The Conservative party has made significant gains and Labour has suffered in the local elections for England and Wales, with Ukip facing a near total wipeout in the councils vote.

With just five weeks to go before a general election, Jeremy Corbyn’s party blamed “unique circumstances” for what it predicted would be a challenging set of results in local contests.

The numbers so far are ominous for Labour at the general election, with the Conservatives benefiting from the huge decline in support for Ukip. By 6am, the Conservatives had gained more than 100 seats in England, while Labour had lost 45.

Theresa May’s party gained control of at least four councils - Warwickshire, Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire, and the Isle of Wight - swung from no overall control to the Conservatives, and the party also became the largest on Cumbria council in the north-west.

In Wales, Tory gains were more modest at 25 seats and independents took another 41, while Labour lost 67 but remained by far the most dominant party. The Tories gained one council, Monmouthshire, while Labour lost control of Blaneau Gwent and Bridgend.

Many results are yet to be declared, including Scottish councils and mayorals, but there is likely to be some cheer for Labour when the party wins new metro mayors in Greater Manchester, Liverpool and potentially the tightly fought battle in the West Midlands. The first mayoralty to be announced was the West of England metro areas including Bristol, Bath, northeast Somerset and south Gloucestershire,

which went to the Conservative candidate Tim Bowles.

After polls closed, Corbyn’s team played down expectations of their party’s performance, accepting that Labour could be set to lose hundreds of council seats.

Labour said that when these council seats were last contested, there was a strong performance for the party, then led by Ed Miliband.

“These elections are a challenging set of contests held in unique circumstances,” a Labour spokesman said. “They’re individual contests being fought in very differing situations, from local council-level, issue-driven campaigns up to large mayoral fights with some well-known politicians.

“Nonetheless, Labour has been making the case up and down the country that Labour representatives, both locally and nationally, will stand up for the many whilst the Conservative party stands up only for the few. That’s what we’ll be doing all the way through to 8 June and we are confident that will start to resonate as we get closer to that date.”

In total, 35 English council elections – most of them county councils – and every seat in Scotland and Wales were up for grabs.

Turnout generally had been “slow but steady,” John Turner, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, told the Local Government Chronicle.

As the counts began in Wales, the shadow Welsh secretary, Christina Rees, thanked Welsh Labour candidates and hinted at a difficult night ahead, saying: “It always inspires me that even when times seem tough for Labour, they never fail to rise to the challenge with a passion and energy that no other party can match.”

Strategists from all the major parties will be scrutinising the results closely for signs that May’s relentless message of providing “strong and stable leadership” has persuaded habitual Labour voters to defect to the Conservatives.

The local elections will also provide the first real test of the hypothesis that Ukip’s vote is collapsing in the Tories’ favour, as May pledges to deliver Brexit.

Labour sources suggested the overall picture was complex and only the national vote share would be an indication of what may be to come in the general election.

But losses in traditionally Labour areas where the local MP has a small majority will inevitably raise fears that the party is on course for a heavy defeat next month.

Anthony Wells of pollsters YouGov pointed out that the Labour party was just three percentage points behind Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives in the 1983 local elections, but trailed by 16 points in the general election that followed just a month

later.

Wells said: “Don’t just assume that the projected overall shares of the vote at this week’s votes are going to be repeated in next month’s election. People vote differently for different reasons at different sorts of election.”

That picture – of voters backing Labour locally but peeling away in a general election – was acknowledged by Susan Woodward, the leader of the Labour group on Staffordshire county council, where elections were held on Thursday.

Woodward said she felt positive, but admitted that some voters had promised to back the party in local elections but not on 8 June. “I’m hoping that having good, strong community leaders overrides any national swings – that is what I’m hoping for me and my Labour colleagues,” she said.

“If people are saying, ‘I will vote Labour in locals but not in general’ – and we’ve had a sprinkling of those – the leadership have to listen and redouble their efforts. They need to show they are focusing on Labour voters’ priorities rather than their own

priorities.” </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party today suffered a major blow in the snap election after it failed spectacularly to maintain its majority in the parliament, creating new uncertainties ahead of the Brexit negotiations.

The Conservatives, however, emerged as the single largest party in the election for Britain's 650-seat parliament.

With results yet to be declared for only eight seats, Conservatives had won 313 and Labour secured 260. A party required 326 seats to win the election.

