Global heads gather in London for lavish coronation of Charles and Camilla - The Guardian

Foreign royalty, heads of state and other dignitaries from around the globe have descended on London for the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, which will include a military spectacle unmatched in Britain in 70 years.

Seven thousand troops will be on parade with 19 military bands in a coronation procession stretching one mile from front to rear, the most at any state occasion since the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The ceremony will conclude with a royal family balcony appearance and, weather permitting, a tri-service flypast of 60 aircraft, including the Battle of Britain memorial flight and the Red Arrows.

In an eve-of-coronation message, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said it would be a “moment of extraordinary national pride”. “It’s a proud expression of our history, culture, and traditions. A vivid demonstration of the modern character of our country. And a cherished ritual through which a new era is born,” he said.

The king and close family hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace for foreign royals and other distinguished guests including Jill Biden and the Ukrainian first lady, Olena Zelenska, on Friday evening.

He also undertook a last-minute rehearsal at Westminster Abbey during a busy day when finishing touches were put to the coronation theatre, where the ceremony takes place in front of the high altar.

Royal fans, some of whom have been camping out for days on the Mall, were rewarded with a surprise walkabout by the king and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Four thousand troops will take part in the coronation procession as the king and queen travel back from Westminster Abbey in the gold state coach, while others will line the route at five paces apart.

“With these numbers it means when we bring their majesties back to Buckingham Palace, and as the lead elements reach the palace, the Mall will be filled left to right, front to back, and the rear of the procession will still only be at Downing Street. It will be an iconic image of the day,” a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said. In total, 9,000 military personnel will be involved in ceremonial and support roles.

The procession to Westminster Abbey will begin at 10.20am and comprise 200 personnel and horses. As soon as the front wheels of the diamond jubilee coach carrying the royal couple pass the centre arch at Buckingham Palace, a tri-service guard of honour with a band of the Royal Marines will give a royal salute. It will reach the abbey 33 minutes later.

The sovereign’s escort of four Household Cavalry divisions, each with 24 horses, will accompany the sovereign. The procession will be led by the Household Cavalry mounted band of 48 horses and musicians and their two distinctive drum horses, Atlas and Apollo.

Once at the abbey, the king and queen will process to the coronation theatre preceded by the priceless regalia, and following a procession of faith leaders, prime ministers and Commonwealth flag bearers.

During the two-hour service, the king will be anointed and crowned in the ancient coronation chair – the St Edward’s chair – set in the centre of the 13th-century mosaic Cosmati pavement, which has been the site of the crowning of kings and queens for more than 700 years. The queen will be anointed and crowned in her chair of estate.

Both will later be enthroned on the red velvet throne chairs.

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In one ancient custom, 100 newly minted 50p pieces bearing an effigy of the crowned king will be exchanged for a glittering jewelled sword of offering.

At the exact moment the St Edward’s crown is placed on the king’s head, a six-gun salvo will be fired from Horse Guard’s Parade, from 13-pounder howitzers that saw active service in both world wars. A 62-gun salute will fire from the Tower of London, and 21-gun salutes from saluting stations around the UK, and ships at sea. Inside the abbey there will be a trumpet fanfare and the abbey bells will peal for two minutes.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed the Duke of Sussex and Duke of York will have no formal role in the service, though both will attend.

The coronation procession from the abbey will stretch from one mile from front to rear, so long that as it forms up on the Mall and Whitehall at 12.45pm, the front is almost halfway along the Mall with the rear at the abbey. At precisely 15 seconds before it moves off, the ceremonial flags and batons are dropped and the command given: “The coronation procession, by the centre. Quick march”.

The Princess Royal will follow the king and queen in the gold state coach, riding in the procession as the gold stick in waiting and colonel of the Blues and Royals.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will be in the first carriage. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, their children and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester with Vice Adm Sir Tim Laurence will follow in other carriages. Travelling by car, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra complete the procession.

Inside Buckingham Palace Gardens, 4,000 troops on parade will line up in formation as the king and queen move to the West Terrace. The king and other members of the royal family will then proceed to the front balcony of Buckingham Palace to greet the public crowds assembled in the Mall.

A six-minute tri-service flypast is planned, if the weather permits, at about 2.15pm, involving 60 aircraft including the Battle of Britain memorial flight and the Red Arrows through to modern F35s and Typhoons.

