Llanelli’s Labour MP, Nia Griffith is at the Carmarthenshire count.

She’s happy with the success in London and hopes that will be seen in Wales in Carmarthenshire.

However she admitted it’s been “a difficult task” to even say where they are in terms of the numbers of councillors, without talking about gains, as they’ve seen some retire and some leave the party.

“It’s early days” she said.

Owain Clarke
BBC Wales Health Correspondent

Powys is the largest council in Wales in terms of land area but has the lowest population compared to its size.

Since the county council was formed in 1996 it has been led by non-aligned independent councillors.

But in the last local elections in 2017, the main political parties made inroads into the traditional dominance of the independent councillors.

The Conservatives gained nine seats, followed by a 10th after by-election and had 20 of the 73 councillors.

In 2017 the Liberal Democrats gained wards taking them up to 13 councillors, while Labour dropped from eight to seven.

Plaid Cymru had two councillors elected and the Green party one – both parties had no representatives in 2012.

Independent councillors topped the polls in 30 wards but that was 18 fewer than in 2012.

Independents formed a group and then joined forces with the Conservative group to run the council as a coalition

They had a majority of 13 more than the 37 needed to rule.

David TC Davies, MP for Monmouth, says the result in Monmouthshire is too tight to call.

Monmouthshire it the only Conservative-held council in Wales.

Mr Davies adds that the results across the UK are "very strange".

He says he will still be supporting Boris and expects his Westminster colleagues to after today.

Image source, Getty Images

Plaid Cymru, which formed a ruling administration last time out, will be hoping to retain its majority with 19 party members having already secured their place on the benches without the need for any election.

Of the 69 available seats across Gwynedd, a decrease from the 75 previously, 28 councillors have already been elected unopposed.

Eight independent members, including several members of Llais Gwynedd in the last administration, have also been elected before the counting began.

With 27 wards being counted in Caernarfon, the votes cast in the remainder of the county, namely the Meirionnydd area, are being counted in Dolgellau.

We expect to know the full picture in Gwynedd by mid-afternoon.

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

Welsh Conservatives are bracing for losses – a source says the party is facing a “difficult” set of results and that “modest losses” would be accepted as “decent”.

The party also fears losses in Cardiff. As of mid-Friday morning, some councils in the north and mid-Wales have begun declaring results.

Denbighshire Labour’s Raj Metri took the seat of Bodelwyddan from the Conservatives. In Flintshire the council’s Labour leader Ian Roberts has been re-elected.

There have been four declarations in Carmarthenshire – all to Plaid Cymru with two gains from independents.

Low voter turnout is always a headache but it’s a particular problem in Newport.

During the last council elections in 2017, Newport, together with Caerphilly, had the joint lowest turnout in Wales - just 36.3%

That was only a slight increase from 2012 when Newport saw the lowest turnout - 33.9%

Will the 16 and 17-year-olds, eligible to vote for the first time in local elections in Wales, make a difference?

Image source, Geograph/Nigel Mykura

Blaenau Gwent is one of three areas where Labour lost their overall majorities in 2017, so taking it back from the Independents is one of their aims this election.

Labour lost 20 councillors here, from 33 in 2012 to just 13 in 2017.

This year’s elections are slightly different due to due to rejig in ward boundaries, meaning there will be nine fewer councillors, dropping from 42 positions to 33 up for grabs.

That means any party only requires 17 seats to seize the majority.

The 69 candidates have done as much as they can as verification is under way.

Felicity Evans
BBC Wales political editor

The Welsh Conservatives went into this election expecting some losses – the question is how many.

A key area for them is the north-east of Wales, where they virtually swept Welsh Labour away at the 2019 general election, but couldn’t repeat that feat in last year’s Senedd elections.

At a council level they’ve been running three of the councils in coalition with independents.

In the south, they’re always in a scrap with Welsh Labour in Vale of Glamorgan, where independents also play a big role.

But Tory source has just texted me to say “Conwy, Denbighshire and the Vale of Glamorgan not looking great for us.”

Wendy Lewis, Labour councillor for Waunarlwydd, Swansea, said she never wants to see a repeat of this year's campaign.

"It's been a very dirty campaign this election and I never want to go through it again," she said.

One thing’s certain, there will be no padded lycra cycling shorts at Wales’ national velodrome for the next couple of hours.

The venue is busy not with bikes but with officials and candidates hoping they’ll be elected to Newport City Council.

With 16 councillors not putting their names up for re-election and a number of boundary changes, will we see some dynamic change?

Newport’s number of councillors will increase by one, taking the council from 50 to 51 members and the number of wards will increase from 20 to 21.

Last time round in 2017, Labour was the biggest party with 472 seats out of a total 1,200.

The party will look at regaining councils from Independents in Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent.

Plaid Cyrmu may look at turning Anglesey, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion fully green, while Conwy, Denbighshire and the Vale of Glamorgan could be gains for the Conservatives.

You can see the results in your area here

Tories say results will be difficultpublished at 10:19 British Summer Time 6 May 2022

10:19 BST 6 May 2022

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

Ahead of counting taking place on Friday, a Welsh Tory source said: "It’s going to be difficult for us.

"The fact we’ve been in power for so long now coupled with the amazing night we had in Wales in 2017, some modest losses would probably privately be accepted as… decent."

The source expected it would be “especially rough” in Cardiff, but that Monmouthshire - which the party holds control of - “should be fine”.

They expected a "general trend" in commuter areas against them - with partygate to blame "to an extent".

Aled Scourfield
BBC News

Here at County Hall in Haverfordwest, 19 seats have already been filled in the council chamber as they are uncontested - up from 12 in 2017.

Independents or unaffiliated councillors have taken 10 seats, Conservatives and Labour both have four and Plaid have one.

Verification has begun and counting will begin shortly, with the first results expected soon.

Counting will take place in four "waves" with ward results being announced individually in the chamber.

Candidates are milling around nervously as we await the remaining 41 results.

Chris Dearden
BBC Wales News

Image source, PA Media

Could the I’m A Celebrity castle cost the Conservatives votes in Conwy?

One of the most vociferous areas during the election campaign in this borough has been the town of Abergele, where Gwrych Castle is located.

The Grade I listed building was watched by millions of people when it hosted I’m A Celebrity – Get Me Out Of Here in 2020 and 2021.

But people’s eyes have been on the castle during this campaign for a different reason.

Access to footpaths on land around the castle that have been closed off by Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust has become an election issue.

Two trustees of the castle are also standing for the Conservatives in the two council wards which cover Abergele. They say public access has only ever come with a visitor’s ticket.

We’ll find out later if this issue was on enough people’s minds for it to make a difference in the results for Gele & Llanddulas and Pen-sarn Pentre Mawr wards.

Elsewhere in Conwy county borough, the council will look very different in the coming weeks.

The number of councillors has been reduced from 59 to 55, and a number of long-standing councillors have retired and not offered themselves for re-election.

These include Philip Evans, who has just finished his final term of office after 49 years as a councillor in Llandudno, having been elected when the town was part of Caernarfonshire.

Welcome to our live coverage of the results of the 2022 local elections in Wales.

On Thursday the Welsh public voted to elect local councils which will run public services.

Counting has begun and we’ll be bringing you the live results as soon as they come in.

We expect results throughout the day and will provide you with the latest updates, reaction and analysis from our elections team.