Advertisement

  1. National

Live: Labour and Ukip suffer as Tories make big gains

Votes are being counted for local elections in parts of England and the whole of Scotland and Wales.

A total of 4,851 seats in 88 councils are up for grabs. Six devolved regions have also been selecting mayors for the first time.

  • Early results gave Theresa May a major boost, with the Conservatives picking up more than 550 councillors and gaining control of 11 authorities.
  • Labour forfeited more than 300 council seats but lost control of Glasgow and suffered reverses in Welsh strongholds
  • Conservative Ben Houchen became the first elected mayor of Tees Valley, a Labour north-east heartland, while Conservative Andy Street became the first West Midlands metropolitan mayor, beating Labour's Sion Simon
  • Former Labour cabinet minister Andy Burnham won the mayoral contest in Greater Manchester
  • The Liberal Democrats failed to break through against the Tories in south-west England but have made advances in some General Election target seats like Eastleigh and Wells
  • Ukip shed 63 seats, picking up a solitary councillor in Lancashire
View all 24 updates ›

Cable: 'Positive outcome' for 'badly damaged' Lib Dems

Vince Cable said the Liberal Democrats enjoyed a "positive outcome" in the local elections as his party seeks to recover from being "quite badly damaged" in the coalition years.

The Liberal Democrats enjoyed a boost in Hampshire, where ex-MP Mike Thornton in Eastleigh secured one of three gains from Ukip, but failed to breakthrough against the Tories in the south-west England battleground.

Speaking to ITV News, Mr Cable described the Conservatives and Ukip as "effectively the same" and insisted that if voters want an alternative "we are it".

"We are holding our ground, we have increased our vote share in parts of the country where we hope to win back parliamentary seats... so I think we've got a positive outcome," the former Business Secretary said.

"We are aware that we will be competing against the Conservatives and Ukip who are effectively the same now, I mean they've got the same values and support base. But I think people will be looking for an alternative to that."

More on this story