James Kelly
BBC News

Image source, Supplied

You've been telling us how you voted in yesterday's elections - and why. Here's a quick look at a few responses we've had so far.

Andriy "Andy" Sukhodub says he voted for Reform UK despite having reservations about the party's stance on immigration.

The 55-year-old, from Dundee, who was born in Ukraine, says he is "disgusted" by the mainstream parties and claimed they had betrayed "hard working people".

Timothy Pye says he voted Labour to "keep Reform out".

The 68-year-old from Oldbury says electoral reform is needed to fix the UK's "fractured system".

Lindsay Beaton, 67, from Preston, says she voted Green after briefly flirting with the idea of tactical voting.

She says she was considering voting Conservative for the first time "as they were the only party with a chance of beating Reform in my local council constituency", but changed her mind in order to "follow my principles".

Meanwhile, politics student Luke McNamara voted for the first time in Woking, saying it was "an amazing experience" to take part in democracy.

He says he voted for the Liberal Democrats, calling them a "tactical choice".

• We've got more details on how to get in touch here

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The geography of Labour support has become more pro-EU at this election.

On average the party's vote is down since 2022 by 19 points in wards where more than 60% voted Leave in 2016 - but by only 13 points where less than 40% did so.

Meanwhile, Labour's average share of the vote is 25% in pro-EU wards but only 15% in pro-Brexit ones.

This pattern helps account for the smaller drop in Labour support in London.

Ben Hatton
Live reporter

So far, 46 councils have declared results in England, with 90 still to go. Here's a look at the numbers:

Reform UK: The party has gained around 400 councillors. While that's a big win in terms of seat numbers, it has only translated into them taking control of two new councils so far: Havering and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

That's in part because for most councils which counted overnight, only a third of the seats were up for grabs - there will be more opportunities for gains throughout the day.

Labour: It's down around 260 seats and has lost control of eight councils so far. Seven of those have fallen into no overall control. Further losses are expected.

Liberal Democrats: It's been a mixed bag of results. The party is up by almost 40 seats, and have taken control of Stockport and Portsmouth. But they've lost control of one council - Hull - with Reform gains pushing it into no overall control. The party is hoping for more gains later.

Conservative: Down around 170 seats, the party so far lost control of two councils: Hampshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

But the Tories have won Westminster from Labour. And in Wandsworth, although they haven't won an outright majority, they removed Labour's, and are now the biggest party by a razor-thin margin. Both were seen as good prospects for the party - further gains will be more challenging.

The Green Party: It has picked up almost 30 more seats overnight, but the party's key targets, in inner London, and the areas where they probably have the best chance of winning control of the council - Hackney and Lewisham - are not due to declare results until later.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is speaking from Westminster City Council, which her party took control of from Labour earlier today.

"The Conservatives are coming back. I promised to renew this party - I said we were going to rebuild after our worst defeat ever - and we can see those signs of renewal everywhere that we are standing," Badenoch says.

She goes on to apologise to Tory candidates and councillors who stood and did not win. "I want you to know this is the beginning, this is not the end," she adds.

Asked by the BBC if results so far show that Reform UK have cemented their place as the party on the right of British politics, she insists there's a "Conservative revival" and her party are the only ones able to deliver.

Pressed on whether she should focus on opposing Reform, instead of Labour, Badenoch says her party is holding the Labour government to account.

Glenn Campbell
Political editor, BBC Scotland

Image source, PA Media

Scottish voters have decided who they want to represent them at Holyrood for the next five years – we just need the ballot boxes to reveal their secrets.

The MSP choices made at this election will ultimately decide who will lead the next Scottish government. The first results are expected to come in at around 12:00 BST.

Scottish National Party (SNP) leader John Swinney is the man to beat having gone into this contest as first minister.

During the campaign, poll after poll suggested the SNP would remain the largest party – albeit with a reduced vote share than in 2021.

Swinney set himself a tougher target – to secure an overall majority of 65 seats or more as a way of reviving the SNP’s campaign for another independence referendum.

Short of that, he may need the support of Green MSPs to maintain a pro-independence majority at Holyrood.

The alternative – a majority for pro-UK parties – would give them the opportunity to oust Swinney, but that would require them to resolve deep differences and unite behind another candidate.

• Follow live coverage of the Scotland counts here

Image source, Getty Images

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has been out and about in Portsmouth this morning - where his party seized control of the council overnight.

"It's a fantastic result", he says. "Reform threw everything at it - but we've won".

Davey says he thinks the Lib Dems have "still got great results to come", adding that the party is "feeling very bullish".

It's "up to the Labour Party" if Keir Starmer should stay as prime minister, he says, but adds that "I personally think he hasn't delivered the change that Labour promised, and therefore he should get out of the way."

"Labour has failed the country, and let them down badly," he says.

