Many will be paying special attention to this year’s local election results, as it is the first chance the public has had to respond to the Tories’ partygate scandals.

There are still many more results to come in later today and early tomorrow – for most of England and the whole of Scotland and Wales – but here are the important things we know at the moment.

Conservative losses

The main events of note so far are the Labour Party’s wins in Boris Johnson’s backyard – namely Westminster and Wandsworth.

Westminster has been run by the Tories for as long as the council has existed – since 1964.

In a shocking turn of events, Labour won a majority of seats there overnight.

The incoming leader of Westminster Council, Adam Hug, said: ‘It’s an enormous honour to be given the support of the people of Westminster.

‘We recognise the enormous challenges ahead and we will work incredibly hard to deliver what we promised for the people of Westminster.’

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Less dramatically, Labour won a comfortable majority in the newly created authority of Cumberland, which covers the former districts of Allerdale, Carlisle and Copeland in Cumbria – all areas currently represented by Conservative MPs.

The opposition party has managed to win back Southampton, after losing it to the Tories last year, but only with a slim majority.

Labour kept its majority in Sunderland – which has been run by the party since 1973 – but the port city also voted in one Liberal Democrat seat and a second Conservative seat.

Since 2000, Worcester has switched between having a Conservative majority and being in no overall control.

All opposition parties were hoping to make gains there this year and they have done just enough to leave Tories without a majority, with one gain for Labour and two for the Greens.

Labour losses

The Conservatives notoriously demolished Labour’s ‘red wall’ in the north of England last year and this included Nuneaton and Bedworth, which had already ‘turned blue’ in 2018.

Labour has long been dedicated to winning back its historically loyal voters but the party has lost yet another seat to the Tories in Nuneaton and Bedworth this year.

This area is expected to be a key battleground in the next general election.

Similarly, Labour had hoped for signs of progress in Bolton, Greater Manchester – a council where it enjoyed a majority until 2019.

It gained two seats on top of their existing 17, but the Tories were much more effectively successful, gaining enough to remain the largest party with 23 councillors. There are also 13 independents and five Liberal Democrats.

The Lib Dems have eight, Reform six and independents three.

What next?

The next big announcements will likely include the West Midlands borough of Solihull – a Conservative area that the Greens are hoping to make progress in.

Likewise, Labour is working for gains in Tory-run Walsall.

In Scotland, the SNP will be watching Glasgow closely – in the hope of having successfully warded off any Labour resurgence in the pro-independence city.

In Wales, Labour is defending a slim majority in Cardiff and looking to take control of Blaenau Gwent from a group of independents, while Flintshire is a test of Tory popularity in an area in which they did well at the 2019 general election.

Two councils in London – Croydon and Tower Hamlets – are not due to declare until the early hours of Saturday morning and Saturday evening respectively.

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