The Conservatives have lost control of seven councils overnight, while Labour have gained three in early local election results.
As dawn broke, Sir Keir Starmer’s party took Medway Council in Kent from Rishi Sunak’s, while the Liberal Democrats took Windsor and Maidenhead – former Prime Minister Theresa May’s constituency.
Labour – which also won the race for mayor of Middlesbrough – were performing best when it came to seat gains, clocking up over 90 so far, compared with the Conservatives, which have lost more than 140.
But all eyes are on the next few hours when more local authorities could change hands.
Voters went to the polls on Thursday to decide who runs services in 230 (out of 317) local authorities across England, with around 8,000 councillors’ seats up for grabs.
Mayors are also being chosen in Bedford, Leicester and Mansfield in what is the biggest round of local elections since 2019.
It’s also the largest test of public opinion this side of the next general election, and Labour’s chance to capitalise on national polls suggesting it is on course to form the next government.
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Labour MP and national campaign co-ordinator Shabana Mahmood said the results so far showed her party was “on course” to win a majority at the next election, adding: “We have spent the whole campaign talking about Labour’s plan to tackle the Tory cost of living crisis which is the number one issue for voters.
“Rishi Sunak can’t talk about it because the Tories crashed the economy and they don’t know how to fix it. Tonight has been a disaster for Rishi Sunak as voters punish him for the Tories’ failure.”
A Tory spokesman said it was “always disappointing to lose hardworking local Conservative councillors”.
They added: “We expected it would be a tough night for the party [but] there are still many more results to come with just 25% of seats declaring overnight. There is a long way to go yet.”
And it is still early hours at the counts, with only 54 councils having declared.
But Labour has shown sound gains when it comes to both seats and vote share in numerous areas, including Thurrock, Rushmoor and Redditch.
The majority of the councils which have confirmed their results so far only had a third of their seats on the ballot, meaning few authorities have changed hands.
The coming hours will see more councils with all their seats up for grabs – such as the areas that have seen major upsets so far – so a clearer idea of the parties’ performances is yet to emerge.
The numbers overnight have seen a solid result for Labour.
They have got some high profile wins and they are starting to put on a decent number of seats.
They are also making strong progress in the south and in the north – so they are pretty content with what they’ve seen so far.
The Conservatives, however, are clearly slipping backwards.
It is a bit early to say it is a poor showing, or if it is something considerably worse.
But the next three hours will be critical.
At the moment, the Conservative Party is losing about one in three seats, and if that trend continues, we could be heading towards the 1,000 seat losses some ministers were warning about.
Tory MP and government minister Johnny Mercer, who represents Plymouth, called it “a terrible night” in his constituency as “we lost every seat we stood in”.
He added: “Take it on the chin, learn and go again tomorrow. It’s going to be a fight but I like a fight.”
Meanwhile, Baroness Anderson – a former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent – said the win in her area meant “everything” to the party.
She told Sky News: “It means that people are willing to listen to us again… I think it means they have forgiven us for having Jeremy Corbyn as leader… and candidly it means they are rejecting the policies of the Conservative Party, which is doing so little for them.”
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0:41
Tory MP: ‘Some dissatisfaction’ with govt
Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats are showing early seat gains – currently up by 36.
Party leader Sir Ed Davey called it “a ground-breaking night” for the Lib Dems, and they had “delivered a hammer blow” to the so-called “Blue Wall” of Tory seats.
He added: “The message from voters is clear: they are sick to the back teeth of Rishi Sunak and his out-of-touch Conservative government.”
The Green Party is also currently up by 13 seats.
The seats on offer were last contested in 2019, when Mrs May was weeks away from resigning, and her party lost 1,300 seats.
Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn at the time, also suffered losses with the Lib Dems, Greens and independents coming off best.
Sixty-two councils expect a result from midnight through to the morning.
More than half the 230 councils file their results in mid to late afternoon, while around 30 are expected to declare their results this evening.
There are no local elections in Scotland or Wales, but voters in Northern Ireland will be able to have their say on 18 May, with 462 seats across 11 local councils up for grabs.
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0:30
Vote counting begins as polls close in England
This set of local elections was also the first time voters had to bring ID with them in order to cast their ballot.
After voting ended, the Electoral Commission said “overall, the elections were well run”, but it would begin a fuller analysis to discover the impact.
Its spokesperson said the ID requirement “posed a greater challenge for some groups in society” and “some people were regrettably unable to vote today as a result” of the change.
Labour also raised concerns about the new law, with shadow health secretary Wes Streeting telling Sky News: “One eligible voter turned away and disenfranchised is one too many.”
