Havering Borough Council completes election four days after polling stations closed

A London council finally finished its local elections count four days after the polls closed.

Havering Borough Council in north-east London began a recount for three seats in the Rainham and Wennington ward on Monday night, with the results being announced just before 10pm on Monday night.

All three seats were won by Conservatives, leaving the party with 23 councillors, the same as residents and ratepayers, with Labour on nine, on the 55-seat council, meaning no party has control.

Explaining the delay, a spokesman for the council said: “Due to the small number in difference in the votes for Rainham and Wennington Ward, two recounts were asked for from the parties involved.

“A further recount was asked for and a decision was made in conjunction with the candidates to do this on Monday at the town hall, 6pm, as the counts had been taking place all through the night.”

The spokesman added the only costs incurred by the recount would be for staffing, which could not be easily estimated as “it will depend on how long the count takes”.

Broxbourne in Hertfordshire completed its count just 19 minutes after midnight on Friday morning, while most of the 200 in England, Scotland and Wales that held elections announced the results in the course of the day.

The Havering result means the Conservatives won 1,403 seats, a loss of 399, with Labour on 3,078, up 278 and the Liberal Democrats on 868, up 189.

In Northern Ireland, assembly election results were declared over the weekend, with the final result at 1.13am on Sunday morning as Sinn Fein became the largest Stormont party.