Though May won her Maidenhead seat in south-east England with 37,780 votes, she faced pressure to resign after losing her parliamentary majority.

Ahead of the final result, May said Britain needed a "period of stability".

"The Conservative party is on course to winning the most votes and it will be incumbent on us that we provide that period of stability," May said, seemingly conceding the exit poll predictions of a hung parliament and her dashed hopes of a landslide win.

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who defeated predictions to improve his party's performance in the election, called on May "to go" to make way for his party.

"Politics has changed and this is people saying they have had quite enough… I am very proud of the results that are coming in and the vote for hope. The prime minister called the election because she wanted a mandate and the mandate is that she has lost seats," he said.

Corbyn earlier claimed on Twitter that the Labour party had "changed the face of British politics". </s> A devastating blow was struck against Labour in the local council elections with the historic victory of the Conservative party in Northumberland.

And astonishingly the party missed out on an overall majority of 34 seats after the last ward result was tied and had to be decided on a ‘straw draw’ which the Lib Dem candidate won.

The final result saw the Tories win 33 seats, Labour 24, Independents, seven and the Lib Dems three.

At the last election there in 2013, Labour was the biggest party there holding 32 of the 67 seats, while the Conservatives won 21.

However, after 12 gains this morning, the Conservatives became the largest party for the first time ever. </s> Polls are open across Britain today in local elections forecast to lead to devastating defeats for Labour.

Contests are being held in all Scottish and Welsh councils, more than 30 English councils and for six new regional mayors.

The results tomorrow will set the tone for the run into the general election on June 8 and Labour is braced for bruising defeats.

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to lose scores of seats to the Tories in results that will be seized upon as proof of how far he trails Theresa May.

And in Scotland the SNP is poised to complete its rout of Scottish Labour, potentially seizing the citadel of Glasgow, which Labour has run for decades.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was pictured voting in the city today and her party is expected to pick up seats across Scotland and will hope to stabilise a difficult start to the general election campaign.

One bright spot for Labour is expected in Manchester where Andy Burnham should complete a straightforward victory in the race to be mayor.

But there is a too-close-to-call race in the West Midlands, where Tory Andy Street could pull off a surprise victory in Labour-dominated territory.

The patchwork of results will not directly reflect voters intentions on June 8 but will be pored over for evidence of what might happen.

A recent poll by Rob Hayward, a Conservative peer and pollster, suggested Labour is likely to lose control of Glasgow council – which it has held for 30 years - in its former heartland.

Elections expert Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said it would be 'very very surprising if Labour retains control of any council in Scotland'.

Nearly 5,000 seats are being contested in 88 councils across the country. According to one analysis, Labour could lose 75 seats in England and more than 100 in Wales.

There are also important mayoral elections in six new devolved super-regions.

Elections are also being held for new 'super-mayors' in six devolved English regions.

Labour's Steve Rotherham should also win in Liverpool, in a region with seven of its safest parliamentary seats.

The Tories will hope to take Cambridgeshire and the West of England mayoralty, which covers Bath, Bristol, North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

The victorious candidates will take powers over policing, planning policy and control significant funds from central government.

The mayoralties were created by George Osborne as part of his attempts to devolve powers to English regions and strengthen local government.

In recent weeks, senior Labour figures have played up the importance of the local elections , and challenged Labour's poll ratings.

Last week a senior source said polls were often wrong, as recent elections had shown and shouldn't be trusted.

The source also said the locals were 'very important' for Mr Corbyn and an 'interesting measure of how well things are going'.

'On the cycle these are seats which are not in the metropolitan areas where Labour is traditionally strong,' he told the BBC's Daily Politics.

'Therefore one would expect given that we did relatively well the last time these seats were up for grabs that we would see a decline in their numbers.'

Normally at this point in the electoral cycle, the governing party would expect to lose council elections, which are traditionally a protest vote against whoever is in No10.

But an analysis by Professors Colin Rawlings and Michael Thrasher, directors of the Elections Centre at Plymouth University, suggests the Tories will pick up 115 seats in England county council and unitary authority elections, while Labour will lose 75. Lib Dem gains could also reach three figures.

In Wales, the poll put Labour losses at 130, and Tory gains 90. Labour could lose control of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport councils.

They also warned Ukip faces the 'near annihilation' of its 2013 intake of councillors, with 100 or more losses.

