Summary

  • Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has admitted that Thursday's local elections in England were difficult for the Conservative Party

  • She tells Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the Tories will "need to deliver" after losing 48 councils and over 1,000 councillors

  • Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting says he's "confident but not complacent" that Labour is headed for general election success

  • The party won more than 500 councillors in the local elections, while the Lib Dems won more than 400

  • Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey told the programme his party would not work with the Conservatives in any future coalition

  • Meanwhile, New Zealand PM Chris Hipkins says he expects the country to eventually become a republic despite no major calls for a new head of state

Live Reporting

Edited by James FitzGerald and Marita Moloney

  1. Who won in my area?

    There is just one result to come in the English local elections, and 229 of the 230 councils have declared.

    The final council, Redcar and Cleveland, will resume counting on Tuesday.

    Enter your postcode or the name of your council here to see who won in your area.

  2. Key election results at a glance

    Lib Dem leader Sir Ed DaveyPA Media

    Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey

    Labour and the Liberal Democrats made significant gains in the 2023 local elections in England at the expense of the Conservatives.

    Here’s a summary of the results:

    • The Tories lost 48 councils and more than 1,000 councillors across England in Thursday's polls, exceeding their worst predictions.
    • Labour won 536 councillors - gaining control of authorities in areas that could be key battlegrounds in the general election, including Medway, Swindon, Plymouth, Stoke-on-Trent and East Staffordshire
    • The Liberal Democrats took control of 12 councils, mostly in Tory heartlands, and gained 405 new councillors
    • The Green Party gained 241 seats - their best-ever result in local elections - and gained its first majority on an English council, in Mid-Suffolk
    • Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice said this year's results were "only a little short of calamitous for the Conservatives". Labour's projected nine-point lead represents its largest over the Conservatives on this measure since the party lost power in 2010

    Read more: Tory losses a clear rejection of Rishi Sunak, says Labour

    Labour leader Sir Keir StarmerPA Media

    Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer

  3. How to watch live

    The programme’s due to kick off at the usual time of 09:00 BST.

    You'll be able to watch live by clicking the Play button at the top of this page.

  4. After local election upheaval, what next for the parties?

    Laura Kuenssberg
    Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

    Composite image of BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg and a black-and-white background image of a local election count

    Swap the velvet cloaks, jewels, implausibly well-behaved choirboys and animals for ballot boxes, soggy rosettes, clipboards and leisure centres.

    We watched one transfer of power on Saturday. Election results around England this week suggest one of a different kind is well under way.

    The Conservatives got a kicking, Labour made good progress and Sir Ed Davey's tractor got the Lib Dems' wheels turning again (sorry). So what's next?

    When the gap in the opinion polls between the Tories and Labour had been tightening in recent weeks, some Conservatives had been wondering aloud whether the prospects for them were not as disastrous as they'd feared. Real votes have put a dampener on that.

    It does not seem likely, though, that MPs are going to start howling in pain publicly, or suggesting a change at the top, despite a few noises from predictable quarters.

    One former minister says they are all "tired and fed up, but if you put your head above the parapet and moan, you just make it worse".

  5. Who's on the programme today?

    Laura Kuennsberg will be unpicking those local election results with Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.

    On the panel are Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, Daily Mirror editor Alison Phillips and Prof Jason Arday from the University of Cambridge.

    Also joining the show is New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who was among more than 2,000 guests at Westminster Abbey yesterday.

  6. Good morning and welcome

    James FitzGerald
    Live reporter

    Laura Kuenssberg on a BBC set

    You've joined our live coverage of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg - after a busy few days filled with royal splendour and pageantry - and plenty of politics, too.

    Yesterday we saw King Charles III crowned alongside Queen Camilla in a lavish Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

    Just one day earlier, we received local election results from England. The Conservative Party lost more than 1,000 councillors, with Labour gaining more than 500 and the Lib Dems more than 400.

    It'll be Aoife Walsh, Sam Hancock, Marita Moloney and me bringing you the latest lines from the show.