Local elections 2023: Full results as they come - Conservatives suffer early losses

Early results for local elections in England signal a shift as Labour and Liberal Democrats gain seats while the Conservatives take big losses. This comes after the polls for more than 8,000 council seats on 230 councils, and four mayors, across England closed on Thursday.

The vote is important as it’s the first real test for Rishi Sunak since he became Prime Minister in 2022. The results will be used as an indicator as to his popularity in the role.

The ballot has sparked controversy as new rules requiring voters to show photo ID to vote came into place. The Electoral Commission confirmed a number of people were not able to cast their votes due to the new requirement.

Most of the councils up for election in England are district councils, responsible for services including bin collections, parks, public housing and planning applications. The rest of the councils being elected are a mixture of metropolitan and unitary councils which are single local authorities dealing with all local services.

The first big gain of the night went to Labour, who took control in Plymouth, a place where no party had previously secured a majority. Labour also won the seat in Stoke-on-Trent.

Lib Dems also saw gains in Brentwood, Essex where they won two seats from the Tories. This means the Conservative party no longer has a majority in the council chamber.

Elections are not taking place in London, Scotland or Wales. Northern Ireland will go to the polls in local elections on 18 May.

Local elections - seats won & lost 

Conservatives

• Seats won: 2217
• Change: -929

Labour

• Seats won: 2603
• Change: +617

Liberal Democrats

• Seats won: 1553
• Change: +411

• Seats won: 461
• Change: +190

• Seats won: 968
• Change: -367