Image source, Yui Mok/PA Wire

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is now speaking to reporters in east London.

He's warmly greeted by Reform UK supporters, as he says early results in England show a "truly historic shift".

Farage says Havering town hall is now "under new management" - Reform has just surpassed the 28-seat majority needed to take control of the council.

Jennifer McKiernan
Reporting from Havering

Here at Havering, counting has been going on for 10 hours overnight and tempers are fraying.

Reform UK has already got enough councillors to take control of its first London borough, although that's not official yet.

As the Havering Residents Association chair Gillian Ford holds onto her seat, she is heckled by a Reform candidate, who shouts loudly "where is the humility?"

He is hastily ushered out of the room but the explosion of emotion shows just how hard-fought this election has been.

More now from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who's speaking publicly for the first time since election results started to come in.

“When voters send a message like this we must reflect and we must respond," he says.

The "vast majority of people" do understand the "huge challenges" facing the country, including "a series of economic shocks" and a "difficult international situation", he says.

But he says voters "still want to see the change that we promised".

"They know the status quo is letting them down and they’re frustrated, they don’t feel the changes.”

Image source, PA Media

Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that he takes "responsibility" for Labour's election results in England.

"They are very tough, and there's no sugarcoating it," he says.

He says the party has "lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country... that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility".

“Days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised," he adds.

• As a reminder, counting is only under way in some parts of England. Other areas will begin later this morning, as will the counts for national elections in Scotland and Wales. So, when can we expect more results?

The Conservative Party has lost control of Hampshire County Council, which now has no party majority.

Votes are still being counted, but it's now impossible for the Tories, or any party, to reach the 40 seats needed for a majority.

With 63 of 78 seats counted, Reform has gained 17 seats up from none, while the Tories have lost 21.

This is a huge set of elections - and matter because they will decide who runs the services we rely on every day.

Polls closed at 22:00 on Thursday and counting is under way for parts of England, but that's all for now.

It will begin for the remaining English councils, mayoral contests and national elections in Scotland and Wales later this morning.

Here’s a break down of the contests across the UK:

Voters in Scotland chose who would govern the country

• All 129 seats in Holyrood - the Scottish Parliament - were up for election
• There are 73 constituency members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), and 56 regional MSPs (that's seven per region)
• Voters got to cast two ballots - one for each race

As did voters in Wales

• Every seat in the Welsh Parliament - the Senedd - was contested
• The number of members of the Senedd (MSs) is being expanded from 60 to 96 representatives from 16 newly devised constituencies

In England, it was councils and mayors

• For some councils, every seat was up for grabs. Others elected only some of their representatives today, and other areas had no elections at all
• Six mayoral contests were also held - in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Watford

Politicians from all the major parties have been commenting on the early results this morning. Here’s what they have had to say:

Labour

Defence Secretary John Healey said it was "still early" but it was also "clear so many good Labour councillors lost seats and will lose seats today".

Overnight, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said now was not the time for Keir Starmer to resign: "You don’t change the pilot during the flight."

Conservatives

Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said the Conservatives had had a "tough night", but there were "some areas where we’ve beaten expectations".

Liberal Democrats

Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the Lib Dems were "delighted" with the early results. "But we think the best are yet to come later this afternoon," she told BBC Breakfast.

Reform

Party leader Nigel Farage said there was a "very, very big historic shift going on", and his deputy, Richard Tice, said there had been a "complete rejection" of Labour and the Conservatives.

Greens

MP Sian Berry said the party was "looking at really good early results", adding that they had been "expecting a very good night". The majority of the seats they hoped to win have not yet begun counting, she said.

Question of which direction ex-Labour voters went will be criticalpublished at 08:11 BST 8 May

08:11 BST 8 May

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Just because Labour has lost lots of council seats to Reform UK, it doesn’t necessarily mean that voters have directly defected from Labour to Reform.

Ultimately, we can never know the precise flow of voters between parties but as the Labour Party digests these results and decides where to go next, the question of which directions their voters went will be critical.

