England council elections: Labour make gains

Residents in Watford faced a triple election on the same day

Labour looks set to come top in terms of councils and seats won in the local elections held in England on Thursday.

So far, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have lost four councils each, with Labour making a net gain of 14.

The polls, held at the same time as the general election, include those for 32 London boroughs, 36 metropolitan authorities and 20 unitary authorities.

By midnight on Friday, fewer than 10 of the 164 authorities being contested had still to declare their full results.

In the last local elections in June, Labour suffered heavy losses across the country, losing key seats to the Conservatives.

But as the votes continued to be counted this time, Labour had gained Hartlepool, Liverpool, Coventry, Doncaster, Camden, Ealing, Enfield, Hounslow, Islington, St Helens, Harrow, Oxford, Waltham Forest and Brent.

That translated to an increase of more than 350 councillors, who are generally elected for a term of four years.

The Tories, meanwhile, had lost control of Lincoln, Solihull, Hyndburn, Mole Valley, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Bury, and North Tyneside, but gained Gosport, Hart, Richmond-upon-Thames and Craven.

The Liberal Democrats lost Rochdale, and Sheffield, but gained Cheltenham.

RESULTS IN FULL Local councils A-Z

So far, no council was run by any party outside the main three, although more than 40 fell under no overall control.

In Newham, the London borough hosting the 2012 Olympic Games, Labour's Sir Robin Wales was re-elected mayor for a third straight term.

In Lewisham Labour's Steve Bullock was also re-elected, while Jules Pipe, also of Labour, was re-elected mayor in Hackney.

In Watford the Lib Dems' Dorothy Thornhill was also re-elected for a third term as mayor.