In the face of competition from Reform UK and the Green Party, Davey says that the Liberal Democrats offer a message of "build it up", while those parties want "burn it all down change".

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the government needs to reflect on the results so far.

She tells the BBC that while not all results are in yet, given the trajectory "you need a period of proper reflection on how collectively we respond".

She says she can see a polarisation in the results, which she calls "a challenge for the Labour Party, for people like me, who believe in bring the whole country together".

Asked if Andy Burnham - who some Labour MPs would like to see succeed Starmer as prime minister - should be given a way back in to the House of Commons, Cooper says "that's a matter for the National Executive Committee" (the governing body of the Labour Party).

"Andy is a good friend of mine and a very talented mayor of Manchester, a very talented politician," she says.

• Cooper was speaking to the BBC as part of our special election coverage, which you can watch live at the top of the page

Antonia Matthews
BBC Wales

Image source, PA Wire

It's Senedd election results day in Wales, but unlike any we have seen before.

Usually, most of the votes would have been counted by now, with bleary-eyed reporters delivering news of the winners, but this time counting only got under way at 09:00 BST.

Labour is expected to lose the election, ending its 27-year-long rule in Wales.

The party has won both the Westminster and Cardiff Bay elections in the country for more than a century, but opinion polls suggest Plaid Cymru and Reform UK are both vying for the top spot.

There are also 16 new constituencies, a new voting system, and an increase of elected members to 96 - so there will be a lot to keep across as the results start rolling in.

• Follow live as counting begins in Wales here

Image source, Getty Images

Counting kicked off in Scotland and Wales a short while ago, bringing us another step closer to results in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd elections.

We don't expect to start receiving results from these elections until this afternoon - more on that here.

We'll bring you the key developments from those races here - but you can follow live coverage of the race in Scotland here and in Wales here.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Even if there's a leadership contest, Burnham faces a battlepublished at 10:17 BST 8 May

10:17 BST 8 May

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

As I mentioned in my last post, some Labour MPs are disillusioned with Keir Starmer’s leadership, and would like Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to succeed him.

The prime minister says he is "not going to walk away", and he is not remotely interested in what some are describing as a "gentle" or "orderly transition" by setting out a timetable for his departure.

But even if there was a Labour leadership contest, Burnham would face significant obstacles to even contest it. First, he has to be selected for a winnable seat.

He was blocked from standing at the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year by Labour’s National Executive Committee. And I have spoken privately to some on that body who’d be willing to do the same again.

Assuming, though, that this doesn’t happen, a Labour MP would need to stand down and Burnham would have to win the resulting by-election.

Overnight results from Greater Manchester have shown big Reform UK gains in Wigan and Tameside.

One Labour figure texted me to say "ironically enough, the only winnable seats for the King of the North could be in London."

And of course, even winning a seat doesn’t guarantee winning the subsequent leadership contest.

A Labour leadership election delayed, not defused?published at 10:11 BST 8 May

10:11 BST 8 May

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Image source, EPA

Keir Starmer says he’ll lead Labour in to the next election. To say anything else would be to start a leadership contest.

Some in his own ranks simply don’t believe him - it’s seen more as his aspiration, than a firm prediction.

No 10 will be relieved that there haven’t been more calls this morning for him to go, but as one left-wing MP told me recently – "the answer to Labour’s problems isn’t at Westminster."

In other words, they are looking for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to return as an MP and to fight a leadership contest in due course.

A significant number of "soft left" MPs prefer him to former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner - another possible contender – or at least believe Burnham would be more popular with voters.

Some who resisted him before, including people you'd describe as Blairites (supporters of former Prime Minister Tony Blair), say they could "live with" him.

So, if some MPs who are privately critical of Starmer don’t denounce him publicly today, it’s because they don’t think it’s the right time to change leader rather than believing he is the right one.

That said, the mood remains volatile.

Ian Aikman
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

With most of the counts now due to get under way across Britain, here’s what we've seen so far this morning, and what to expect very soon.

Reform gains and Labour losses in England: Nigel Farage hailed a "historic shift" as his party took control of Havering – its first London borough council.

Early results saw the party gain Newcastle-under-Lyme and pick up hundreds of seats from Labour, as Farage says Keir Starmer’s party is being "wiped out by Reform in many of their most traditional areas".

Stamer staying put: After taking responsibility for his party’s "tough" results in England, the prime minister says he is "not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos".

Tough night for the Tories: Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said the Conservatives have also had a "tough night". The party has lost many seats to Reform, but it has also gained control of Westminster City Council from Labour.

First results from Scotland and Wales to come: Counts have now begun for the parliamentary elections in Holyrood and the Senedd. Many expect Labour to lose in Wales for the first time in decades, while the Scottish National Party is hoping for an overall majority.

Other parties eye results in the rest of England: Dozens more councils in England will declare results over the coming hours. The Greens are hoping to make gains, particularly in London, while Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper says her party’s best results are "to come later this afternoon”.