But Tory minister Chris Heaton-Harris called the voter ID requirement a “thoroughly good thing” as it “means that you can be completely sure that your elections are well tested and safe”.
Image: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is looking at a tough night for the Tories. Pic: AP
Here are the benchmarks from Sky News’ elections analyst Professor Michael Thrasher for what would make a good and bad night for the main parties:
Conservatives
• Fewer than 300 losses: This would see the party winning council seats back from Independents, with Labour and the Lib Dems not prospering. • 500 losses: The party could argue “mid-term blues” and will assume Labour could be caught before the general election. • 750 losses: This would indicate a clear swing to Labour, but still less than opinion polls imply. • 1,000 losses: A very bad night, with a third of all seats defended by the Conservatives lost.
Labour
• 700 gains: The best local elections for at least a decade. Labour would look on its way to becoming the largest party in Westminster, even if short of a majority. • 450 gains: These results would be better than in 2022, when local elections took place in Greater London. • 250 gains: A disappointing result for Labour in the context of recent opinion polls. • Under 150 gains: A step backwards for Labour.
Liberal Democrats
• 150+ gains: Eating into Conservative territory and could put some marginal constituencies in play at the next election. • 50-100 gains: Comfortable enough in their own heartlands but only modest further progress. • Fewer than 50 gains: Fewer than 50 gains: Still struggling to pose a real threat to the Conservatives in the south.
Sky News will be bringing you full coverage both on TV and online.
It was in the evening that the bombing started to intensify.
Salah Jundia, his father and brothers huddled together in their home in Shujaiyya, just east of Gaza City, trying to work out what to do.
It was too risky for them to leave at night. There were a lot of them too. Extended family living across four storeys. They decided they would wait until after dawn prayers.
The explosion tore through the building just before 5am, collapsing one storey on to the next.
Image: The aftermath of Israel’s bombing campaign in Shujaiyya, just east of Gaza City
Image: Salah Jundia
Jundia says he survived because pieces of bedroom furniture fell on top of him.
Then he looked for his father and brothers.
“I found one of them calling for help. I removed the rubble covering him with my hands. Then I saw another brother covered in rubble but he was dead,” he told Sky News.
Jundia added: “My father was also dead. My other brother was also dead. We got them out and that is when I saw that the whole building had collapsed.”
Over the next few hours, they scrambled to rescue who they could.
An aunt and uncle and one of their children, Shaimaa. Uncle Imad and his son Mohammad. The bodies of Montasir and Mustaf.
Image: One of the child victims of the attack on the home near the Gaza City
Image: Another one of child victims of the attack
Jundia says he could hear cries for help, but they were coming from deep in the rubble and were impossible to reach.
The rescue teams on site – civil defence they are called – did not have the kit to clear through three floors of 500 square metres, 30cm slabs of concrete.
Image: Rescuers drilling to try and reach the people trapped below the rubble
Image: Efforts to free those trapped beneath the rubble near the Gaza City
In the afternoon, Jundia says Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) told rescue teams to leave as they would be resuming their bombardment.
Jundia buried the bodies he had managed to pull out but he knew 15 of his family members, 12 of them children, were still somewhere inside the rubble, still crying for help.
He made a desperate video appeal, begging the Red Cross and Arab countries to pressure Israel to grant access to the site. It was picked up on a few social media accounts.
Israel won’t allow heavy equipment into Gaza. No diggers or bulldozers, nor the fuel or generators to run them.
They say it will fall into Hamas’s hands.
It was a major sticking point during the ceasefire and it is a major issue now as the bombardment continues, given the fact that hundreds if not thousands of civilians might survive if there were the equipment to extract them.
Image: Members of Salah Jundia’s family left alive after the attack
Image: Salah Jundia and his surviving family
Civil defence trying to get to the Jundia family home over the next few days were halted because the IDF were in the vicinity. A family friend tried himself and was killed.
The footage that our camera teams have shot in Shujaiyya over the past two weeks shows how civil defence teams struggle to save those who are trapped and injured with the most rudimentary of equipment – plastering trowels, sledgehammers, ropes and small drills.
“The tight siege stops civil defence equipment from getting in,” says one.
They added: “So we are taking much longer to respond to these events. Time is a factor in getting these people out. So we call immediately for the necessary equipment to be allowed in for the civil defence to use.”
The IDF say they are investigating the circumstances around the Jundia family as a result of our enquiries.
In relation to the access of heavy equipment into Gaza, they say they work closely with international aid organisations to enable the delivery of humanitarian activities in accordance with international law.
The last contact Jundia had from beneath the rubble was a phone call from his uncle Ziad, three days after the strike.