Party analysts are watching closely the results in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for signs of whether Theresa May can take seats from Labour in the Midlands.

At the weekend Mr Burnham warned there would be 'serious consequences' unless Labour reconnected with the North of England. He said there was 'too much Hampstead and not enough Hull' in today's Labour Party.

Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: 'Every vote cast in the elections today really matters.

'There is a clear choice – the competence of strong Conservative councils and elected mayors who will keep local taxes down with quality local services, versus the disarray of the rest.

'Conservative councils and mayors deliver more for less, improving local services and standing up for local people.' </s> Labour in denial: 'Not the wipeout people expected'

Conservatives: 'Not in the bag'

Liberal Democrats: Not as bad as Labour

UK Prime Minister Theresa May's party made significant gains in England and Wales, just five weeks before the country goes to the polls for the June 8 general election.The Conservatives appeared to benefit from the collapse of UKIP, now that the Tories have captured the pro-Brexit demographic.Thousands of voters across England, Wales, and Scotland went to the polls on Thursday to decide the fate of almost 5,000 council seats and to elect six new metro mayors.With full results declared by 17 of the 88 councils holding elections, the Tories had control of nine authorities, including five gains.May's party had 429 councilors, a net gain of 109, while Labour had 231, a net loss of 58. UKIP failed to win a single seat - a loss of 30.Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell acknowledged Labour had suffered a "tough" night as it struggled with some of its Welsh heartlands and failed to resist Tory advances in England.He told ITV's Good Morning Britain the results were not "the wipeout that people expected" and insisted it is still "all to play for" in the general election in just five weeks' time.Before the results came in, Labour played down expectations of the party's performance, accepting that Labour could be set to lose hundreds of council seats, particularly in Scotland and Wales."These elections are a challenging set of contests held in unique circumstances," a Labour spokesperson told the Guardian."They're individual contests being fought in very differing situations, from local council-level issue-driven campaigns up to large mayoral fights with some well-known politicians."Nonetheless, Labour has been making the case up and down the country that Labour representatives, both locally and nationally, will stand up for the many whilst the Conservative party stands up only for the few. That's what we'll be doing all the way through to June 8 and we are confident that will start to resonate as we get closer to that date."Labour is playing down its sweeping local election losses, with MPs advised to call the results a "mixed picture" and to stress Tory gains in Wales have "failed to materialize," the party's leaked election script reveals.The party is down more than 100 seats so far, has lost majorities on three Welsh councils and has been replaced by the Conservatives as the largest party on Cumbria County Council. Labour has lost overall control of its traditional stronghold of Glasgow City Council for the first time in nearly 40 years.Despite the apparently dismal showing, Labour MPs have been advised to say the results are merely "disappointing" and that the party has done "better than people were predicting.""Some of the predictions of doom and gloom across the board aren't quite panning out as some thought," the script said."There are some disappointing results, but there are good ones too such as holding on to the councils in Neath Port Talbot and Newport."One success the party will be stressing is retaining Welsh seats in Swansea, Cardiff and Newport councils, the latter of which the party will say was a Tory target. Candidates are also being told to suggest the Tory surge is down to the UKIP collapse, and say the results are being judged against a high point for the party in 2012.Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell remains staunchly behind Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn."It has been tough, there's no doubt about that, but it hasn't been the wipeout that some people predicted or the polls predicted ... In areas it's quite mixed," he told Radio 4's Today program."I'm not underestimating the challenge that we face right the way across the country. But what I'm saying is, to try to be as objective as I possibly can, it isn't the wipeout that many predicted. It is much better."Speaking to Sky News, Labour MP Diane Abbott said the defection of UKIP supporters to the Tories was "one of the pivotal factors" in Thursday's vote.She conceded that "some of those UKIP voters that are going to the Tories are former Labour voters," and said that in a general election "we have to turn them out and get them to vote Labour."Abbott said overall the morning's results had been "disappointing" but stressed "you cannot extrapolate from local elections to the general."She added the results "certainly don't mean that the general election [of June 8] is done and dusted for Theresa May."Stephen Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberavon, was a dissenting voice, however, going against the party line. He criticized the party's performance and the impact of Corbyn's leadership, saying the results painted a "disastrous picture.""It's simply not good enough for a party that's been in opposition for seven years, that's heading towards a general election in five weeks, to not be picking up seats and not be making forward progress," he said, according to the Mirror."What we need to do is recognize that we have got a mountain to climb over the next five weeks and it's about time we started climbing it."I think we can't just put a spin on this - the fact of the matter is that Jeremy's leadership does come up on the doorstep on a very regular basis. What we have to do is make this election about more than leadership, we've got to make it about the future of our country."UKIP faces being wiped out at the ballot box after failing to hold onto a single seat at the local elections. Paul Nuttall's party lost all its seats in Lincolnshire, Hampshire, and Essex - all key battlegrounds for UKIP at next month's general election.As a sign of how bad a night it endured, "UKIP 0" was trending on Twitter on Friday, as others said "RIP" to the party.Curtice said UKIP "has lost everything they've been trying to defend."Lisa Duffy, a former contender for UKIP's leadership, insisted the results are not a "disaster" but acknowledged they were "very disappointing.""I won't use the word disaster," she told the BBC. "I'll use the word 'challenging.' We knew it was going to be a difficult night."The Conservatives appeared to benefit from a collapse in UKIP's vote in England and Wales, a trend which will likely boost May's chances of strengthening her grip on power in the general election.Curtice said the Tories had so far put forward their best election performance since at least 2008, with an average swing of seven points from Labour to the Tories since 2013.Tory Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the outcome is "very encouraging," but denied the general election is in the bag. Tory minister Brandon Lewis said May would take the early results as "encouraging" but that "there are still a lot of councils to declare.""We can't assume that what happens in local elections will be automatically replicated in general elections," he told the BBC."There's a long way to go, there's a lot of work to do, we have got to work for every vote out there to make sure that we return Theresa May with a clear mandate on June 8."The Liberal Democrats have managed to cling onto more seats than Labour in England.The party managed to increase its vote share and hold on to many of its seats. It is still suffering at the hands of the Tories and may struggle to get a substantial number of seats in next month's election.On Friday morning, the Lib Dems had 111 councilors, a net loss of nine.Sir Vince Cable, former Lib Dem business secretary, called the night "neutral," telling the Independent his party's overall vote share had increased significantly."We're in a relatively encouraging position, though there hasn't been a spectacular breakthrough," he said. </s> Labour has held on to the marginal seat of Peterborough, overturning predictions that the contest could deliver a first byelection victory for Nigel Farage’s Brexit party.