The king and queen will then retire for a private lunch with members of the family.

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2023-05-05 23:01:00Z
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Local elections 2023: Labour eyes power after crushing Tory losses - BBC

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By Joshua Nevett

BBC Politics

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says his party is on track to win the next general election after the Tories were hammered in local polls across England.

The Tories have lost 48 councils and more than 1,000 councillors, exceeding their worst predictions.

Many Conservatives were furious at the scale of the losses, with some blaming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Labour says it is now the largest party in local government, surpassing the Tories for the first time since 2002.

"The British public has sent a clear rejection of a prime minister who never had a mandate to begin with," a Labour spokesperson said.

The elections of 230 councils in England were the first big test of Mr Sunak's electoral popularity since he won the Tory leadership contest and became prime minister last October.

The Liberal Democrats had what their leader Sir Ed Davey said was their "best result in decades", taking control of 12 councils, mostly in Tory heartlands.

The Green Party gained 241 seats - their best-ever result in local elections - and gained its first majority on an English council, in Mid-Suffolk, although they were overtaken as the biggest party by Labour in Brighton and Hove.

• See the full local election results in England
• Sir John Curtice: What election results mean for the parties
• Lib Dem gains in traditionally Tory areas

Mr Sunak admitted the results were "disappointing", but said he did not detect "a massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party".

Sir Keir claimed the "fantastic" results showed his party was well placed to oust the Tories from government in a general election, expected next year.

"Make no mistake, we are on course for a Labour majority at the next general election," he told cheering activists in Medway in Kent, one of the councils his party has wrested from the Tories.

'Little short of calamitous'

Labour won control of councils in areas that will be crucial battlegrounds in the general election, including Medway, Swindon, Plymouth, Stoke-on-Trent, and East Staffordshire.

The BBC's projected national vote share put Labour on 35%, the Tories on 26% and the Lib Dems on 20%.

Labour's projected nine-point lead represents its largest over the Conservatives on this measure since the party lost power in 2010.

Sir John Curtice, the polling expert, said this year's results were "only a little short of calamitous for the Conservatives".

But the BBC's political editor, Chris Mason, said the results suggested it would be hard for either the Conservatives or Labour to be confident of winning a majority at the next general election.

He said there appears to be no appetite to move against Mr Sunak, after the Tories forced two prime ministers - Boris Johnson then Liz Truss - out of office last year.

Still, some Conservatives are reeling from the results, with ousted councillors and critics of Mr Sunak venting their anger at the prime minister.

Tory recriminations

As the big picture became clearer, there was disagreement among Tories over who was to blame for the loss of so many councillors.

The elections came amid a dire economic backdrop in the UK, with high inflation contributing to the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

A figure loyal to Mr Johnson and Ms Truss told the BBC that Mr Sunak had "no option but to own these results".

In a seething statement, the person said: "He has been chancellor or prime minister for virtually all of the last three years and it was he and his supporters who forced Boris and then Liz out of office in order to install him in Downing Street.

"The old saying goes that 'it is the economy, stupid' that defines the choice voters have at the ballot box."

In Swindon, where Labour took control of the borough council for the first time in 20 years, ousted Tory council leader David Renard blamed "the cost of living and the performance of the government in the last 12 months" for his party's woes locally.

Mr Renard said although the prime minister had "started to stabilise things", for voters in Swindon, "what had gone on before that was something that they didn't like".

The Conservative mayor of the Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, said the poor Tory performance was a partly a result of "the turmoil and upheaval of the last 12 months".

He said Labour had been "successful in making this a referendum on the government", adding "people don't feel like they can vote for us".

Nigel Churchill, a former Tory councillor who lost his seat on Plymouth Council - another Labour target - said "I think we can safely say" the Conservatives will lose the next general election.

"The general public do not trust them at the moment," he said.

But Education Minister Robert Halfon said this year's local elections were always "going to be difficult" for his party.

He said internal 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.

Other Tory MPs told the BBC that apathy - Conservative voters staying at home - was also a big problem for the party.

Key results at a glance:

• Labour has gained 536 councillors and 22 councils - including the key battlegrounds of Swindon, Plymouth, Medway and Stoke-on-Trent, where the party are hoping for success at the next general election
• The Conservatives lost 1,061 councillors and 48 councils, but won control of Torbay and Wyre Forest
• The Liberal Democrats have gained 12 councils and 405 councillors, including the former Conservative strongholds of Windsor and Maidenhead, and Stratford-on-Avon
• Almost 250 Green councillors were elected, and the party won its first-ever outright majority on a council in Mid Suffolk

The Conservatives attempted to manage expectations before Thursday's elections, with party chairman Greg Hands suggesting they could lose 1,000 council seats.