Reform certainly the winners, while Greens head for best local election performancepublished at 09:52 BST 8 May

09:52 BST 8 May

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The overnight local election results have confirmed that, for the time being at least, electoral politics in Britain has become highly fragmented.

Reform are certainly the winners. The party has won most seats - 30% of those declared so far.

Meanwhile, in a sample of over 500 wards where the BBC has collected the detailed voting figures, the party has recorded an average vote share of 26% - not an especially high figure but still enough to put them well ahead of all of their rivals.

Nigel Farage's party has done best in places that voted heavily for Brexit in 2016. In wards where more than 60% voted for Leave in 2015, support for Reform has averaged 41%.

In contrast, in places where less than 49% backed Brexit, Reform won on average just 10%. The one place where it has gained control of a council, Newcastle-under-Lyme, voted by nearly two-to-one in favour of Brexit.

The Greens' success was more modest. They have averaged 16% of the vote in the wards declared so far, much as we would anticipate from their standing in the polls.

Nevertheless, this represents a seven-point increase on the party's support when this round of local elections was last held in 2022 - and on its performance in the local elections held shortly before the 2024 general election.

This suggests the Greens are heading for their best local election performance ever. However, so far at least, the party has yielded a net gain of just 25 seats. The party has secured a number of creditable second and (especially) third places, but relatively few firsts.

• Read John Curtice's analysis in full

A special election day programme is now airing over on BBC One, which you can watch live at the top of the page.

Our political editor Chris Mason is currently speaking to host Sophie Raworth. She'll also be joined by Kirsty Wark in Edinburgh and Clive Myrie in Cardiff as the early results for the crucial Holyrood and Senedd elections begin to come through.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent, reporting from Havering

Image source, Jack Taylor / Reuters

I’m in Havering in east London, where Reform UK are celebrating taking control of the council.

Party leader Nigel Farage is here with many of his new councillors outside the town hall.

Reform are eyeing big gains over the course of the day - what Farage calls a “truly historic shift in British politics”.

Although we’re still waiting for most of the results, he tells me the “best is yet to come".

Reform is selling these results as proof that it is a national party, with support across the country. If they win the most councillors today - and do as well in Scotland and Wales as polls suggest - that may well be true.

Reform's campaign message at this election was to vote for them to get rid of Keir Starmer. As we’ve heard this morning, the PM isn’t planning on going anywhere.

But Farage predicts pressure on his leadership immediately - and claimed Starmer would be lucky to be here by summer.

Starmer came up again and again on doorsteps, Labour representatives saypublished at 09:21 BST 8 May

09:21 BST 8 May

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Image source, Stefan Rousseau / PA Media

Even Labour MPs and councillors most loyal to Keir Starmer admit the prime minister was a reason people gave for turning away from Labour.

The party's leader in Hull, Daren Hale, tells the BBC he thought Labour’s issue in the elections “wasn’t really the party".

"The person who came up on the doorstep again and again and again was the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer."

He says people had told him “we like what you do but you are a representative of him, and if we want to get a message to him we have to get it through you”.

From speaking to people in government and Labour MPs this morning, this was not just the case in Hull. "There's a consensus the prime minister cannot lead us in the next general election," one Labour figure in government says.

"This was a kicking for Labour and Starmer," another usually loyal MP says.

Another senior Labour figure admitted the prime minister came up when knocking on voters' doors, "but so did immigration, so did lots of other things. It's not as simple as that".

"Keir needs to show that he can deliver on what we promised," they say. "I'm confident he can do that."

That confidence is increasingly rare among Labour MPs this morning. But for the prime minister it is the elixir he needs.

The extent to which that confidence continues to ebb away will be a crucial test in the hours and days ahead.

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Counting is now due to get under way for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd votes.

Yesterday, voters in both countries went to the polls to decide who would govern. When can we expect the results?

We'll keep you updated on the key lines from both those races here, but you can follow live coverage of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd counts in our local live pages.

We can bring you more now from Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"I'm not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos," he says, after the first results in England showed losses for Labour.

He points to Labour's landslide victory in the July 2024 general election: "I led our party to that victory, that is a five-year mandate to change the country."

Starmer says that "in the coming days", he'll "set out the further steps" that Labour will take to convince the electorate.

Asked if he will stand in the next general election, he replies: "Yes. It was a five-year term I was elected to do, I intend to see that through."

The win in Havering - a London borough - "goes against the trend", Farage continues.

A pattern has emerged showing Labour being "wiped out by Reform in many of their most traditional areas".

"And what you're going to see later on today is the Conservative Party being wiped out in their heartlands like Essex," he says.

Farage says his party are able to "win in areas that have always been Conservative, but equally we're proving in a way we can win in areas that Labour have dominated".