Local elections 2023: An hour-by-hour guide of when key results are expected

Published

2 years ago

May 4, 2023

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Polling stations have now closed and votes are being counted in this year’s local elections in England.

The results will come in waves throughout the night and into the morning – with all councils expected to declare by 8pm on Friday.

Elections were held in 230 of England’s 317 councils, within district, borough, county borough and unitary authority councils, along with four mayoral elections in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough.

This is your guide to the key seats to watch out for through the early hours of the morning and beyond.

From midnight

• The first result could come from Broxbourne, a Tory-held council – expected a little after midnight.
• The pace of declarations will then speed up significantly, with results at Castle Point, Rushmoor, South Tyneside, Basildon, Halton and Sunderland all expected between 1am and 2am.
• Hartlepool, a key battleground which as of now has no overall control, is expected to declare its result at around 1.30am. Both parties will be looking to seize a majority here – after Boris Johnson secured a by-election victory in the parliamentary seat in 2021.
• The hotly-contested Harlow will also declare early. Losing just four seats would mark an end to Conservative control, which was gained back in 2021. Prior to this, Labour had the majority for a decade.
• At this point, the result of the Middlesbrough mayoral election will also likely be confirmed.

From 2am

• This is when results will really start to pour in. Brentwood is expected on the hour – and if the Tories lose just one seat, the council will fall to no overall control. There is also the potential for a Liberal Democrat majority if they made gains.
• Also expected to declare at some point in this period are Ipswich, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Portsmouth, Redditch, Rochford and Exeter.
• At 3am, Boston in Lincolnshire is expected to be one of the first councils to declare results in all of its wards. Currently under no overall control, the Conservatives only need to gain one seat to win a majority.
• Three gains in Peterborough would also give the Tories overall control of the council. A result is expected at 3am.
• Dudley is another Conservative-controlled council that we should keep a close eye on when the result comes in at around 3.30am. The Tories should retain overall control, but any transfer of seats between the two main parties will be watched.

From 4am

• In this two-hour period, more than a dozen results could be declared in rapid succession. Early on the list will be Braintree, Coventry, North Devon, North Norfolk and Southend-on-Sea.
• Bolton, which has no overall control, is one to watch at 4am. It is one of several Metropolitan Boroughs where the rise of local independent groups has affected the ability of one party to seize a majority.
• At the same time, Plymouth will likely declare a result. Politics here is somewhat chaotic, with both Labour and Tory councillors either defecting or being expelled. With newly elected independents in their midst, it is difficult to predict how voters will react.
• Turning to the Liberal Democrats for a moment, and Tory-held Dacorum in Hertfordshire is in Sir Ed Davey’s sights for a “blue wall” upset.
• At 5am, we will see declarations that could also be significant for the Lib Dems: Bath and North East Somerset which the party took from the Conservatives in 2019, and Windsor and Maidenhead, where Lib Dem gains could shift the council from Tory to no overall control.

From 6am

• A headline of the day would be if Medway in Kent falls to Labour. This was a new council in 1997 but even during its landslide victory, Labour could not win it outright. The winning line is 28 seats so watch this one closely at 6.30am.
• Another to watch in this hour is Stoke-on-Trent, which is set to declare at 6am. The area is a stark example of how Labour’s voter base has eroded in areas hard hit by industrial decline. Voters have been supporting various brands of independents since the turn of the century and their rise has damaged Labour.
• Others declaring after dawn breaks are South Gloucestershire, South Kesteven and Tameside.

At this point, there will be time to take a breather.

With the exception of East Lindsey – which is expected to declare at 9am. After this, we don’t anticipate any results emerging until 12pm.

From midday

• The first in the Friday afternoon wave of results will be Herefordshire, and Labour-held Rossendale, Gateshead and Manchester.
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will be hoping to bolster his majority in Gateshead – and hold on to the other northern councils – as the general election looms.
• Solihull is one to keep a close eye on when it declares at 1pm – as is Stratford-upon-Avon. Both have fragile Conservative majorities and could see a fall to no overall control if the Liberal Democrats and Greens make gains.
• Burnley could also bring an interesting result at 1.30pm. Labour needs four gains to take majority control.
• Conservative-held Walsall is a council where Labour will need to make gains if it is to claim it’s on track to win the next general election.
• We also expect the Mansfield mayoral election to declare at around this time.