The victorious Labour candidate, Lisa Forbes, told her supporters after the count early on Friday: “Tonight’s result is significant because it shows that the politics of division will never win.”

Forbes won 10,484 votes, beating the Brexit party’s Mike Greene, who took 9,801 votes, a margin of 683. The Conservatives were beaten into third place with 7,243 votes. Turnout was 48%.

Farage left the count through a backdoor minutes before the result was announced.

After the result, Jeremy Corbyn said the Tories had been pushed to the margins because of the government cuts and its disastrous handling of Brexit.

“This result shows that in spite of the divisions and deadlock over Brexit, when it comes to a vote on the issues that directly affect people’s lives, Labour’s case for real change has strong support across the country. I look forward to welcoming Lisa to parliament next week,” he said.

Greene said the Brexit party had made a significant breakthrough, despite not winning. “We have shaken up British politics with none of the data that is necessary to win a parliamentary election,” he said. “We’ve had two parties ruling for decades, that’s not happening any more.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Brexit party candidate Mike Greene gives a thumbs down as Lisa Forbes gives her winner’s speech. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Speaking on Friday morning, Farage insisted his party had done well. “Whichever way you cut it, we’ve come from nowhere, produced a massive result,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “We haven’t quite got over the line but we’re pretty buoyed by this.”

He added: “Here’s the important thing – eight weeks ago today the Brexit party launched. And I think what you’ve seen from this result last night is that British politics has fundamentally changed. It’s no longer just two parties contesting.”

Farage said the relatively high Conservative vote was the key factor: “There are now seats like this, over the country, where voters are going to start to realise that if you vote Conservative you’re going to finish up with a Corbyn government. Once that gets through we’ll begin to see tactical voting.”

Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, told BBC1’s Breakfast that the party had “won against the odds, and I’m absolutely delighted”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mike Greene and Nigel Farage have a drink at The Bull public house in Newborough before votes were counted. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

He said: “It’s a very good night for Labour. And there’s really no other way to try to spin this. We were supposed to lose – we won.”

