Rebuilding support in cities like Sunderland - which leaned towards Leave in the Brexit referendum - is crucial to Labour's chances at the next general election.

Tonight Labour held its majority on Sunderland City Council, which has been controlled by the party since its formation in 1974.

But the party's majority was reduced by one seat, which went to the Lib Dems.

Polling expert Sir John Curtice said: “There is so far very little evidence of the Labour Party making particularly significant advances in the so-called Red Wall i.e. pro-Leave parts of the country in the Midlands and the north.”

Peter Henley
Political editor, South of England

Some grim Conservative faces in Portsmouth. “A bloodbath” the verdict of one senior Tory here. “Boris will have to go.”

Labour are expecting to do better than Lib Dems. They’re the challenger in more of the wards held by Conservatives. Many are in cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt’s Portsmouth North constituency.

North West Hampshire MP Kit Malthouse says Conservatives are facing heavy losses. “It’s been tricky, hard. I’m preparing myself for a thumping”

As reported earlier, there are also some nervous Conservatives in along the M27 in Southampton.

Tom Edwards
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

Redditch Council has been held by the Conservatives after they held two of their seats in early declarations at the count.

The Tories only needed 17 for a majority and, with 16 of their seats not being contested at this election, have moved quickly back into control.

However the Conservative leader, Matt Dormer, said success would be holding what they have got. “It hasn’t been too great on the doorsteps, to be honest. It’s been tough," he told me.

Labour have held two seats out of the four declared.

Image source, Reuters

The London mayor is chatting to Labour activists at the election count in Wandsworth Town Hall.

The party is hoping to take control of the borough, which the Conservatives have held since 1978.

A big cheer has just gone up from the Labour ranks, as they win two target wards, reports our man at the count, Tim Donovan.

There is no mayoral election in London this year.

The result in Hartlepool has been declared, with no party holding a majority on the council.

But the Conservatives remain the largest party after gaining two seats from independent councillors, bringing the party's total to 15.

The result will disappoint Labour, which controlled the council from 2010 until 2019, when the party lost its overall majority.

The Conservatives made spectacular gains last year to become the largest party, just ahead of independents and Labour.

The vote was held on the same day as a by-election, which Jill Mortimer won, becoming the first Conservative MP to represent Hartlepool since 1959.

Gem O'Reilly
BBC London

Minister for London Paul Scully has said his home council of Sutton in south London is "close in a lot of areas".

One of three Lib Dem run councils, Sutton has been targeted by the Conservatives as a potential gain.

Unusually for a Lib Dem stronghold, Sutton voted Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum and elected Conservative MPs to represent two parliamentary seats.

In 2018, the Conservatives doubled their seats on the council to 18, and are now looking to increase their share and potentially snatch a victory.

Mr Scully, MP for Sutton and Cheam, said: " Although the Lib Dems have been in power for a long time, it's always been on small margins."

Mr Scully predicts the council could be decided by "split votes", where residents vote for candidates of multiple parties in their ward.

"It's all to play for," Mr Scully added.

James Aldred
BBC News

The Conservative Party have held on to Nuneaton and Bedworth Council where they look to be having a good night.

The Tories gained the authority last year when they added 10 seats and, with 17 up for grabs tonight, they have won seven so far to ease into a majority, with several seats yet to be declared.

As well as holding seats in Arbury, Bulkington and Bar Pool, they gained Bede from Labour who secured two seats.

The Green Party have also made a gain, taking Weddington, to add to the one councillor they already had on the authority.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Of the first batch of results from key wards, many have come from Sunderland and few from London.

In these, there was a swing of 1% from Labour to the Conservatives - which may mean that Labour are not going to make much progress in Leave-voting provincial England, even though they are up on their performance last year.

There is some cheer for Liberal Democrats, whose vote is up by three percentage points since 2018, and signs the party may be doing particularly well in some "Blue Wall" Conservative areas.

There has been no sign so far of turnout falling compared with previous local elections.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Image source, Getty Images

Perhaps we should note that while Labour and the Conservatives are arguing about which of the two of them is doing worse, both of them have so far suffered net losses of seats, the Conservatives six and Labour four.

The "winners" of the elections so far are the Liberal Democrats who have made a net gain of five seats and the Greens a net gain of four.

The Greens are so far noticing a two point increase in their vote in wards that they also fought in 2018, while their vote is also up by one point on 2021.

Although the Greens look as though they are not doing as well as they did in 2019, this could prove to be one of the party's better local election performances.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester

Counting is only just starting here in Worcester but Tory leader Marc Bayliss has effectively thrown in the towel and is heading home.

Image source, Worcester City Council

He told me he expects his party to have lost several seats tonight and said the people have "given their verdict on the government".