For example, I have heard this morning from one senior Labour figure who says that the surge of Reform in the north-west of England shows the dangers of Labour moving in a more progressive direction politically.

On the other hand, a London Labour source is pointing me to Wandsworth, in south-west London, where the Conservatives gained seven council seats from Labour. The Greens won no councillors here but this source argues that the Conservative success was because Labour lost many votes to the Greens.

Image source, PA Media

Unlike in a general election, not all votes counts begun overnight.

Counting is under way in parts of England - in 46 of 136 local authority areas - but the majority of councils will begin tallying up the votes later this morning.

We should have most results by the end of the day, but a small number of councils will be counting on Saturday.

For the national elections in Scotland and Wales, counting begins after 09:00 BST.

The exact timings depend on those doing the counting, but we expect the first results in Scotland around 13:00 BST and a bit later in the afternoon in Wales.

The full set is expected by the end of the evening.

We'll have updates an analysis throughout, so keep checking in.

Mary McCool
BBC Scotland

Votes in both Scottish and UK elections have traditionally been counted overnight, beginning after polls close at 22:00 on election day.

But that's not the case in Scotland this time. Instead, the count is due to begin at 09:00 BST.

Ballot boxes are stacked up at venues across the country, including at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

The first results are expected around midday and it's hoped that the full picture will be known by this evening

Scotland’s voters went to the polls yesterday to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.

The Electoral Commission says polling day went smoothly, according to its initial assessment, but notes candidates faced abuse during the campaign.

Peter Barnes
Senior elections analyst

The council seat change figures you’ll see on the BBC are calculated by looking back at who won the seats the last time they were contested at a scheduled election and comparing those results with the winners this time around.

For most of the seats being contested this year that means going back to the results in 2022. We ignore by-elections and changes of party allegiance – when a councillor defects from one party to another.

That’s the same approach as we take when reporting the results of general elections and many experts think it’s the best way to gauge how the parties have performed from one election to another.

Some media organisations calculate change differently – they look at what party each councillor represented just before this year’s elections.

The difference between the two approaches is going to be unusually big this year. Lots of councillors have switched from one party to another or have left the party they were originally elected for to sit as independents.

In particular, many Conservative councillors have defected to Reform UK and lots of Labour councillors have switched to the Greens or independents. Reform have also won a lot of seats in by-elections.

So, the BBC is likely to show a higher number of seat losses for Labour and the Conservatives, and a higher number of gains for Reform UK and the Greens, than you might see elsewhere.

Some areas where Labour has done worst represented by leading figurespublished at 07:23 BST 8 May

07:23 BST 8 May

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Image source, EPA

One dynamic worth watching as Labour MPs digest these results is which MPs’ seats correspond to different council areas.

What may prove particularly painful psychologically for Labour is that some of the areas they have done worst are areas represented in Westminster by their most prominent figures.

In Tameside, the patch of former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Labour was defending 17 seats, and lost 16 of them – all to Reform — meaning the party lost overall control.

In Wigan, where the MP is Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Labour lost all 22 of the seats it was defending to Reform.

Image source, PA Media

While the focus overnight has been on Labour's early losses and the seats gained by Reform in England, the majority of counting is yet to begin.

Only 46 have begun counting so far - the remaining 90 get going from 09:00. We'll also have counts starting for the six mayoral races across England.

Nor has a single vote been counted Scotland and Wales, where voters went to the polls yesterday to pick who would govern their countries. Results are expected to begin coming through later today.

Basically, it will be several hours before we get a clear picture of exactly how the cards have fallen across the UK.

Here's where things stand at the moment:

What the early results tell us so farpublished at 07:04 BST 8 May

07:04 BST 8 May

Chris Mason
Political editor

First things first, the headlines you are waking up to are only an emerging picture.

The morning after a general election, the result is pretty much complete by breakfast time - but that is not the case in this patchwork of elections around Britain.

So far, we have a chunk of the results around the parts of England that have had contests and no results yet from Scotland or Wales.

But nonetheless, there are trends that we can take a look at.

Reform are ahead, winning the most votes, as they did in last year's local elections. And behind them there is the trailing pack of Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party of England and Wales.