In contrast, Labour sought to downplay its chances of success, predicting gains of about 400 seats.

Most of the seats were last up for election in 2019, at a time when the UK was gripped by political turmoil over Brexit.

The seats up for grabs were mostly on district councils, responsible for services including bin collections, parks, public housing and planning applications.

The rest of the elections were for a mixture of metropolitan and unitary councils - single local authorities that deal with all local services - and for four mayors.

The elections were the first in England to see voter ID checks at polling stations. Some voters told the BBC they were turned away from polling stations, prompting critics to call for the ID rules to be dropped.

• Who won in my area?
• Results in maps and charts
• Nick Eardley: Tory MPs are getting worried
• Chris Mason: The sniping begins
• Scrap voter ID, say critics
• Watch: Reaction at the counts
• When is the next general election?

Related Topics

• Conservative Party
• England local elections 2023
• Labour Party

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2023-05-06 01:57:19Z
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Local elections 2023 – live: Labour set to form next government, says Starmer, as Tory losses mount - The Independent

Rishi Sunak 'disappointed' as Tories lose control of seven councils in the local elections

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Sir Keir Starmer is celebrating wins in key battlegrounds in the local elections as an indication Labour is on course to win the next general election, but Rishi Sunak remains defiant despite heavy losses.

The prime minister is under pressure as the results being declared showed both Labour and the Lib Dems seizing control of Tory councils across England.

The Labour leader said the “fantastic” results combined with a hoped-for recovery in Scotland would give him a majority in Westminster after a national poll.

With nearly half of authorities having declared, the Conservatives had lost 23 local authorities and more than 360 councillors.

Sir Keir’s party was projected to have won a nine-point lead over the Conservatives if all of Britain had gone to the polls.

Mr Sunak conceded the results were “disappointing” but said he was “not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for its agenda”.

The elections watchdog said “regrettably” some people were turned away from polling stations as a result of new rules requiring voters to carry photographic ID.

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Sunak under pressure to ‘deliver’ on key issues

Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from senior Tories MPs to “deliver” on key issues if the party wants to avoid defeat at the next general election, Kate Devlin reports.

The prime minister had to show voters his party had made improvements in areas including the economy and the NHS before they go to the polls again, they said.

One former cabinet minister, who supported Mr Sunak’s bid to become Tory leader, told the Independent he now had to “deliver on his five priorities”, which including lowering waiting lists and inflation.

Lord Barwell, a Tory peer who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff in No 10, said Mr Sunak had to “deliver improvements on the key issues that matter”, including growing the economy.

Matt Mathers5 May 2023 12:07

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Only three councils yet to declare

Just three councils in England remain undeclared now after the New Forest was held by the Conservatives.

Jane Dalton5 May 2023 22:03

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Some of the key results

Here are some of the key results so far:

- Swindon (Lab gain from Con)

This is where Sir Keir Starmer launched Labour’s local election campaign and where the party hopes to pick up at least one of the area’s two Conservative-held parliamentary seats at the general election.

Labour needed to win big to take control of the council but the party managed it, gaining 10 seats while the Tories lost 11.

- Surrey Heath (Lib Dem gain from no overall control)

Another Conservative big beast who may be feeling nervous is Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.

Mr Gove is the MP for Surrey Heath, where the Liberal Democrats gained 14 seats and the Tories lost 10.

- East Staffordshire (Lab gain from Con)

Labour are up 10 seats and the Conservatives down eight. The result will give Labour cheer in a part of the country that will be a key battleground at the next general election.

- East Hertfordshire (Con lose to no overall control)

There was a surge in support here for the Greens, with the party’s total number of seats up 17.

The Greens are now the largest party on the council with 19 seats, three ahead of the Tories on 16 after slumping 23.

- Mid Suffolk (Green gain from no overall control)

The Greens went one better at Mid Suffolk, winning majority control of a council in England for the very first time.

The party made 12 gains and now holds 24 seats, a long way ahead of the Conservatives on six and the Lib Dems on four.