Stewart Jackson, the former Conservative MP for Peterborough, said the Tories suffered because of the failings of the parliamentary party. “There has been no leader and Brexit policy has been a shambles. Once we deliver Brexit, and get a new leader in place, I think this seat will be back in contention,” he said.

The Liberal Democrats came fourth in the byelection with 4,159 with the Greens fifth with 1,035 votes.

Brexit party insiders said Labour’s reliance upon a mainly Pakistani vote in inner-city wards had been the difference between the parties.

Labour dismissed the theory a “racist trope”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Independent candidate Bobby Elmo Smith watches the byelection count. Photograph: Darren Staples/Getty Images

The result is a setback for Farage’s fledgling party, which argues for a no-deal departure from Europe and made a strong showing in last month’s European elections, securing the largest share of the vote and winning 29 seats. This was the first Westminster constituency it has contested since it was founded four months ago.

Although an opposition party is expected to win byelections, Labour was seeking victory in a seat where 60% of people voted to leave the EU.

Labour activists acknowledged they also had to combat anger over the party’s selection of Fiona Onasanya as its last candidate. She was forced to stand down following a recall petition after lying to police about a speeding ticket.

The victory will help Corbyn in his fight with critics within the party who have tried to persuade the Labour leader to change course over Brexit. Shadow cabinet members such as Emily Thornberry have urged him to strongly campaign for a second referendum.

Other senior figures, such as the party chair Ian Lavery, have argued that Labour will be decimated in parts of northern England and Wales if it attempts to run another referendum. </s> The counting for the United Kingdom general election started on Friday early morning. As initial numbers pour in, the Labour Party have won 154 and was a little ahead of the Conservatives who has bagged 140 so far.

The Labours have managed to retain their seats in Newcastle Central, Houghton, Sunderland South, Birmingham Ladywood, Manchester Central, and Cambridge among others. The Conservatives won seats in Uxbridge, Copeland, Chesham, Ribble Valley, Norwich North and Cleethorpeks among others.

According to BBC exit poll, the Conservatives are predicted to win 322 seats against the Labour Party’s 261. Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats are expected to win 32 and 13 seats, respectively. There were 76 seats which were being too close to call, the BBC poll said. Other opinion polls had earlier suggested that the Conservatives would take a lead and retain control of Parliament. However, a day before the election day, the Labour Party managed to narrow the gap.

More than 46.9 million electorate from across England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland voted to pick 650 MPs from over 3,300 candidates. The final results are expected by Friday afternoon. To form a majority in the House of Commons, a party has to win 326 seats.

The incumbent prime minister, Theresa May, is competing against the Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn. In the 2015 elections, the Conservatives held 331 seats, the Labour Party bagged 232, the Scottish National Party had 56 and Liberal Democrat won 8 seats.

Following the early election results, the pound fell sharply as the market had expected a clear victory for May. Sterling fell as low as $1.27, reported BBC. At 1.30 am, the pound even hit a new low of $1.2696. However, it started to recover a little as Conservatives made gains in Scotland, The Telegraph reported.

“It is fair to say markets had been a little complacent about this result,” a senior analyst at ETX Capital, Neil Wilson, told BBC. “If the election results in a hung parliament, the pound could fall as low as $1.25 on Friday.”

On April 18, May had called for a snap election three years earlier than scheduled, saying it would help Britain make a smooth exit from the European Union. The last few weeks of campaigning have been marred with national security concerns with the country facing successive attacks claimed by militant groups.

On the night of June 3, a van drove into people near the London Bridge, killing eight people and injuring several. Two weeks before that 22 people had died in a suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester. In March 2017, a man had mowed people down with his vehicle on the Westminster bridge while heading to the Parliament building. At least 40 others were injured in the incident. </s> Theresa May’s Conservatives gained more than 550 council seats and swept to shock victories in mayoralty contests in the West Midlands and Tees Valley in results that placed her party on track to secure a thumping majority in the general election.



The prime minister insisted she was not taking “anything for granted” but the Tories enjoyed a stunning day that was matched by a dramatic decline for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party, which lost more than 300 seats.

The Guardian view on the 2017 local elections: a clear and present warning | Editorial Read more

The results forced Labour to hand over control of a series of English councils including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Northumberland, while in Scotland the party lost its grip on Glasgow for the first time in 40 years. Paul Nuttall’s Ukip was crushed as every single councillor facing election suffered defeat.



