No change at Wirral Councilpublished at 18:38 British Summer Time 5 May 2023
There remains no change at Wirral Council in Merseyside as no party has been able to gain an overall majority.
Labour and the Lib Dems have made gains at the expense of Conservatives in local elections, with the Tories losing more than 1000 councillors and 45 councils so far
Labour would have a nine-point lead over the Conservatives based on today's results, if all of Britain voted, the BBC projects
It has seized councils in key election battlegrounds including Swindon, Medway, Dover and East Staffordshire
The Lib Dems took control of councils in Stratford-on-Avon, Dacorum, Windsor and Maidenhead and South Hams from the Tories
The Green Party have won their first ever outright majority on a council in Mid Suffolk
PM Rishi Sunak has acknowledged some "disappointing results", while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says his party's on course to win the next general election
You can watch BBC News coverage of the results live by clicking the play button at the top of this page
Edited by Andrew Humphrey and Sarah Fowler
There remains no change at Wirral Council in Merseyside as no party has been able to gain an overall majority.
There remains no change at Canterbury Council in Kent as no party has been able to gain an overall majority.
There is no change at Derby Council with no party in a majority.
Another gain for Labour, this time Thanet District Council in Kent.
It previously had no overall control.
Conservatives have been able to hold South Staffordshire Council.
Let's look in a little more detail at two councils that have swung from Conservative to Labour control.
In some cases the Tories have lost after their support was reduced and spread among the other candidates, but in Erewash and Dover the votes seems to have switched almost directly to Labour.
It's been a dramatic local election this year in England, and there's still several councils yet to be declared.
To help you digest the results, we've crunched the data to show you what councils have changed hands, as well as mapping out the areas of the country where things have changed the most.
Click here to see the breakdown of results - as it stands.
The Liberal Democrats have seized control of Surrey Heath District Council.
It had previously been a hung council with no overall majority.
Conservative Mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, has told Radio 4’s PM programme the poor Tory performance is a partly a result of “the turmoil and upheaval of the last 12 months”.
"There has been an issue that the Labour Party have been quite successful in making this a referendum on the government, it was very much about the cost of living, NHS… we could have done better at being able to tackle those questions," he said.
“The risk that we have is that we’ve shot ourselves in the foot as a party for so long now, people are frustrated, people don’t feel like they can vote for us… and what is interesting – and we saw it on the ground in Teeside… it’s more the Conservative Party is in freefall at the moment and the Labour Party aren’t particularly making any ground.”
On what the government needs to be doing, he said, “I’m not sure we currently align with where people are at the moment… I think we do need to get better at emotionally engaging with the public."
Labour has taken control of Cheshire West and Chester Council.
It had previously been a hung council.
Labour have held Liverpool City Council.
The Liberal Democrats have held the Vale of White Horse District in Oxfordshire.
Greens make a "real difference" on subjects such as housing and planning, co-leader Adrian Ramsay has said after the party won majority control of a council for the first time.
He said this "paves the way" for the party gaining further councillors and MPs.
The party had been in minority control of Brighton and Hove Council, but now runs Mid Suffolk Council without the need for support from other parties.
The Conservatives have held on to Breckland and Dartford, Labour has held Wigan, but most of the latest declarations are councils with no party majority.
There is no change at Babergh District Council in Suffolk, as no party has been able to gain an overall majority.
We reported a little earlier the BBC vote share projects a nine-point lead for Labour over the Conservatives in the next general election - this is the largest lead the BBC has recorded from Labour since it lost power in 2010.
Earlier, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party was "on course" to win a majority in the next general election. He travelled to Medway to celebrate his party's victory in the Kent council with local activists, telling them: "You didn't just get it over the line, you blew the doors off"
Lib Dems are also making gains at the expense of the Conservatives, with the Tories losing more than 40 councils overall so far. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he is "disappointed" in the results as they stand.
The Conservatives have held Breckland Council in Norfolk.
The Conservatives have lost control of Harborough Council, although no party has an overall majority.
The Conservatives have lost control of Cherwell Council, although no party has an overall majority.
Herefordshire Council remains a hung authority with no party achieving an overall majority.