- Windsor & Maidenhead (Lib Dem gain from Con)

In another big setback for the Tories, the party lost 15 seats and overall control, while the Liberal Democrats clocked up 12 gains.

It is the first time since 2007 that Windsor & Maidenhead has had a Lib Dem majority.

Jane Dalton5 May 2023 21:56

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Four councils still to declare

There are now just four councils that have not yet declared, including Redcar & Cleveland.

The others are Bedford, where a recount was taking place, Arun and the New Forest.

Jane Dalton5 May 2023 21:50

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Redcar recount delays full results until Tuesday

The full council election results will not be known until Tuesday, after Redcar & Cleveland stopped counting with just two results to go.

The council tweeted: “Following a second recount, candidates in the Longbeck Ward have agreed for a third recount to take place on Tuesday 9 May at Redcar and Cleveland House beginning at 10am.’’

Jane Dalton5 May 2023 21:49

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Local election results mapped: Does your council have a new ruling party?

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have both made gains after what one Tory MP said had been a “terrible” night for his party.

More than 8,000 seats were contested across 230 councils, with Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough among several cities and regions choosing a new mayor.

Below, you can see the very latest results mapped out county by county to give a sense of the national picture as it stands:

Natalie Crockett5 May 2023 21:40

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Tories demand Sunak ‘deliver’ on pledges after ‘wake-up call’ local election results

Rishi Sunak is under pressure from senior Conservatives to deliver on his flagship pledges after his own party chair described the disastrous local election results as a “wake-up call”.

The prime minister was dealt a major blow in his first election test as the Tories lost dozens of councils to Labour and the Lib Dems, leading to comparisons with the dire days of the mid-1990s.

His MPs warned that voters now needed to see tangible improvements in the NHS and the economy before next year’s general election if they were to vote for the Tories.

Our political editor Kate Devlin has more:

Natalie Crockett5 May 2023 21:10

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Labour takes South Derbyshire, winning 23 seats on council

Labour has taken South Derbyshire after winning 23 seats on the council, which has a total of 36, with several results still to come.

Previously both Labour and the Conservatives had 16 seats each on the council, which is based in the former mining town of Swadlincote.

Eleanor Noyce5 May 2023 20:42

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Baggy Shanker, leader of the Labour group on Derby City Council, said he was “absolutely delighted” with his party winning 23 seats.

Despite falling short of an overall majority, Labour is now in primed to organise a minority leadership, with the Conservatives taking 15 seats, losing two.

Mr Shanker said: “Residents in Derby have given the Labour group and Labour Party a clear mandate to govern and to bring our manifesto ideas and our vision forward and get that implemented as soon as we can.

“People are seeing that we’re ready for this change now, locally and nationally, the party is functioning and firing on cylinders, and so bring on the general election and let’s have change for the country as well as Derby.”

Natalie Crockett5 May 2023 20:40

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Lib Dem leader hails ‘best results in decades'

Sir Ed Davey praised the Liberal Democrats’ performance as the “best result in decades”.

“This has been an historic victory for the Liberal Democrats with our best result in decades,” the party leader said.

“It’s little wonder Rishi Sunak is running scared of a general election because he knows the Liberal Democrats are set to take swathes of seats across the Conservative Party’s former heartlands.

“The message from these elections is clear: people are fed up with being let down and taken for granted by this Conservative government - it is time for a change. Voters have sent a political shockwave to dozens of Conservative MPs right across the blue wall. Our great country deserves so much better than this out-of-touch prime minister and his chaotic and careless Conservative Government.”

The Lib Dems said they had taken control of 12 councils, the highest number the party has gained since 1995.

They pointed to gains of Tory councils including those in the backyards of former Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi, senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove and former prime minister Theresa May.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey pulls a pint of ‘Return of the King’ in the George Inn pub during a visit to Windsor where the Tories lost control of Windsor and Maidenhead Council

Natalie Crockett5 May 2023 20:11

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2023-05-05 20:10:04Z
1984317766

Local elections 2023: Critics say voter ID rule should be scrapped - BBC

PA Media

By Oliver Slow

BBC News

A "significant number" of issues with the need for voter ID in local elections means the requirement for it should be scrapped, a campaign group has said.

Unlock Democracy said the efforts to introduce the scheme "went very badly", and that the requirement for photo ID was "not necessary".

For the first time, everyone voting in the local elections needed to show ID.