The results were turned into a projected national vote share of 38% for the Tories, 27% for Labour and 18% for the Lib Dems, with Ukip plunging to just 5%. Although that prediction is narrower than the polls, it projects that May would win a solid majority in June’s general election.



Despite the scale of the Conservative victory, May told reporters that she still believed Labour could win the general election. Speaking after a visit to a factory in Brentford, west London, where the Tories are hoping to overturn a Labour majority of just 465, the prime minister said: “The reality is that, despite the evident will of the British people, we have bureaucrats in Europe who are questioning our resolve to get the right deal. Only a general election vote for the Conservatives will strengthen my hand to get the best deal on Brexit.”

Her party is also preparing to launch its flagship health policies over the weekend, with the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, scheduled to appear on television on Sunday.

Corbyn issued a statement acknowledging some of the problems Labour faced: “The results were mixed. We lost seats but we are closing the gap on the Conservatives.” He insisted that Labour could still win the general election, though admitted it was an “challenge on an historic scale”.



He said he was “utterly determined” to use every hour of the next four weeks to get his message across. “We’ve now got five weeks to get a message out there.”

Labour’s consolation was two convincing victories in the north-west in which Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram were elected as metro mayors for Manchester and Liverpool.



In Scotland, the SNP made modest gains, although there was also a surge for the Conservatives. The Lib Dems lost dozens of seats in England but saw a boost in their overall vote share.



Labour had a mixed night in Wales losing some important councils, including Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend, where the prime minister recently visited to boost the chances of a Tory candidate becoming MP. But Labour held seven councils including Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.

May’s claim that the EU was meddling in British affairs, which propelled her on to the front page of every national newspaper on Thursday morning as voters headed to the polls, was believed to have contributed to her party’s success against Ukip.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Paul Nuttall’s Ukip lost every council seat it was defending. Photograph: Nick Ansell/PA

The results suggest Nuttall’s party could be wiped out after it won one new seat but lost every one it was defending, including being crushed in Brexit-supporting areas such as Essex and Lincolnshire, where the leader is fighting to become an MP.

Nuttall claimed that, if his party’s hammering was down to a Tory advance driven by May’s determination to leave the EU, then it was a price he was “prepared to pay”.

The former Ukip MP Douglas Carswell, who defected from the Conservatives, said it was “over” for a party that once soared to overall victory in European elections in 2014 and secured 4m votes in a general election under the stewardship of Nigel Farage.

What is a metro mayor? A metro mayor is the chair of a combined authority – made up of several local authorities – that has agreed on a devolution deal with central government.



Unlike city mayors, who head a single city council or local authority, metro mayors have powers to make decisions across the whole city region.



While city mayors are responsible for public service delivery (such as schools, recreational facilities and fire services), metro mayors will be responsible for setting out a strategy for economic growth in their region, and have certain powers over issues such as housing, transport and skills.



The exact function of the metro mayors will depend on the details of the devolution deal reached with central government. Greater Manchester, for example, will have more powers over criminal justice, and health and social care.



Metro mayors will work with the leaders of their local authorities to create a strategy for the wider area. They will also be able to lobby local MPs on policy matters that relate to their area.



They will chair a combined authority cabinet, made up of the leaders from each local authority, who can reject the metro mayor’s strategy with a two-thirds majority vote.



The role of the metro mayor can also be merged with that of the police and crime commissioner, but the two positions can be kept separate.

Political analysts have argued that Ukip had become a “gateway drug” for voters in Labour heartlands to shift to the Tories, which could be hugely damaging for Corbyn’s party. Commentators highlighted dozens of Labour seats where the Ukip vote is larger than the party’s majority.

One of the biggest blows for Labour was to watch the former John Lewis boss Andy Street narrowly win the West Midlands mayoralty for the Conservatives, in a sign that May could be making inroads into traditional Labour strongholds. He claimed to have won by reaching out to new voters with a “moderate, tolerant, inclusive” local plan but added that the question of leadership had been a huge boost for the Tories.

Many Labour candidates said they were planning to run local campaigns without a focus on Corbyn, claiming he had been toxic on the doorstep. Stephen Kinnock, who is contesting the seat of Aberavon, said the results amounted to a “disastrous picture” and Corbyn’s leadership had come up as an issue on the doorstep.

