Local elections 2023: latest results and reactions after polls close across England – live updates

Key events

Prof Rob Ford, an elections specialist, has written an article for the Guardian trying to assess what would be a good result and a bad result for the political parties in the local election. You can read it here:

Results from more than 60 councils are expected overnight with the remainder expected to trickle in throughout the day on Friday.

Shabana Mahmood MP, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, said: “We are proud of the positive campaign we have run, focused on the issues that matter most to voters.

“This is a cost-of-living election. We have set out the choices we would make to help people through the cost-of-living crisis, cut crime and cut NHS waiting lists, but the Tories have been silent on the issues that matter most.

“If the Conservatives go backwards from their disastrous 2019 local election results, the voters will have sent a damning message about Rishi Sunak’s leadership.

“It’s going to be a long night and the full picture of results will not form until well into Friday afternoon but we expect to make gains and show we’re making the progress in the places we need to win at the next election.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “I have knocked on countless doors in recent weeks and heard real anger and frustration from voters who are sick and tired of being taken for granted by this Conservative government. Tonight, their voices will be heard.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank Liberal Democrat councillors, candidates and volunteers who work tirelessly for their communities. They are true local champions who stand up for their local areas, and have done the party proud.”

A Tory spokesperson said: “This will be a tough night for the Conservatives. Any government which has been in power for 13 years is highly likely to lose seats.”

The Conservatives have sought to manage expectations by pointing to forecasts by academic experts Profs Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher which suggest they could lose more than a thousand seats if things go badly.

The Tory spokesperson added: “Independent experts Rallings and Thrasher have said we could lose over 1,000 seats.

“But if Labour want to be in with a chance of taking office after the next general election as they did in 1997, they need to be making very significant gains as they did in 1995 – the last most comparable election – anything less than that will pose serious questions for Labour HQ.”

The analysis by professors Rallings and Thrasher suggest gains of more than 700 for Labour would represent Sir Keir Starmer’s party’s best performance for at least a decade, which could put them on the path to becoming the largest party at a general election – even if short of an overall majority in the Commons.

The Green Party said it was clear on the doorstep that many people are “appalled” by the Conservatives and are “deserting the party in droves”.

“But also, there is no enthusiasm for Labour because they’re not offering any inspiration or practical solutions to the crises we’re facing,” the party added.

Campaigners opposed to the photo ID requirement said it had been a “dark day for democracy”.

Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy, who is leading a coalition of groups opposed to the move including the Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote UK and Open Britain, said “many thousands” of people were estimated to have been turned away.

“Today has been a dark day for British democracy. Reports from all over the country confirm our very worst fears of the impact of the disastrous policy which has been made worse by the shambolic way it has been introduced,” he said.

“One voter turned away is one too many, but early estimates point to many thousands of people being turned away and denied their right to vote.

“Too many people were unaware that they needed photo ID or weren’t clear on exactly what type of ID was required.

“The buck for this attack on democracy rests squarely with government. This policy was always a sledgehammer looking for a nut to crack.”

Electoral Commission: some people were unable to vote due to new ID rule

The Electoral Commission said “our initial assessment is that overall, the elections were well run” however “some people were regrettably unable to vote” because of the new photo ID requirement.

It added it had started work to understand the impact of the new photographic ID requirement.

An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “These were the first set of polls to take place since the voter ID requirement came into force.

“Our initial assessment is that overall, the elections were well run.

“Across the country, votes were cast throughout the day and in line with the law.

“This is in large part thanks to the dedication of electoral administrators, who have worked hard to prepare for today and for the implementation of this new measure.

“Confidence in the overall picture, however, should not overlook other impacts which can only be revealed through detailed data collection and analysis over the coming weeks.

“We already know from our research that the ID requirement posed a greater challenge for some groups in society, and that some people were regrettably unable to vote today as a result.”

The Guardian’s Midlands correspondent Jessica Murray spoke to voters in Stafford before the local elections and found there was a mixed outlook in the “blue wall” town.

While some voters were turning away from the Tories, they were not necessarily turning towards Labour.

She writes:

All 40 seats on Stafford borough council are up for grabs, and Labour is hoping a combination of anger over national political scandals and frustration over local issues could give it the advantage it needs to wrest overall control from its rivals.

But the view among voters on Tuesday was decidedly mixed. “This will be the first time I’ve not voted Tory in my life,” said Phil Howard, 75, a retired driver for GEC, once a major employer in the town. “This year is a totally different ballgame. Since the Boris Johnson affair it seems like the party have gone to pieces. Just look at immigration, cost of living, and even locally, the town feels dead. But I don’t know who I will vote for. All I know is it won’t be Tory.”