The Electoral Commission acknowledged challenges with the plan.

"I think it went very badly and what happened was highly predictable," Tom Brake, director of Unlock Democracy, told the BBC.

He said his organisation had been tracking social media throughout the day on Thursday, and that it was clear that a "significant number of people didn't know about the need for voter ID".

Other issues included people not bringing with them the correct form of identification - documents such as passports, driving licences and bus passes were required - as well as those arriving with photographs of their ID, which were not valid.

• Live: Early results see Labour take key targets
• Tories suffer losses as first results announced

'Why on earth is my ID badge not acceptable?'

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Andre Vince, an NHS worker in West Sussex, told the BBC he was "incensed" after he was unable to use his NHS ID badge to vote in the local election.

He said officials told him the identification wasn't acceptable, and that he would instead need to provide his passport or driver's licence.

"I would like to say how appalled I am about these undemocratic changes and wonder how many other hard-working, tax-paying people have also been denied their right to vote," he said.

He said the voting slip clearly states the need for photo ID, which the NHS badge provides.

"Why on earth would they reject it? It's just unbelievable," he said.

Before the vote, critics warned that the changes were unnecessary and would damage democracy by making it harder for some to vote.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the ID checks will ensure elections are "high-integrity processes".

Since 2018, there have been nine convictions and six police cautions issued in connection with cases of electoral fraud, according to the Electoral Commission.

Commission chairman John Pullinger acknowledged there were issues with voter ID, but said his organisation needed to collect data "before we get a proper picture of the impact".

"Everyone who has the right to vote should be able to cast their vote, and we need to get the underneath the challenges that they faced," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, adding that the commission would release an initial report next month, and a fuller report in September, on recommendations around the issue.

He added that the rules were set by Parliament and that once the assessment was completed "there will be the chance for politicians to make a view as to whether something should be changed or not".

Mr Brake said that the official number of people being turned away from voting would not be accurate because of the presence of "greeters" outside polling stations, who turned voters away if they did not have the correct ID.

"We have consistently said it should be scrapped - photo ID is not necessary," he said, adding that the number of people turned away from polling stations was "far greater" than the number of people convicted of voter impersonation.

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Related Topics

• Electoral Commission
• England local elections 2023

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2023-05-05 08:05:51Z
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Local elections 2023: Tories lose control of councils as Labour gains key authorities in early results - Sky News

The Conservatives have lost control of nine councils while Labour have gained three in early local election results.

As dawn broke, Sir Keir Starmer's party took Medway Council in Kent from the Conservatives, while the Liberal Democrats took Windsor and Maidenhead - former Prime Minister Theresa May's constituency.

Overnight, Labour also won Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent from no overall control, while the Tories lost Tamworth, Brentwood, North West Leicestershire, Hertsmere and East Lindsey to no overall control.

The Tory blows continued on Friday morning, with the party losing South Kesteven in Lincolnshire and South Gloucestershire to no overall control.

Labour - which also won the race for mayor of Middlesbrough - were performing best when it came to seat gains, clocking up over 110 so far, compared with the Conservatives, which have lost nearly 200.

But all eyes are on the next few hours when more local authorities could change hands.

Politics live: Alarm bells' in Tory HQ as party takes 'hammering by any standards'

Voters went to the polls on Thursday to decide who runs services in 230 (out of 317) local authorities across England, with around 8,000 councillors' seats up for grabs.

Mayors are also being chosen in Bedford, Leicester and Mansfield in what is the biggest round of local elections since 2019.

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It's also the largest test of public opinion this side of the next general election, and Labour's chance to capitalise on national polls suggesting it is on course to form the next government.

Labour MP and national campaign co-ordinator Shabana Mahmood said the results so far showed her party was "on course" to win a majority at the next election.

When it was put to her that this would require an enormous swing bigger than Tony Blair's landslide election victory in 1997, she told Sky News: "We've never been complacent about the scale of the challenge that we face; 2019 was one of our worst ever defeats in our whole history and people had written the Labour Party off for a generation or more.

"So under Keir's leadership we got ourselves not only back on the pitch, but we are winning voters back in the areas that we need to win that next general election."

Ms Mahmood said Labour had a "positive plan" to address the cost of living crisis, whereas the Tories "crashed the economy and Rishi Sunak doesn't know how to fix it".

But speaking outside the Conservative party headquarters on Friday morning, the prime minister was defiant as he insisted his party is making progress.