From 2pm

• At this point, politics watchers should be aware of the results in Torbay, where the Conservatives lost their majority to no overall control in 2019.
• Results for Stafford, Middlesbrough, Tunbridge Wells, West Devon, West Suffolk and Wokingham will also be confirmed between 2pm and 4pm.
• Darlington is one to watch when it declares at 3pm. The Tees Valley area is a key target for Labour. With all seats up for re-election, Labour might advance, having finished just two seats behind the Conservatives last time.
• It’s also worth noting that Milton Keynes is run by a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition at the moment.

From 4pm

• Later in the afternoon, results will rush in from a number of key battlegrounds. The first will be Dover, where the Tories gained a seat from Labour in a local council by-election in 2021. If the Conservatives lose three seats, they lose overall control.
• Two cabinet ministers – Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt – have their Surrey constituencies in Elmbridge, which is currently under no overall control. The area saw big swings to the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 general election – could the party take the council this time?
• At the same time, Swindon is expected to declare its results. Sir Keir launched Labour’s local election campaign here – it is a key target for the party.
• Stockton-on-Tees should also declare in this period. Labour lost control of the council in 2019 and the parliamentary constituency later that year in the general election.
• Sheffield will see Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens going head to head – with Labour hoping for three gains to win a majority.

From 6pm

• The final rush will begin at 6pm – but by this point, we will likely have a good idea of the overall picture.
• Those to declare in this wave will include Lancaster, New Forest, South Derbyshire, Mid Devon and Bedford.
• Waverley is expected to declare at around 6pm. In May 2019, the Liberal Democrats came within six percentage points of the Tory total – but won only 14 seats compared to 23 for the Conservatives. The Lib Dems will be hoping to make gains and seats to build pressure ahead of the general election.

From 8pm

• The very last result is expected to come from York, which is currently run by a Liberal Democrat and Green coalition. Labour is hoping to make gains.

World

Israeli military announces ‘tactical pause’ in fighting in parts of Gaza amid hunger crisis

Published

14 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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Israeli military announces 'tactical pause' in fighting in parts of Gaza amid hunger crisis

Israel has begun a pause in fighting in three areas of Gaza to address the worsening humanitarian situation.

The IDF said it would halt fighting in three areas, Muwasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, from 10am to 8pm local time until further notice, beginning today.

In a statement, the IDF said it would also establish secure routes to help the UN and aid agencies deliver food and other supplies.

Israel’s announcement of what it calls a “tactical pause” in fighting comes after it resumed airdrops of aid into Gaza.

While the IDF reiterated claims there is “no starvation” in Gaza, it said the airdrops would include “seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food to be provided by international organisations”.

Reports suggest aid has already been dropped into Gaza, with some injured after fighting broke out.

In other developments, Bob Geldof has accused Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in the territory – telling Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the IDF is “dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers”.

He told Sky News: “This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March. It then reopened aid centres with new restrictions in May, but said the supply had to be controlled to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas militants.

On Saturday, reports referencing US government data said there was no evidence Hamas had stolen aid from UN agencies.

The IDF’s international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, described such reports as “fake news” and said Hamas thefts have been “well documented”.

Airdrops ‘expensive and inefficient’

It comes as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said as of Saturday, 127 people have died from malnutrition-related causes, including 85 children.

They include a five-month-old girl who weighed less than when she was born, with a doctor at Nasser Hospital describing it as a case of “severe, severe starvation”.

Health workers have also been weakened by hunger, with some putting themselves on IV drips so they can keep treating badly malnourished patients.

On Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to airdrop aid into Gaza – but the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned this will not reverse “deepening starvation”.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini described the method as “expensive” and “inefficient”, adding: “It is a distraction and screensmoke. A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.

“Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”

UNRWA has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting for permission to enter Gaza, he added.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned on Friday that 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, and said the lack of food and water on the ground was “unconscionable”.

The UN also estimates Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food, the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has also previously disputed these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”

World

Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of ‘lying’ about starvation in Gaza

Published

17 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of 'lying' about starvation in Gaza

Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.

Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.

Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Geldof said the claims are false.

Follow latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’ and ‘distraction’

Sir Trevor asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.

“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”

In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.

The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.

“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.

“This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”

He added: “If the newsfeeds and social feeds weren’t so censored in Israel, I imagine that the Israeli people would not permit what has been done in their name.”

Asked about the UK government’s reaction, Geldof said it was “not enough”.

“This is a distraction thing about ‘let’s recognise the state ‘ – absolutely, it should have been done ages ago, but it’s not going to make any material difference,” he said, referring to calls for Sir Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine as a state.

In the Sky News interview earlier this week, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.”

He also claimed that, since May, more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.

It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.

The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.

MSF then described the lack of food and water on the ground “unconscionable”.

In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.

It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.

“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”

The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.

“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.

“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”

World

‘I still have hope’: Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he’ll be one of last freed

Published

17 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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'I still have hope': Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he'll be one of last freed

Yehuda searches through a downstairs room looking for a plastic bag containing the most precious of objects.

It’s a small, blackened Rubik’s Cube that belongs to Yehuda’s son Nimrod – one of 20 living Israeli hostages still being held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

It was found in Nimrod’s burnt-out tank after the October 7th attacks.

“He likes PlayStation and Rubik’s Cube,” says Nimrod’s mother, Vicky.

“They found the Rubik’s Cube in the tank. It was complete but a little bit dark and they brought it back to us.”

We spoke to Nimrod’s parents Yehuda and Vicky about the emotional rollercoaster hostage families in Israel are going through – as hope rises and fades of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

“I still have hope that maybe I will see Nimrod again,” says Vicky.

“It almost breaks my heart because I still had expectation,” she says – in spite of the latest failure to find resolution in talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha.

“But I still have hope that maybe something good will happen,” she says.

Vicky says: “We heard [during] the last weeks, President Trump saying we will hear about a ceasefire soon – next week – in a few days.

“We heard our prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] say visiting Washington and meeting Trump was very successful – and heard members of the coalition talking about our prime minister eventually understanding he needs to end the war. But until now nothing.”

The delegation coming back to Israel doesn’t mean a total collapse of ceasefire talks, but US envoy Steve Witkoff said the response to the latest ceasefire proposals by Hamas showed “a lack of desire”.

And so the rollercoaster of emotion for the hostage families continues.

Middle East latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’

Nimrod’s father Yehuda Cohen said: “Of course it’s a disappointment but it’s not the first one. A long time ago I learned not to get my expectations up so the disappointment won’t be too deep.

“The solution is very simple – I’ve got it on my shirt – ceasefire and hostage deal. Meaning the only way to get all the hostages is ending the war.”

Yehuda shows us Nimrod’s bedroom at the family home. It’s exactly as it was when Nimrod left to return to his army duties a few days before the October 7 attacks.

Except in a corner, there’s a box of uniforms and personal possessions, including a wallet which Nimrod had left at his army outpost – all returned to the family by the IDF.

It’s just like the bedroom of any other teenager – Nimrod was 19 when he was kidnapped. But two birthdays have passed since then. Nimrod is 21 now – a milestone spent in captivity a few weeks ago.

It’s believed there are 20 living Israeli hostages in Gaza – all male – and that Hamas is holding the bodies of 27 more hostages who have been killed.

But even if a deal is agreed, the first phase is expected to secure the release of only half of the living hostages – and Nimrod’s parents say their son, as a soldier, is not likely to be one of the 10.

Yehuda says: “A partial deal means that the probability my son will be on that list is close to zero. So he’s going to be one of the last ones to be released, and that’s why we have to fight.”