The latest results here
PM Theresa May’s Conservative Party has avoided a wipeout in London local election — where seats on 150 councils were up for grabs — and eked out gains in Brexit-supporting regions elsewhere.
Labour failed to win any new councils in the capital and the support even dropped in Barnet, a borough with a high Jewish population. According to reports, the losses are being attributed to a wider row about anti-Semitism in the party.
According to the Press Association, 133 out of 150 councils have now declared. Here are the latest figures (at the time of writing):
Conservatives
Councils: 44 (no change)
Seats: 1,142 (-44)
Labour
Councils: 63 (-1)
Seats: 1,741 (+75)
Lib Dems
Councils: 6 (+2)
Seats: 408 (+39)
Greens
Seats: 33 (+4)
Ukip
Seats: 3 (-55)
Jeremy Corbyn has said that Labour achieved “solid” English local election results despite not making big gains. Earlier today, he had told Labour supporters in Plymouth that the polls showed his party was “ready for a general election whenever it comes”.
Sadiq Khan, London’s Labour mayor, has also defended the results and said the party was “heading for our best result in the capital since 1971”.
Meanwhile, foreign secretary Boris Johnson believes that the local election results show why the government should remain committed to taking the UK out of the customs union.
Jeremy Corbyn has been abandoned in many leave areas – his pledge to stay in the customs union means he is not trusted to deliver Brexit. PM’s clear Mansion House vision for leaving the single market and customs union a key part of Tory electoral success 3/3
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 4, 2018
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