He said it is always "disappointing" to lose "hard-working Conservative councillors" but "in terms of the results, it's still early".

"We're making progress in key election battlegrounds like Peterborough, Bassetlaw and Sandwell," he said.

"I am not detecting any massive groundswell of movement to the Labour party or excitement about their agenda."

However a Labour source said the Conservatives had only won two seats in Sandwell, where it now has 12 seats compared to Labour's 60, adding: "If that is all the PM and CCHQ can point to as 'progress' they are in enormous trouble."

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0:40

The prime minister insists that the Conservatives are making progress, despite an early show of losses in the local elections.

Read more: See full elections results as they come in

It is still early hours at the counts, with about a quarter of councils having declared their results by early Friday morning.

But Labour has shown sound gains when it comes to both seats and vote share in numerous areas, including Thurrock, Rushmoor and Redditch.

The majority of the councils which have confirmed their results so far only had a third of their seats on the ballot, meaning few authorities have changed hands.

The coming hours will see more councils with all their seats up for grabs - such as the areas that have seen major upsets so far - so a clearer idea of the parties' performances is yet to emerge.

The next three hours will be critical

Sam Coates

Deputy political editor

@SamCoatesSky

The numbers overnight have seen a solid result for Labour.

They have got some high profile wins and they are starting to put on a decent number of seats.

They are also making strong progress in the south and in the north - so they are pretty content with what they've seen so far.

The Conservatives, however, are clearly slipping backwards.

It is a bit early to say it is a poor showing, or if it is something considerably worse.

But the next three hours will be critical.

At the moment, the Conservative Party is losing about one in three seats, and if that trend continues, we could be heading towards the 1,000 seat losses some ministers were warning about.

Tory MP and government minister Johnny Mercer, who represents Plymouth, called it "a terrible night" in his constituency as "we lost every seat we stood in".

He added: "Take it on the chin, learn and go again tomorrow. It's going to be a fight but I like a fight."

Meanwhile, Baroness Anderson - a former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent - said the win in her area meant "everything" to the party.

She told Sky News: "It means that people are willing to listen to us again… I think it means they have forgiven us for having Jeremy Corbyn as leader… and candidly it means they are rejecting the policies of the Conservative Party, which is doing so little for them."

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0:41

Tory MP: 'Some dissatisfaction' with govt

Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats are showing early gains, winning over 50 seats by early Friday morning.

'Ground-breaking night for Lib Dems'

Party leader Sir Ed Davey called it "a ground-breaking night" for the Lib Dems, and they had "delivered a hammer blow" to the so-called "Blue Wall" of Tory seats.

He added: "The message from voters is clear: they are sick to the back teeth of Rishi Sunak and his out-of-touch Conservative government."

The Green Party is also currently up by 17 seats.

The seats on offer were last contested in 2019, when Mrs May was weeks away from resigning, and her party lost 1,300 seats.

Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn at the time, also suffered losses with the Lib Dems, Greens and independents coming off best.

Analysis: Is this a new dawn for Labour?

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0:30

Vote counting begins as polls close in England

Here are the benchmarks from Sky News' elections analyst Professor Michael Thrasher for what would make a good and bad night for the main parties:

Conservatives

• Fewer than 300 losses: This would see the party winning council seats back from Independents, with Labour and the Lib Dems not prospering.
• 500 losses: The party could argue "mid-term blues" and will assume Labour could be caught before the general election.
• 750 losses: This would indicate a clear swing to Labour, but still less than opinion polls imply.
• 1,000 losses: A very bad night, with a third of all seats defended by the Conservatives lost.

Labour

• 700 gains: The best local elections for at least a decade. Labour would look on its way to becoming the largest party in Westminster, even if short of a majority.
• 450 gains: These results would be better than in 2022, when local elections took place in Greater London.
• 250 gains: A disappointing result for Labour in the context of recent opinion polls.
• Under 150 gains: A step backwards for Labour.

Liberal Democrats

• 150+ gains: Eating into Conservative territory and could put some marginal constituencies in play at the next election.
• 50-100 gains: Comfortable enough in their own heartlands but only modest further progress.
• Fewer than 50 gains: Fewer than 50 gains: Still struggling to pose a real threat to the Conservatives in the south.

Sky News will be bringing you full coverage both on TV and online.

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2023-05-05 07:41:15Z
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