marginal seats in the midlands, like nuneaton and redditch, and further southin nuneaton and redditch, and further south in the old lair belt seats, swindon and basildon, again, not making the progress they should. and in london, they missed out on those tory targets. when you talk to team corbyn, they say it was a consolidation election. the difficulty is consolidation is the same as standing still, and standing still is not enough to get you from opposition into government. as for theresa may, she can break open the biscuits because she did better than she dared hope, in large pa rt better than she dared hope, in large part thanks to the collapse in ukip with most of that support going into her back pocket. for the lib dems, after the quagmire of the coalition yea rs, after the quagmire of the coalition years, they are clawing their way back, the odd green shoot to be found in richmond and maybe kingston. ukip, they were pretty

they also lost nuneaton and bedworth for only the second time.onservatives benefited from a collapse in support for ukip, but they lost trafford in greater manchester, and plymouth was taken from them by labour. the liberal democrats had a good night taking control of richmond—upon—thames. this is the national picture after over three—quarters of the results have been declared. in terms of council control, there has not been much change with both of the biggest parties in england holding on to most councils they were defending. ) in terms of the number of councillors, labour and the lib dems have both made gains. the conservatives achieved some gains in councillors. ukip have lost nearly all of the council seats they held, winning just three so far. our political correspondent eleanor garnier reports. cheering celebrations here... cheering there, and everywhere. but disappointment, too, for both of the main parties in england. both claiming they've done ok, but no decisive shift to either labour or the tories. cheering it was plymouthjeremy corby

what we have being so far with wa lsa ll, what we have being so far with walsall, redditch and nuneatoninges of the common around the edge of the west midlands. these swing seats that we always list on this great sort of midlands league table of marginal seats which decide general election is so often, and on the face of it, for the conservatives they have actually had a much better time of it there then i think they were leading us to believe beforehand. here in birmingham, we really just believe beforehand. here in birmingham, we reallyjust at the start of things. there are so many votes to be counted. to remind you, this is going to be a very different looking counsel from the one that departed before this election, in which labour held nearly twice as many seats of all the other parties combined. this time, though, first time in living memory we have had an all—out election for the whole council but add to that new boundaries and also that the number of councillors is being significantly reduced from 120 to 101. i've been speaking to a couple of senior labour figures 101. i've been

they also lost control of derby, redditch and nuneaton. of derby, redditch and nuneaton.hanking her workers. —— thanking her workers. they remain in control. in control. they won councils in peter burke, basildon and redditch. peter burke, basildon and redditch. —— in peterborough. not all good news for the conservatives. news for the conservatives. took the council from the conservatives. conservatives. they've got high hopes in kingston as well. as well. cambridgeshire which should delight sir vince cable as well. sir vince cable as well. it's been a story of almost total collapse. collapse. they've lost all but a handful of seats. handful of seats. account on brexit, that doesn't seem to have done the trick this time. to have done the trick this time. that's the headlines and that's where we are at the moment. political guests in the studio and welcome to them once more. welcome to them once more. plenty to talk about, jo coburn is also with me. also with me. let's have a look at the scoreboard first. the scoreboard first. we stand right now with labour having made 58

it is a symbolic seat, one of the jokes in the last election, where you up for nuneaton?can swing either way and it is seen as an important barometer. a mixed picture, can we make anything of this early stage? we have heard the note there from trafford and now nuneaton and basildon, can you make sense of any of it so far? from campaign, it is local and we heard tonight there were lots of local issues that were influencing particular seat, the ones we are watching. the two national question, the unwinding of brexit vote, if you like, that is still lingering on in a lot of parts and certainly in london, that is still coming through. but i think what is interesting is if you look at where we are at a government eight years m, we are at a government eight years in, tony blair's government eight years in, you know was losing thousands of seats, you know, the picture, we are dogged. we don't wa nt picture, we are dogged. we don't want to lose hard—working councillors so it could be a tough night. this is not some massive swing that would suggest certainly some of the expectatio

nuneaton is disappointing.sat down and named a few, there are equally if not more where you have fallen back. what about trafford ? you have fallen back. what about trafford? tory trafford has fallen. the last time they lost it was when tony blair was the leader. trafford was a good result for you. you have been round labour circle, you know yourself as part of ed miliband's tea m yourself as part of ed miliband's team to be looking convincingly as a party who are on the march, banging on the door of number ten as you claimed you were after the general election, you are not seeing the kinds of advances that would mean you are in that kind of position. well, despite what i like to think of as having a youth. demeanour, i have been round for a long type. what my years of experience are telling me we are winning seats and council seats and increasing the share of the labour vote significantly in the sort of constituencies that will decide the next general election. do you think thatis next general election. do you