Theresa May closing in on 100-seat majority, local elections suggest Read more

Siôn Simon, Labour’s losing candidate in the West Midlands, said: “We can’t duck the reality of what we heard in the places we won on the streets of cities and towns like Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and Sandwell.

“Traditional working-class voters, who we were born to serve, quite simply want to hear a clearer, stronger message about traditional values like patriotism, hard work and a defence of decency, law and order.”

Alan Rhodes, who was the Labour leader of Nottinghamshire county council but is now leader of the opposition group, admitted that his party was “in a difficult place at the moment”. He made clear that he believed the national polls had resulted in his group losing control.

“This doesn’t reflect on our four years in office locally. It is more reflective of the national malaise that the party finds itself in. I’m proud of what we’ve delivered and achieved in our four-year term – Labour councillors should be proud of that,” he said. </s> Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party avoided a wipeout in London local elections and eked out gains in Brexit-supporting regions elsewhere, results on Friday showed, denting the opposition Labour Party’s hopes of a big win. The elections are viewed as a gauge of public support for May as she faces a possible revolt in parliament over her strategy for leaving the European Union. With two thirds of results declared, May had avoided the kind of widespread losses that would have weakened her authority over Conservative lawmakers ahead of key tests of her plans to take Britain out of the EU customs union as it quits the bloc. “These results are as good as any government party after eight years in power could expect,” said Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics Department of Government.

“They’ll be a relief for May and the Conservative Party as a whole because they’re suggestive that despite the fact the Conservatives are in an on-and-off civil war over Brexit, the Labour Party’s problems are possibly worse.” Against a backdrop of heightened expectations for the Labour Party, the ballot also showed the limitations of its recent resurgence under veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn. May’s party held on to control of Wandsworth council – a low-tax Conservative stronghold since the time of late prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The council had been one of Labour’s more ambitious targets in Thursday’s vote and one it campaigned heavily to win. “Labour will have to do far, far better than this in local elections in future to suggest they are convincing the electorate more generally,” Travers said.

Voting decides more than 4,400 council seats, determining the makeup of 150 local government authorities who are responsible for the day-to-day provision of public services. They do not affect seats in parliament, where May has only a slim working majority thanks to a deal with a smaller party. The Conservatives also held the symbolic council of Westminster, London’s political district, indicating that the final scale of losses in the capital would come in at the lower end of the predicted range. Despite retaining overall control, the Conservatives lost individual seats in Westminster and Wandsworth. Ruling parties typically suffer losses at local elections and opinion polls had predicted a bad night in London for the Conservatives after eight years in power.

May is also negotiating an exit from the EU that 60 percent of the capital rejected at the 2016 Brexit referendum. Results elsewhere in London’s 32 boroughs showed the forecast swing to Labour in the capital had materialised, although not strongly enough to inflict the heavy losses that would pose a serious headache for May. Corbyn has endured fierce criticism over the handling of anti-Semitism within his party. Critics also say he misjudged his response to military action in Syria and a row with Moscow over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in southern England. Despite intensive campaigning, Labour did not take overall control of Barnet, a borough previously thought to be easily winnable. May’s Conservatives won back control of the borough, which has the largest Jewish population of any single council area in the country.

Outside London, the Conservatives regained control of councils in the pro-Brexit regions of Peterborough and Basildon, largely at the expense of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP). UKIP has suffered leadership issues and struggled for a new purpose since achieving its primary political aim at the 2016 Brexit referendum when Britons decided to leave the EU. “The Conservative Party has been reminded tonight that the electorate that it now has is disproportionately a ‘Leave’ electorate,” polling expert John Curtice told the BBC. “Therefore, above all, it seems to me that what the Conservative Party has to be able to do in the coming weeks and months is to deliver on Brexit in a way that will satisfy the aspirations of ‘Leave’ voters,” he said.

But May’s party lost control of the highly prized council in the Trafford area of the northern city of Manchester – its only foothold in an Labour-dominated important economic region where the Conservatives have spent years trying to win support. The overall tally, not due until 1900 GMT, will offer the most complete snapshot of public opinion since an election last year in which the Conservatives suffered unexpected losses, leaving May weakened and her party arguing openly about Brexit. May will remain under pressure from rival Conservative factions: those who want to keep close ties with the EU by staying in the customs union, and others who say anything short of a clean break is a betrayal of the Brexit referendum result.
Results from yesterday's elections show significant swings towards the Conservative Party and away from the Labour Party.