Local elections 2023: Labour and Lib Dems take seats from Tories

Labour and the Lib Dems are making gains at the expense of the Conservatives across England, as local election results roll in.

Labour won control in Swindon, Plymouth, Medway and Stoke-on-Trent - a former Labour stronghold.

And the Lib Dems have won control of five councils from the Conservatives, including Windsor and Maidenhead.

The elections are the first big test of Rishi Sunak's electoral popularity since he became prime minister.

The final results are coming in on Friday evening. But so far, the Conservatives have lost control of 40 councils.

Earlier, the prime minister said it was disappointing to lose Conservative councillors, but added his party was making progress in "key election battlegrounds" like Peterborough, Sandwell and Bassetlaw.

Education Minister Robert Halfon said this year's election was always "going to be difficult" for his party.

He said internal Tory Party divisions "didn't help" but claimed the losses were down to external factors, such as the cost-of-living crisis and problems in the NHS.

"Every government during the mid-term, especially a government that has been in power for 13 years, always suffers losses in local elections," he said.

But he added that Mr Sunak had "restored unity to the party" and "restored stability to the country, particularly in the economy".

Some Tory MPs were clearly worried about the results, with several telling the BBC's chief political correspondent Nick Eardley that apathy - Conservative voters staying at home - was also a big problem.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Medway to celebrate his party's victory in the Kent council with local activists.

"You didn't just get it over the line, you blew the doors off," he told the crowd.

He claimed Labour were "on course" to win a majority at the next general election.

Labour has taken control of three councils from the Conservatives including Swindon. The council was a key target for Labour and where the party launched their election campaign.

The council had not been won by Labour since 1999, and the party now has its sights set on taking the area's two parliamentary seats from the Conservatives.

Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey told the BBC he had a "Cheshire-cat" grin on his face following what he said had been a "ground-breaking night" for his party.

Speaking in Windsor, where his party took control of the council from the Conservatives, Sir Ed said: "The Liberal Democrats are the big winners in this year's local elections.

"I'm so proud that when Katy Perry and Lionel Richie enter Windsor Castle for the coronation concert on Sunday, they'll be going into a ward that's represented by three brand new Liberal Democrat councillors."

The Liberal Democrats have also taken control of Dacorum, which was won by the Conservatives in 2019, and Stratford-on-Avon.

The Green Party has won outright control of its first council in Mid Suffolk and made record gains across England as a whole.

Party co-leader Carla Denyer said her party were benefitting from "a deep dislike of the Tories and Starmer's uninspiring Labour". The Greens have also become the largest party on East Hertfordshire Council.

In Middlesbrough, Labour's Chris Cooke became mayor beating the incumbent independent candidate,while Mansfield and Leicester voted for Labour mayors.

Elections are not taking place in London, Scotland or Wales. Council elections in Northern Ireland have been moved back to Thursday 18 May because of the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday.

Ahead of Thursday's vote, the Conservative Party sought to manage expectations, with party chairman Greg Hands suggesting his party could lose 1,000 council seats.

Labour has enjoyed a significant lead in the opinion polls but has also been downplaying expectations, saying it expected to gain around 400 seats.

Most of the seats up for election were last contested in 2019, a tumultuous time for the two leading parties.

Then, the Conservatives lost a total of 1,330 seats in mostly traditionally Tory-supporting areas. Labour lost 84 seats - just over 4% of its councillors in those areas.

The main beneficiaries then were the Liberal Democrats and independent candidates.

In Thursday's elections, newly-introduced rules meant voters needed to show some form of ID.

The Electoral Commission, which oversees elections in the UK, said some people had been unable to cast their vote and the impact of new voter ID rules needed to be evaluated.

The BBC has not been able to verify the number of voters turned away because of the new rules. But figures for this are expected to emerge in the coming days.

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 - single local authorities that deal with all local services.