plymouth from the conservatives, but failed to win any of its target councils in london, and lost nuneatonn as the party held onto their flagship boroughs, but lose trafford, their only council in greater manchester. theresa may said overall it was a good night. it's hard to detect trends in local elections, because not all seats are up for grabs, and gains and losses have to be weighed against the last time they were contested, and the state of the parties then. success or failure also relate of course to expectations, but did bbc news raise or at least amplify expectations for the labour party, and then judge their performance a failure for not living up to them? some viewers certainly thought so, with rose doyle writing... the tory party lost positions, despite ukip dramatically falling away, yet the bbc report this as a bad night for labour, and "mixed results. "

but labour lost the leadership of derby and nuneaton which went to ‘no overall control‘.al democrat leader vince cable said his party winning control of four councils from the tories, richmond—upon—thames, three rivers in hertfordshire, south cambridgeshire and kingston—upon—thames, marked the start of the party's fightback. but it was a near wipeout for ukip. they won on average just over 6% of the vote for the council seats that they fought — losing 123 councillors. on councillors, the tally a short time ago, looks like this — labour gained 59, conservatives lost 31, lib dems gained 75, and the greens up 8. the bbc analysis of the votes suggests that in a general election the two main parties would be neck and neck on a projected vote share of 35% each — with the liberal democrats on 16%. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. there had been a lot of tory nerves, but they held them, for the most part. congratulations, councillor. here, in a famous tory council, wandsworth, they clung on. but only just. they thought they could take control. this was one of their t

plymouth from the conservatives, but failed to win any of its target councils in london, and lost nuneatonnd bedworth. the conservatives celebrated london as the party held onto their flagship boroughs, but lose trafford, their only council in greater manchester. theresa may said overall it was a good night. it's hard to detect trends in local elections, because not all seats are up for grabs, and gains and losses have to be weighed against the last time they were contested, and the state of the parties then. success or failure also relate of course to expectations, but did bbc news raise or at least amplify expectations for the labour party, and then judge their performance a failure for not living up to them? some viewers certainly thought so, with rose doyle writing... sarah coates said us this sarcastic version of bbc news headlines, as they sounded to her. and ben lawrence e—mailed... well, we put those points to bbc news, and they told us: now, news, and they told us: now, president trump's announcement on tuesday that the usa was withdrawing from the nuclear agreement signed by bara

councils like derby, nuneaton going into overall control.net we re councils like basildon and barnet were labour seem to have been fatally damaged by the anti—semitism i’ow fatally damaged by the anti—semitism row and the failure ofjeremy corbyn to get a grip of the hard left in the labour party. would you have beenin the labour party. would you have been in this position without the colla pse been in this position without the collapse in the ukip vote? we need to look at it in the round and last night, we took a seat from the greens in my constituency and in oldham is —— from the labour democrats. the ukip vote has gone back to the party from which those vote rs back to the party from which those voters originated, or whether it be the liberal democrats, the conservatives or the labour party. we cannot completely pin it on that and certainly, we have made gains across the country from the labour party. in my area, we made seven gains from the labour party. we are going to be talking in a moment to the labour group leader in barnet, but i wa

they also lost control of derby and nuneaton and bedworth. but gained plymouth.ly stop congratulating themselves on holding on to their bastions of blue — kensington, wandsworth and westminster. they lost trafford, in the north west, but did pick up barnet — the anti antisemitism vote. arguably, the night was won by the lib dems and the greens — who had their best local result in history. and it was definitely lost by ukip. their voters — lets just say — ‘went back to where they came from' — in terms of party allegiance. tonight, we aim to battle through the weeds and work out who is genuinely up and who is down. the projected national share — which extrapolates from local into a national picture shows the two main parties on 35% — labour marginally ahead. so perhaps the fairest picture is of a country in stasis. no overall control seems the most fitting description for britain itself. here's nick watt on the night and the day. if a week is a long time in politics then a must be an eternity, just over a year ago a cult developed around jeremy corbyn, as theresa m

described the performance as "solid. take anything for granted. of trafford council. of derby and nuneaton. saying his party was "on the way back. for ukip, at —123. and the rest on 14%. editor laura kuenssberg. her report contains some flashing images. them for the most part. congratulations, councillor. here, in a famous tory council, wandsworth, they clung on. but only just. they thought they could take control. at it but they failed. cheering. to be making progress. labour ran it so close, in such a traditional tory area? which they attempted to capitalise on. the difference. this shows they are all mouth and not a lot of trousers! you can see from their faces that is better than they had hoped. is he walking towards power, though? labour did edge up. taking two councils, plymouth and kirklees. but losing three others. dramatic strides to number ten? not quite. at the count, in plymouth, celebrating. we have not seen peak corbyn? there is much moer to come and it's going to get even better. legions of supporters agree. labour can do for us. it is about time! the only patch of blue in a