“The line was open for 25 seconds then it went dead. We don’t know what happened. We tried to call, but there was no answer,” he says.
He and his family were displaced several times before they returned home to Shujaiyya – to Rafah in the south, then Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
Along the way, Jundia lost one brother and a nephew to Israeli bombs.
“We were happy and all the family came back. We went back to our house. It was damaged, but we improvised and we lived in it. We have nothing to do with the resistance. We are not interested in wars. But we have been gravely harmed,” he says.
China’s economy performed better than expected in the first quarter of the year – but it reflects a moment in time before the explosive trade war with the US, which has seen the world’s two biggest economies effectively decouple.
Economists had predicted that gross domestic product would grow by about 5.1% in January to March, compared with a year earlier. In the end, it grew 5.4%.
But these impressive figures obscure the very serious challenges China’s economy is facing in the wake of Donald Tump’s trade war – and it is almost certain growth will not remain this strong as the year goes on.
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It was in the evening that the bombing started to intensify.
Salah Jundia, his father and brothers huddled together in their home in Shujaiyya, just east of Gaza City, trying to work out what to do.
It was too risky for them to leave at night. There were a lot of them too. Extended family living across four storeys. They decided they would wait until after dawn prayers.
The explosion tore through the building just before 5am, collapsing one storey on to the next.
Image: The remains of Salah Jundia’s home in Shujaiyya, just east of Gaza City
Image: Salah Jundia
Jundia says he survived because pieces of bedroom furniture fell on top of him.
Then he looked for his father and brothers.
“I found one of them calling for help. I removed the rubble covering him with my hands. Then I saw another brother covered in rubble but he was dead,” he told Sky News.
Jundia added: “My father was also dead. My other brother was also dead. We got them out and that is when I saw that the whole building had collapsed.”
Over the next few hours, they scrambled to rescue who they could.
Image: One of the child victims of the attack on the home near the Gaza City
Image: Another one of child victims of the attack
An aunt and uncle and one of their children, Shaimaa. Uncle Imad and his son Mohammad. The bodies of Montasir and Mustaf.
Jundia says he could hear cries for help, but they were coming from deep in the rubble and were impossible to reach.
The rescue teams on site – civil defence they are called – did not have the kit to clear through three floors of 500 square metres, 30cm slabs of concrete.
Image: Rescuers drilling to try and reach the people trapped below the rubble
Image: Efforts to free those trapped beneath the rubble near the Gaza City
In the afternoon, Jundia says Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) told rescue teams to leave as they would be resuming their bombardment.
Jundia buried the bodies he had managed to pull out but he knew 15 of his family members, 12 of them children, were still somewhere inside the rubble, still crying for help.
He made a desperate video appeal, begging the Red Cross and Arab countries to pressure Israel to grant access to the site. It was picked up on a few social media accounts.
Israel won’t allow heavy equipment into Gaza. No diggers or bulldozers, nor the fuel or generators to run them.
They say it will fall into Hamas’s hands.
It was a major sticking point during the ceasefire and it is a major issue now as the bombardment continues, given the fact that hundreds if not thousands of civilians might survive if there were the equipment to extract them.
Image: Members of Salah Jundia’s family left alive after the attack
Image: Salah Jundia and his surviving family
Civil defence trying to get to the Jundia family home over the next few days were halted because the IDF were in the vicinity. A family friend tried himself and was killed.
The footage that our camera teams have shot in Shujaiyya over the past two weeks shows how civil defence teams struggle to save those who are trapped and injured with the most rudimentary of equipment – plastering trowels, sledgehammers, ropes and small drills.
“The tight siege stops civil defence equipment from getting in,” says one.
They added: “So we are taking much longer to respond to these events. Time is a factor in getting these people out. So we call immediately for the necessary equipment to be allowed in for the civil defence to use.”
The IDF say they are investigating the circumstances around the Jundia family as a result of our enquiries.
In relation to the access of heavy equipment into Gaza, they say they work closely with international aid organisations to enable the delivery of humanitarian activities in accordance with international law.
The last contact Jundia had from beneath the rubble was a phone call from his uncle Ziad, three days after the strike.
“The line was open for 25 seconds then it went dead. We don’t know what happened. We tried to call, but there was no answer,” he says.
He and his family were displaced several times before they returned home to Shujaiyya – to Rafah in the south, then Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
Along the way, Jundia lost one brother and a nephew to Israeli bombs.
“We were happy and all the family came back. We went back to our house. It was damaged, but we improvised and we lived in it. We have nothing to do with the resistance. We are not interested in wars. But we have been gravely harmed,” he says.