You can read her full dispatch here:

Voting has closed in local elections which marked Rishi Sunak’s debut as an electoral figurehead for the Conservatives, as well as for the full rollout of new rules obliging people to show photo identification at the polling booth.

The ID regulations saw reports of dozens of people being turned away for lacking the necessary documents, but did not result in the chaos or potential disorder feared by some electoral officials.

More information about how many voters were put off should come in an interim study by the Electoral Commission next month, although opposition parties have warned the total numbers disfranchised may never be known.

The polls for the local elections in England have now closed.

Voters have decided who will run services in 230 local councils with around 8,000 councillors’ seats.

Four local mayoral posts are also up for grabs in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough. These mayors are the directly-elected leaders of their local authorities.

Key results to look out for across England

Commentators predict that Tory losses of even 500 seats would mean trouble for Rishi Sunak’s authority. But Labour also has a lot to prove, with more than 8,000 council seats across 230 authorities in England up for election on Thursday.

Here are the key seats and timings to look out for.

2am Results from Thurrock will begin to emerge, where the Conservatives hold a majority with 29 councillors, which they are desperate to keep.

3am North East Lincolnshire has emerged as a key battleground for Labour, as the council has been controlled by the Tories since 2011. As results flow in, Starmer’s allies will be keen to see whether “red wall” voters are willing to really give Labour a chance.

4am Labour will hope to steal an early victory as results emerge from Plymouth city council, one of its targets. It is led by a Conservative minority administration, after Richard Bingley was sacked after a row over tree-felling. Labour is confident it can make gains in the bellwether council, but an outright majority could be difficult given only a third of the council is up for grabs.

6am Starmer has campaigned in the Conservative-run council of Medway twice in the run-up to polling day to insist the party is “positive and united” and has a “fighting chance”. Labour will hope to win the unitary authority for the first time since its creation in 1998. The council is now made up of 33 Tory councillors and 20 from Labour.

Results from Stoke-on-Trent, Tameside and South Gloucestershire will also start to emerge at around this time.

Noon Results from Solihull will arrive, where the Conservatives are defending a narrow majority which is under threat from the Green party and the Liberal Democrats.

2pm The Conservatives will be keeping a close eye on whether they can make gains in Torbay council, which is run by a coalition of the Lib Dems and independents.

4pm Labour has a slim majority of 1 in Gravesham and will be looking to retain and strengthen it. Labour would love to gain a toehold in Kent, where the Tories hold 16 out of 17 constituencies.

The Greens will be hoping to become the largest party in Mid Suffolk. In the 2019 elections, the Greens managed to pick up 34% of the vote share, almost double their count in 2015.

The Liberal Democrats hope to overturn several slim Tory majorities in the south-east council of Cherwell.

5pm Results from Bolsover will show whether Starmer has boosted Labour. A failure to win this council, which has a mix of independent councillors, will be deemed a bad result for the party.

Eyes will be on Leicester’s mayoral election when results are due in from the traditionally Labour-held council, nicknamed “Red Leicester”. The party has held overall control of the city council since 2007 and it holds 47 of the 54 seats. Sir Peter Soulsby has held the mayoral role since 2011 but the party may struggle this year – with all of its council seats and mayoral role up for grabs – after 19 sitting councillors, the majority of them from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds, were deselected by Labour’s national committee.

6pm In Cheshire West and Chester council, Labour is the single largest party and will be hoping to win an outright majority.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the local elections across England.

With more than 8,000 seats up for grabs, we will bring you the latest results, reaction and analysis after voting has ended in 230 local authorities across England.

Before polls opened, Rishi Sunak said Conservatives were braced for a hard night. He blamed his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, saying that Tory councillors would lose their seats because of the “box set” psychodrama that enveloped the party last year.

He said:

Good councillors will lose their seats because of all that has happened over the past year.

I’ve only been prime minister for six months but I do believe we’re making good progress. Just think about where we were then and where we are now.

Our economy is in much better shape. Our politics doesn’t feel like a box set drama any more. And our friends and our allies know that we are back.

This local election was the first in England where voters had to produce photo ID. And there were some reports during the day on Thursday that people without ID were being turned away from polling stations.

Other people are saying the photo ID rule has been an inconvenience, because it stopped them voting when they otherwise would have done.

Meanwhile, Labour are hoping to sweep the election in a test of the party’s wider chances before a general election next year.

We’ll bring you all the latest news, key results and developments as counting progresses through the night.