Local elections: Boost for May as Labour suffers losses
Theresa May has been given a major boost ahead of next month's General Election after Labour suffered heavy losses in the local contests and the Ukip vote collapsed.
The Conservatives won the West of England metro-mayor contest and gained control of five councils, including Warwickshire, Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell acknowledged that Labour had suffered a "tough" night as it struggled in some of its Welsh heartlands and failed to resist Tory advances in England.
Experts had forecast that the contests in parts of England and the whole of Scotland and Wales would be difficult for the Labour Party.
However Welsh election expert Professor Roger Scully said so far there had been a "much smaller" swing from Labour to Conservative in Wales than in England.
He said: "Labour's worst losses in Wales have been to independents in Wrexham, Merthyr and Blaenau Gwent.
"But Labour held up well in Newport, Cardiff and Swansea."
Stand-out results from overnight counting included:
Severe blows for Labour in the south Wales valleys, with independents taking control of Blaenau Gwent and the result on a knife-edge in Merthyr Tydfil;
Labour losing control of Bridgend - the stronghold of First Minister and Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones - and Glasgow;
Better news for Labour in Doncaster, where Ros Jones was re-elected as mayor after taking more than 50% of the vote in the first round;
Victory for Conservative Tim Bowles over Labour's Lesley Mansell in the run-off for the West of England metro mayoral post, covering Bristol and Bath;
Conservatives replace Labour as the largest party in Cumbria;
Liberal Democrats fail to break through against the Tories in the south-west England battleground, but enjoy boost in Hampshire, where ex-MP Mike Thornton in Eastleigh secured one of three gains from Ukip;
A Ukip wipeout in former stronghold Lincolnshire, where Conservatives took overall control.
With full results declared by 20 of the 88 councils holding elections in England, Scotland and Wales, the Conservatives had control of nine authorities, including five gains.
Mrs May's party had 464 councillors, a net gain of 125, while Labour had 322, a net loss of 65.
Among the authorities which had declared their final results, Labour had control of two councils and had lost control of two.
The Lib Dems had 118 councillors, a net loss of 13; Plaid Cymru was on 44, a net gain of six and the Greens were on 10, a net gain of four.
Ukip had failed to win a single seat, a loss of 30.
Only some areas of England and Wales were counting overnight and none of the ballots in Scotland will be counted until Friday.