the conservatives moved forward outside of london particularly in the towns and places like nuneatonve expected to do quite well. the midlands, labour heartland towns. . particularly after yea rs of heartland towns. . particularly after years of conservative government, expecting a reaction? exactly. all the movement was incremental. but that is much more disappointing for labour than the conservatives because eight years into conservative government, labour did well in last year's general election and moved forward, and would have hoped to build on that, keep momentum going. take that forward to these elections so that as we look ahead to the next general election they are making progress. they did not do that and the conservatives will feel relieved but not particularly great news for the conservatives. neither party managed to reach beyond their core basis. conservatives doing well in rural areas and towns, labour party doing goodin areas and towns, labour party doing good in big metropolitan areas. but neither taking votes from other party, which is what you need to do ina party,

labour won plymouth and kirklees in west yorkshire but lost control of derby and nuneaton. the lib dems won richmond—upon—thames, kingston—upon—thames, three rivers in hertfordshire and south cambridgeshire, with the leader vince cable saying his party was "on the way back." on councillors, the tally a short time ago, looks like this, labour gained 59, conservatives lost 21, lib dems gained 68, the greens 5, but it was a near wipeout for ukip. now last night's results would mean in a general election, that the conservatives and labour would be neck—and—neck on 35%, the lib dems on 16% and the rest on 14%. with her analysis of the night, here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. her report contains some flashing images. there had been a lot of torino ‘s, but they held them for the most part. congratulations, counsellor. here, ina part. congratulations, counsellor. here, in a famous tory council, wandsworth, they clung on. but only just. they thought they could take control. this was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it but they failed. cheering the pr

take their best results since the early 70s here in london but around the country, in towns like nuneatonds, losing ground to the conservatives. this was an election when nobody really one overall. the tories took a few steps forwards in some places, fell backwards and others. labour did the same bulldog in many ways, the best outcome was for the liberal democrats control for the liberal democrats control for councils, turning around usually after eight years of conservative government labour would have been hoping to make big gains. they didn't. and today, speaking to this cold fronts, alistair campbell, was explaining the reasons for that. isaidl explaining the reasons for that. i said i will be frank. and frankly, i'm finding life and politics very tough right now. i have been lucky enough to be on the winning side of arguments a lot of my life in politics. but today, with a run brexit, the direction of the labour party, the spreader populism, it doesn't feel like that any more. animals are very, very tribal person. short of putin and i said leading a consortium to buy bernie and extol

but labour lost the leadership of derby and nuneaton which went to ‘no overall control‘. democrat leader vince cable said his party winning control of four councils from the tories — richmond—upon—thames, three rivers in hertfordshire, south cambridgeshire and kingston—upon—thames — marked the start of the party's fightback. but it was a near wipeout for ukip. they won on average just over 6% of the vote for the council seats that they fought — losing 123 councillors. on councillors, the tally a short time ago, looks like this — labour gained 59, conservatives lost 31, lib dems gained 75, and the greens up 8. the bbc analysis of the votes suggests that in a general election the two main parties would be neck and neck on a projected vote share of 35 per cent each — with the liberal democrats on 16. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. there had been a lot of tory nerves, but they held them, for the most part. here, in a famous tory council, wandsworth, they clung on. but only just. they thought they could take control. this was one of their top targets and they th

plymouth from the conservatives, but failed to win any of its target councils in london, and lost nuneatonre up for grabs, and gains and losses have to be

plymouth from the conservatives but failed to win any of its target councils in london and lost nuneatonsa may said overall, it was a good night. it's hard to detect trends in local elections because not all seats are up for grabs and gains and losses have to be weighed against the last time they were contested and the state of the parties then. success or failure also relate, of course, to expectations, but did bbc news raise or at least amplify expectations for the labour party, and then judge their performance a failure for not living up to them? some viewers certainly thought so, with rose doyle writing: sarah coates sent us this sarcastic version of bbc news headlines, as they sounded to her. and ben lawrence e—mailed: . well, we put those points to bbc news, and they told us: now, president trump's announcement on tuesday that the usa was withdrawing from the nuclear agreement signed by barack 0bama has pushed iran to the top of the news agenda. wednesday's news at ten examined the impact of that decision with some specialist input. my colleague, rana rahimpour of bbc persian, is w

have any gains so far but they can lord, they have got a couple disappointing result in derby and nuneatonons. that still means that the labour party is in a better position —— by virgin the labour party is in a better position than it was in the general elections. you can see why there is a sense of disappointment, though, for neighbour, particularly in london. labour thought that it would be able to give the conservatives a bloody nose but it could be that at the end of the day the labour party will fail to take a single council in london, so most of the capital will be still run by labour but they will be still run by labour but they will not have those totemic councils of wandsworth and westminster. the lib dems and ukip, these fortunes so divergent, now? the ukip vote has collapsed and that is a repetition of what happened in the general election. part of the reason that the conservatives have done better than some people expected, where the ukip vote collapsed, the conservatives have particularly benefited so they did well in those parts of the country that voted leave. for the liber