The much talked about fracturing of our politics is there to see, with none of the parties managing a runaway popularity, but votes splintering in five or more different directions.

So far, Reform can point to substantial success. They have been winning about a third of the seats that have been declared.

Labour have lost a little under half of the seats they have been trying to defend - and they are defending the most seats in this set of elections.

The parties' spin operations are up and running. At the core of Labour's argument is that elections are often challenging for governments mid term and are poor predictors of what might happen at the next general election.

This is true, up to a point - although the governing party didn't go backwards in terms of seats in 2011, 2015, 2017 or 2021 for example. And Labour are going backwards big time.

• Read more of my analysis here

The Conservative Party has taken control of Westminster City Council from Labour.

Of the 54 seats available, the Conservatives won 32, up nine, while Labour lost nine, bringing its share of seats to 22.

The Tories lost control of the council in 2022.

Reform has gained its first council of the election, taking Newcastle-under-Lyme from the Conservatives.

It has won 27 of the 44 seats available.

The Conservatives dropped 10 seats, while Labour lost 17.

Miles Davis
Political reporter, South West

The wife of the former Tory leader of Plymouth City Council has been elected as a Reform councillor.

Helen Kelly took the Compton ward in a successful night in Plymouth, which saw Reform take 14 out of 19 seats available.

Kelly’s husband, Nick Kelly, was the leader of the Conservative group on the city council until 2022 - but today, was wearing a Reform rosette at the count and cheering on his wife.

Helen Kelly said: “Hopefully with the passion of the Reform team now in Plymouth, we can take some real challenge to Labour as an effective opposition which they haven’t had for a few years."

Labour were expecting a bad night - and it's worse than expected in placespublished at 06:11 BST 8 May

06:11 BST 8 May

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

The results so far are bad for Labour - worse than many expected in places, and they were expecting a bad night.

They’re pretty bad for the Conservatives too, suggesting the move away from Westminster’s two traditional main parties is now a feature of current politics with Reform the big beneficiaries so far - the Green’s biggest targets are yet to declare.

A key question is what this means for Labour. A period of introspection is inevitable along with questions about where the party turns. Less clear is what this means for Keir Starmer’s leadership. There are plenty warning against a leadership contest right now, urging cool calm heads.

But there are also party figures pointing the finger squarely at Starmer, with some saying it was his name that came up on the doorstep and he’s to blame for party’s current plight.

One factor in what comes next might be the emotions that unfold as the results continue to come in: Bruised Labour councillors who’ve lost their seats after years of working for the party, MPs looking at their own majorities as councillors around them fall.

Crucial could be what happens in Wales - where Labour have dominated for decades - and London - home to many Labour members and MPs.

These are places with deep Labour connections, and bad results will determine the mood in the party which could be critical. One thing is clear from Labour figures out on the airwaves so far. There’s agreement Labour’s facing a problem, there’s less agreement on how to solve it.

Image source, PA Media

It's been a long night for those who have stayed up - so, amid the election results, here are some stories you may have missed.

• A Reform candidate, who is a doctor, had to step in after a Liberal Democrat collapsed in south-west London
• In Lincoln, the council's Labour leader brought her new-born daughter to the count, after giving birth on Sunday
• A three-week-old baby at the count in Wandsworth was the son of two of the candidates standing - and probably got more sleep than both of them
• In Staffordshire, a former Stoke City player, Graham Shaw, was elected to represent Reform in Newcastle-under-Lyme
• And a Reform watch party in Westminster had a cocktail menu featuring a Kemi Bounce Bellini, a Rachel Reeves 'Rita, and a Nigel Negroni

Labour has its seventh council loss of the night, in Southampton.

In the council of 51 seats, Labour needed 26 seats for a majority. With only one seat to declare, Labour has lost nine seats, leaving it with 24.

The Greens have gained four seats, Reform have taken seven, while the Lib Dems have kept one seat and taken two from Labour.

The leader of the council, Labour's Alex Winning, has lost his seat to the Lib Dems' Rebecca McCreanor.