5 of 23 councils. Counting under way.
Keir Starmer says Labour's by-election loss to Reform in Runcorn and Helsby is "disappointing", but vows to go "further and faster" on change
Reform won the contest by just six votes - one of the closest parliamentary elections ever
Sarah Pochin overturned Labour's large majority to become Reform's fifth MP after a recount
Elsewhere, Reform wins full control of Durham, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire county councils - and its first mayoral election in Greater Lincolnshire
Labour narrowly holds three mayoral races in North Tyneside, the West of England, and Doncaster - with Reform second in all three
Votes are being counted in more than 1,600 council seats in England; widespread results aren't expected until later - see the latest in our banner at the top of the page
Watch: BBC's Henry Zeffman on what comes after Reform's by-election win
A final decision in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral race is imminent, our reporters at the count tell us.
We'll update you as soon as we have the result.
The Conservatives have lost control of Devon County Council, with three seats still left to be declared.
The Lib Dems and Reform both made significant gains, but neither has won enough to take full control.
Reform has taken control of Durham County Council.
The council was previously run as a coalition between the Liberal Democrats, Tories and independent councillors.
This brings the total number of councils taken by Reform to three - before today, it was zero.
We're now hearing that Reform just needs to pick up one more seat in Durham to gain control of the council.
We've got reporters at the count and will update you as soon as that result becomes clear.
Image source, PA MediaShadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick says any suggestion the Conservative Party would be performing better if he was leader rather than Kemi Badenoch is "complete nonsense", insisting she is doing an "excellent job".
Asked by the BBC if he rules out backing a coalition with Reform, he says: "Yep. Kemi has been clear, no pacts, no coalitions. I have been clear. I want to put Reform out of business, I want to send Farage back to retirement.
"The way we get back in the game is being better than Reform," he adds, insisting previous comments he made were instead about the need to have a coalition of voters on the right of politics.
Jenrick says it's been a "tough" night for the Tories, with the public still "very angry and frustrated by the Conservative Party".
Image source, PA MediaConservative leader Kemi Badenoch says she's determined to win back the public's trust and the seats her party has lost, in her first comments since late last night.
"These were always going to be a very difficult set of elections coming off the high of 2021, and our historic defeat last year - and so it’s proving," she writes on X.
"The renewal of our party has only just begun and I’m determined to win back the trust of the public and the seats we’ve lost, in the years to come," the opposition leader adds.
Pritti Mistry
Reporting from Lincolnshire
Reform UK has reached 36 seats on Lincolnshire County Council as counting continues, meaning they will take control of the council from the Conservatives.
There are still more seats to announce, however with a total of 70 seats available, the 36 they have means Reform takes control.
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
While the results coming in today are from areas less pro-Brexit than the ones overnight, Reform still enjoy a substantial lead in the overall tally of votes so far.
The party is now running at 35% of the vote, with the Conservatives on 25%, Labour 15% and the Lib Dems 12%.
The fall in the Conservative vote since local elections in 2021 is about about 19 points - less than the 27 point drop evident in the overnight results. But even so, the party is still clearly headed downward overall.
Meanwhile, at six points, the fall in Labour's vote is also a little lower than the nine points overnight. Again, though, it is going in much the same direction.
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems are registering a clear advance of 6 points in the wards declared today - a stat that reflects, in particular, some notable gains in Devon where the party is currently running first in the tally of votes.
Trystan Jones
Reporting from Staffordshire
As we've reported, Reform UK has just taken the final votes they need to claim control of Staffordshire County Council.
There are still more results to announce, but they now have 34 council seats - and they only needed 32.
It's quite a result, because they went into this election with no councillors and the Conservatives held 53 of the 62 seats.
Ken Owen, chair of Reform UK in Newcastle-under-Lyme, says he thought voters were disillusioned with the other major parties.
"[It was] a remarkable night, not only for Reform UK candidates, but I think the people of Staffordshire have sent a message to the current sort of administration," he says.