Mr Bayliss told me Partygate - gatherings held in and around Downing Street during Covid lockdowns - has been the main national issue.

He added the public had judged the government's performance and "they have found it wanting".

"I think it is fair to say we are having a bad night."

Tim Donovan
BBC London, Political Editor

We have the night's first result from Wandsworth - a major Labour target. The Conservatives have held the council since 1978, and they've retained both seats in the Nine Elms ward.

It contains lots of new, high-rise buildings. The look of the area owes a lot to former council leader Sir Eddie Lister who went on work for Boris Johnson when he was London mayor.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester

There is a feeling of change in the air tonight in Worcester and an expectation that the city council could slip back into no overall control. Just how many Conservative voters have come out today could be key.

Image source, Worcester City Council

The Tories have been in control here since an exceptional election last May when three gains at the expense of Labour gave them a majority of one.

Labour say the reception on the door today has been “warm” and a million miles from the mood of 2021.

Meanwhile the Greens are hoping this election will be a game changer as, unlike in previous ones, they are hoping to capture multiple seats this time.

Worcester has been seen as a bellwether seat in general elections since the 1980s. The way Worcester votes, the country votes.

Image source, Reuters

Election expectation management is in full swing as the first results in England start to trickle in.

Conservative MP and policing minister Kit Malthouse has told the BBC he feared “a jolly difficult night all round”.

“I was doing some campaigning in London earlier this week and it was tricky. It's going to be hard. I'm preparing myself for a thumping.”

He did, however, say the picture was better for the Tories the “further away you get from London”.

"We've certainly thrown everything at it,” he said.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth, for Labour, said he thought the Tories were in “big trouble”.

But he acknowledged there was a mountain to climb for the party following the 2019 general election.

“It's climbable, but my god it's a big mountain because we got an absolute hammering in 2019, the worst result since the 1930s.”

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC News

Our team in Worcester has told us that the Tory leader has effectively thrown in the towel.

He has gone home and he has told our team on the ground he expects his party to lose several seats tonight.

He says people have given their verdict on the government and that Partygate was a main national issue.

He also said Conservatives MPs need to think about who they want to lead them into the next election.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

There are signs of a Liberal Democrat advance in the "Blue Wall" territory of Brentwood, in Essex.

In the first five wards declared, their vote was up by 19 percentage points compared with 2018, and by 5 points compared with last year. Meanwhile the Conservatives are down by 2 - 3 points compared with both years.

We will of course be bringing you the results from across the country as they come in.

But if you want to focus on the news from your area, you might be interested in our other live pages covering London and the West Midlands.

One of the big early results has come in Sunderland, where Labour has retained control. But its majority has been cut from 11 to eight.

The party lost one of its seats, as did the Conservatives - both to the Liberal Democrats.

Tim Donovan
BBC London, Political Editor

Whatever the prevailing forces, these elections will be a signal of whether Boris Johnson - twice victorious as London mayor - is losing his electoral sheen.

Polls suggest the Conservatives could slip to their lowest number of councillors in London.

But this will almost certainly overstate the threat to the Tories. Their base is already low in the capital.

The 511 seats they won when these elections were last fought in 2018 was their smallest ever tally. Clearly, the Conservatives could lose more councillors.

In their wildest dreams Labour strategists could see May's elections as a series of firsts:

• their highest number of councillors,
• the highest number of councils in their control,
• victory in Westminster or Kensington and Chelsea

In reality, it will be harder to shift the dial.

Labour has its own hurdles. By-elections have shown votes slipping away from Labour.

While the Lib Dems will be desperately hoping for signs of a continuing southern revival.

Read more here.

Kevin Fitzpatrick
BBC North West political editor

Bolton is a really interesting council election.

It is the only Conservative-led borough in Greater Manchester - all the rest are led by Labour.

The Conservatives have led this as a minority administration relying on a rainbow coalition made up of every other party except Labour.

The Tories currently have a lead of three over Labour here, but they have been nipping at Conservatives' heels for the last couple of years. This is a seat they really want to win.

Another interesting thing to note is the power of the smaller parties and independents - they make up more than a third of seats in Bolton. They could end up being the kingmaker.

We are expecting to know how things stand after 02:00.

However it is unlikely any party will have outright majority - so there will be a few days of politicking to establish who will be in charge.

Conservative-run since 1964, Westminster is a key target for Labour this year.

The party of government has enjoyed a substantial advantage in terms of seats on the council since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.

In the 2017 general election, there were swings of around 10% to Labour in both of the borough’s parliamentary constituencies. In 2018, the Conservatives lost three seats to Labour but still controlled 41 of the council's 60 seats.

Westminster is expected to declare results around 03.30 BST.