Labour hails big wins in England as Sunak holds on to Tees Valley victory

We've just received our final result of the day. The Conservatives have lost control of Gloucester City Council, in Gloucestershire, which is now under no overall control.

The Liberal Democrats now have the most seats with 17, having gained seven, while the Conservatives are on 11 after losing 15. Labour is the third biggest party with seven, having gained four seats.

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The Liberal Democrats have won a majority in Dorset Council, taking over control from the Conservatives.

The Lib Dems gained 13 seats, meaning the party now holds 42 seats in the council, while the Conservatives lost 13 seats, dropping to 30.

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Another result now, this time for Elmbridge Borough Council, in Surrey, which remains under no overall control.

The Lib Dems hold 23 seats, just shy of the 25 seats needed for a majority. The Conservatives hold nine seats.

That leaves just Gloucester City Council and Dorset Council to declare this evening. Epping Forest District Council, which had been due to declare, earlier said it was pausing counting for today due to the "volume of votes" cast and would resume tomorrow.

It's been a long old day, filled with gains, losses, charts and graphics - and it's not over yet. We're waiting on seven councils in England to declare - some tonight and some over the weekend - and a raft of mayoral results due tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a look at how today's unfolded:

• Labour has gained around 160 council seats - taking control of various councils, including Milton Keynes and Nuneaton, traditional bellwether seats for general elections

• A new regional mayor for York and North Yorkshire was elected from the Labour Party - that region covers Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's constituency
• The party also won the Blackpool South by-election - today's only Parliamentary race - taking the seat from the Conservatives with a 26% swing
• Reform UK nearly beat the Tories into second place in Blackpool, but has only gained two council seats so far
• More than 400 Tory councillors have least their seats but in some good news for the party, Ben Houchen held onto his role as Tees Valley mayor
• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has described the losses as "disappointing" but hailed Houchen's win - saying Labour "assumed Tees Valley would just stroll back to them - but it didn't"
• Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer hailed the results and called on the prime minister to "make way" for a Labour government at the next general election
• Starmer's party did lose control of Oldham Council, and both shadow health secretary Wes Streeting and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said their party's stance on the war in Gaza had been an issue for voters
• The Lib Dems have gained more than 90 seats and control of the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, while the Greens gained more than 60
• Counting's still going - stay with us for more updates.

Another hold for Labour - this time in West Lancashire.

The party won back every seat it previously held on the borough council, while the Conservatives lost one seat to an Independent.

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Results have just come in for Bristol City Council, where no party has won overall control.

This is unchanged from the previous election.

The Greens have won an additional 10 seats in this election, bringing them to a total of 34, followed by Labour who lost three seats for a total of 21.

Another result's come in - this time in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where the Liberal Democrats have won an overall majority.

The party gained eight seats, bringing their total to 22, two more than needed to claim a victory on this borough council.

The Conservatives come in second with seven seats, losing three, and Labour are third with five - having lost a seat.

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The results are now in for Wokingham Borough Council, in Berkshire, where the Lib Dems are first - but just shy of the overall majority with 27 seats (28 is needed here to claim control).

In second are the Conservatives, with 19 seats, having lost two.

And Labour comes in third with 8 seats - five more than their last showing in Wokingham.

Two more results have come in:

• There's no overall control in Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, in Surrey, which is unchanged from the last election
• And Labour has held Stevenage Borough Council, gaining eight seats to a total of 32

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So, 99 councils across England have so far declared their results in these local elections. There are 107 in total, so we're still waiting on eight.

Four of those are due tonight, three will come back tomorrow and one is expected on Sunday.

Labour is currently out in front, with more than 1,000 seats secured. The Lib Dems are in second, with more than 460. The Conservatives currently have just over 450 seats in total - they've so far lost more than 400 councillors.

We've also had four of 11 mayoral results announced - with Labour winning in the East Midlands, North East and York & North Yorkshire. The Conservatives' Ben Houchen held on in Tees Valley.

The remaining seven are due to be announced by the end of tomorrow - they include London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Salford, West Yorkshire, West Midlands and South Yorkshire.

All 23 police and crime commissioners in England have been announced, as have all four in Wales.

We've just had another two council results come through - this time from Havant Borough Council, in Hampshire, and Dudley Metropolitan Borough in the West Midlands.

The Conservatives have lost both and there's now no overall control in either of them.

In Havant, the party dropped from 30 seats to 13, losing 17 councillors along the way. Nineteen seats are needed for a majority there.

Meanwhile in Dudley, 11 seats were lost giving the Tories a final count of 34 - three more were needed for a majority.

We've got another result to bring you now - and it's no overall control for Worcester City Council.

This is the same result as at the last election, so there's no change there, though there has been a slight shuffle in who holds the seats.

Labour has gained three (for a total of 17), the Greens have gained two (bringing their total to 12), and the Lib Dems have gained one (total 5).

The Conservatives have lost six seats, giving them just one in the council.

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We've been hearing from shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, who says Labour's win earlier in Blackpool South - the sixth by-election the party's won with a swing of more than 20% in this Parliament - shows the "depth of frustration" with the Tory government.

The areas where Labour had big increases in votes are "ones that really mater for the future general election," Cooper tells the BBC.

Asked about Labour's stance on the war in Gaza and how it's impacted votes, Cooper acknowledges this has been an issue in some communities and reiterates the need for an "immediate ceasefire".

As we reported earlier, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said a number of people felt Labour was too slow in calling for a ceasefire.

"We do recognise the strength of feeling and we'll continue to work to earn votes back in future," Cooper says.

Referencing PM Rishi Sunak celebrating the Conservatives win in Tees Valley, despite having a reduced majority over Labour, Cooper says if the PM thinks that’s an endorsement of his government, "he is even more out of touch than I thought".

Another result from Surrey now - we've just had confirmation that the Liberal Democrats have held their majority for Woking Borough Council.

There's been no change for Maidstone Borough Council in Kent, which again has no overall majority.

The breakdown of seats won per party is yet to be published.

Join Newscast’s Adam Fleming and Laura Kuenssberg to discuss the results that have come in throughout the day with the help of the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason.

It's streaming right now, so press the Play icon at the top of the page to watch it live.

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There's a fresh win for Labour in Tamworth, Staffordshire, with the party gaining nine seats to win 18 in total.

The Conservatives lost nine, meaning they now have eight seats in total.

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