"Reform UK have got a strong team of people behind the scenes, and I'm sure we'll be talking about that over the next day or two."
Owen also says no decisions had yet been made about who might be appointed to key decisions within the council.
Reform UK has taken control of Staffordshire County Council, with some votes still being counted.
This is the first time Nigel Farage's party has taken full control of a council.
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
The BBC is forecasting that, with just the result for Cambridge itself to be declared, the Conservatives will win the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoralty - thereby taking it from Labour.
Labour themselves are at risk of coming fourth here.
Although the Cambridgeshire mayoralty was won by Labour in 2021, the party was only ahead after the allocation of second votes under the supplementary vote system, external. The Conservatives were ahead on first preference.
This year, voters only had a first choice, which may well have helped the Tories to win the position this time.
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
In initial results, Reform are well ahead in the tally of votes for Durham - with 40% of the vote, so far, and 15 points head of Labour - while the Liberal Democrats are ahead in Devon.
It seems that on initial results, we can't rule out Reform taking control of Durham.
We're beginning to see the challenge to the two big parties - Labour and the Conservatives - coming from more than one direction.
Kate Moser Andon
Political reporter, in Cambridgeshire
I'm here in Cambridgeshire, where three of the six districts have now been declared in the mayoral contest.
One of the remaining districts is apparently doing a recount.
We're now being told that we could get the results in 20 minutes' time.
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
Three of the six council areas have now been declared in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
The BBC's forecast indicates that the mayoral race here will be a tight one between the Conservatives and Reform.
The post is currently held by Labour's Nik Johnson.
Results have been steadily trickling in for the last 12 hours, and we've now heard from most of the main political party leaders. Here's what they've been saying:
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
The Liberal Democrats have won the first declaration in Devon, gaining the seat from the Conservatives.
Their vote was up by nearly 10% on 2021, a better performance than we have seen in most wards today.
The party's success may, however, have been aided by the fact Reform won 25% of the vote - which perhaps helped contribute to the Conservatives' 20 point loss.
The Lib Dems have also now won a second seat in Devon from the Conservatives. Their hopes in this county are seemingly beginning to be realised.
We can bring you lines now from the prime minister, who is on a visit to a defence contractor in Bedfordshire.
Starmer tells the BBC that while the by-election result in Runcorn and Helsby was close - and Labour has defended three mayoralties - the results overall are "disappointing".
"The message I take out of these elections is that we need to go further and we need to go faster on the change that people want to see."
The BBC's Leila Nathoo asks if he means going further and faster in the same direction.
Starmer says that the "tough decisions" his government made in the Budget are starting to bear fruit.
Kate Whannel
Politics reporter
Reform UK was born out of the Brexit Party – but it has broadened out from campaigning on the single issue of leaving the European Union.
Immigration
It campaigns for tough action to bring down immigration, arguing that it has got out of control and is damaging the country.
It has pledged to freeze all non-essential immigration if it wins power at the next general election.
Those with what the party calls “essential skills” - such as healthcare workers - would be allowed into the country.
Net zero
Its other main policy is scrapping net zero targets, which leader Nigel Farage says are destroying jobs and driving up household bills.
The party also wants to scrap subsidies for renewable energy, allow companies to drill for more gas and oil in the North Sea and fast-track nuclear energy.
Local spending
At a local level, Reform UK wants to follow the example set by Elon Musk in the US, where the tech billionaire has been trying to make dramatic cuts to government spending.
Farage says where Reform has power it will bring in auditors to examine council spending and get rid of waste.
He also says he wants to end a culture of working from home in local government.
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
The first Durham County Council result sees Reform win with 36% of the vote, taking it from Labour.
Nigel Farage's claim that County Durham could follow Northumberland in electing a string of Reform councillors could have some validity.
Image source, ReutersPrime Minister Keir Starmer is currently giving a Q&A to workers during a visit to a defence contractor in Bedfordshire.
We're listening across, and will bring you reaction to the election results so far.
