining the borough, telling the BBC he's "disappointed but proud of our track record over the last 20 years".

"If Labour are making gains.. this is multiple factors and a perfect storm of 12 years of Conservative national government and 20 years of a Conservative council, and cost of living."

He's also blamed the rise in National Insurance last month.

Sam Francis
BBC News, London

The leader of the Labour group on Wandsworth Council Simon Hogg has been spotted sharing a smile with local MP Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (pictured on the left).

Denise Paul, a new Labour councillor for Wandle ward in Wandsworth, looks equally happy.

Could they be expecting good news?

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

With well over 150 key wards now declared, the Conservatives are down by 3 percentage points on their performance the last time these areas were contested in 2018, Labour is down 1 point, and the Liberal Democrats are up 4 points.

If we compare the results with last year, then Labour is up 4 points, the Tories are down 6 points, and the Liberal Democrats are up 3 points.

So while the Liberal Democrats have so far stolen some of the headlines and Labour's advance has been limited, it's still the case that the Conservatives have lost considerable ground since 12 months ago.

Sam Francis
BBC News, London

Image source, Reuters

Nearly all London councils are reporting early signs of very low turnout in this year's elections.

In 2018, when these seats were last up for election, 39% of registered voters turned out.

Barking and Dagenham had the lowest turnout at 29% while more than half of Richmond's constituents voted, registering the highest turnout in London with 51.4%.

Votes are still being counted across London. Of those that have declared turnout, the numbers are down.

Overall turnout at Westminster is 31.5%, down from 2018 when turn out was 37.8%. In Hillingdon turnout this year is 35.4%, compared to 38.2% last time.

But we've even had reports of some wards registering as low as 26% of voters.

Could this impact the results?

Tim Iredale
Political editor, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

The Liberal Democrats have been chipping away at Labour's lead here in Hull for some years

It is 11 years since the Lib Dems last run the council.

They have been quietly making gains in the last five years and tonight the Lib Dem gains are coming in thick and fast.

They need three seats at Labour's expense to take full control of the council.

Labour figures here are looking increasingly gloomy.

It does look like the Lib Dems are going to take control in Hull.

Image source, Getty Images

The leader of the Conservatives on Sunderland Council, Antony Mullen, has told BBC Radio 4 why he believes his party failed to make gains there.

“It’s been Partygate - it’s suppressed our turnout,” he said, referring to the controversy over lockdown parties in Downing Street and Whitehall.

He said some people had made “negative comments about Boris Johnson” while he was out campaigning locally.

“Quite clearly that’s the only thing that has changed nationally that has affected this,” Mullen said.

“The best chance of reviving the Conservative Party's fortunes will be with a new leader,” he said.

“If there is no improvement in the party's reputation, then clearly something has to change.”