What’s happened in elections overnight and what’s still to come?

Becky Morton

Political reporter

Knife-edge Runcorn by-election

Reform UK won its first Parliamentary by-election, taking Runcorn and Helsby from Labour by just six votes after a recount
Reform candidate Sarah Pochin got 38.7% of the vote. The Conservatives came a distant third, with the Green Party fourth

Reform also won its first mayoral contest, with former Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns getting 42% of the vote in Greater Lincolnshire – a long way ahead of the Conservative candidate on 26%

In North Tyneside Labour held the mayoralty by just 444 votes
It was also a tight result in Doncaster, with Labour clinching victory over Reform by 698 votes
Labour also held on in the West of England mayoral contest, with a majority of 5,949, as the Tories were pushed into fourth place behind Reform and the Greens
But the party saw its share of the vote fall significantly as Reform came a close second in all three races
It also looks likely to lose the mayoralty in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough to the Conservatives

Reform UK is making big gains in council seats across England and has a vote share so far of about 35%
The Conservatives have lost more than 80 seats in early results, with Labour – which was defending fewer seats – down 28
In Staffordshire, Reform UK has taken control of its first ever council, winning 33 seats so far
Northumberland County Council is the first council to declare and will stay in No Overall Control with the Conservatives having the most seats and Reform a close second
Reform UK appears well on the way to winning control of Lincolnshire County Council after taking 30 of the first 36 seats to declare, with Labour on three seats, the Liberal Democrats two and the Conservatives on one

Results for the remaining one mayoral contest in Hull & East Yorkshire, as well as the majority of council elections are expected to start pouring in from Friday afternoon
The first council results are expected from around 13:00, with the bulk due early evening
The Conservatives are defending the most seats and expecting heavy losses across the country
In places such as Lincolnshire the Tories are facing a threat from the right in Reform UK but in the south the challenge comes from the Liberal Democrats, who are targeting councils including Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire
Labour is hoping to pick up seats in Derbyshire and Durham, where it performed well at last year’s general election
Meanwhile, the Greens and pro-Gaza independents could threaten Labour in areas such as Lancashire
The Greens are hoping for gains on councils including Oxfordshire and Kent, where Reform is also expected to do well
Hull & East Yorkshire could be a closely fought contest, with the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems all enjoying support in different parts of the region. Reform is also targeting the mayoralty with its candidate, former Olympic boxer Luke Campbell
Elections are also taking place in Devon, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, North Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, West Northamptonshire and Wiltshire