Local elections 2023: Labour retains control in Liverpool, Knowsley, Halton and Sefton

Smiles for Labour in Halton as the party took one seat from the Conservatives

Labour has easily retained control of Liverpool, Knowsley, Halton and Sefton councils.

Every seat was up for grabs in Liverpool, which has seen big changes, with 64 new wards replacing the 30 the city was divided up into previously.

One of them saw a nail-biter, as in the new Festival Gardens ward, a recount was needed before Labour's Peter Norris took the seat by a single vote.

In Wirral, the council remained in no overall control.

Candidate Peter Norris (centre) won by one vote Liverpool Festival Gardens by one vote

In Halton, the Cheshire borough that forms part of the Liverpool City Region, Labour gained one seat from the Tories and now has 49 of the council's 54 representatives.

In Sefton, Labour made three gains and now holds 51 of the 66 seats, taking one from the Tories and two from independents.

The council's leader Ian Maher said he was "appalled" to learn some polling station staff had received abuse from the public as new voter ID requirements came into force for the first time in England.

Labour won a large majority in Liverpool, taking 61 of 85 seats, with the Liberal Democrats winning 15 and the Green Party, Liverpool Community Independents and the Liberal Party all taking three each.

Knowsley has been controlled by Labour since it was created in the 1970s and will continue in the same vein, despite the party losing two seats to the Green Party.

The Greens also made some big gains in Wirral, taking five seats, while Labour added two seats to the 28 it already held, but the council has remained in no overall control.

• Who won in my area?

• Follow all the latest updates on the BBC's local elections live page

• Chris Mason: Tories face up as results come in

• Scrap voter ID, say critics

Analysis by BBC Radio Merseyside political reporter Claire Hamilton

Labour has scooped a big majority in Liverpool after winning 61 of 85 seats up for grabs.

Across the city, some familiar names won with former Liverpool Liberal Democrat council leader Mike Storey winning one of two seats in Childwall, while Pat Moloney took the second.

For Labour, cabinet member Harry Doyle won Knotty Ash and Dovecot and former cabinet member Laura Robertson-Collins won in Arundel.

Liverpool Community Independents won in Orrell Park, with former Liverpool Labour councillor Alan Gibbons claiming the seat, and the also party secured two seats in Garston.

And there was a new Liberal Democrat councillor in Wavertree who might be a familiar face to Knowsley residents, as Carl Cashman, who won in Church ward, resigned from his position in the neighbouring borough earlier in the year.

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