Local elections results: Corbyn says Brexit deal between Labour and Tories ‘has to be done’ in wake of poll hammering
Disastrous night for major parties as Liberal Democrats surge
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Your support makes all the difference.Voters have punished both Theresa May’s Conservative party and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in the 2019 local government elections over Brexit.
The Tories lost more than 1,200 seats, while the Lib Dems gained more than 600. The Greens gained more than 180 seats, with party co-leader Jonathan Bartley declaring it “the biggest election night in our history”.
Change UK MP Chuka Umunna said the local election results illustrate that “politics is broken in Britain”, while polling expert Sir John Curtice said the hold of the two big parties looks “as weak as it has done at any point in post-war British politics”.
The prime minister was confronted with anger as backbench MPs called for her removal and warned that the party would be “toast” if it did not change direction.
In Wales, a heckler interrupted the PM as she gave a speech in Wales, saying: “Why don’t you resign? We don’t want you.”
The prime minister later thanked Conservative councillors who had lost their seats.
“Because we haven’t delivered the Brexit deal through parliament yet, this was going to be a particularly challenging set of elections for both of the main parties,” she said in a speech to the North East Lincolnshire Conservative Group.
“I also know that last night, I’m sorry to say, a good number of good local councillors across the country lost their seats,” she said, in a speech to the North East Lincolnshire Conservative Group.
“Brandon (Lewis) and I both started our careers in local government and we know what it’s like when you’re fighting local elections against a difficult national background.
“I’d like to thank all those councillors for all their hard work and effort that they’ve put in.”
Labour also suffered losses, surprising the party leadership who had expected to make gains in Thursday’s vote.
Instead the party lost 63 council seats and overall control of six councils, including heartland councils such as Hartlepool, Wirral and Bolsover.
Both parties are now bracing for further losses in European elections, which are scheduled for 23 May.
If you would like to see how the results emerged, please see what was our live coverage below:
Remain supporting Labour MPs are warning the party's leadership against striking a Brexit deal without the promise of another referendum.
"Labour should not be bailing the Tories out. Any deal - any - must go to a public vote," Ilford North MP Wes Streeting said.
"Without a commitment to a public vote, I'll vote for a Labour-Tory deal when hell freezes over and I'm not alone in that."
The Conservatives have now lost over a thousand council seats, with current net losses of 1,012.
Labour have lost 86 overall and the Liberal Democrats have gained 542.
The results of 223 out of 248 councils have been declared.
The Conservatives have lost control of Guildford, in Surrey, after losing seats to independent candidates.
The DUP has elected its first ever gay candidate in Northern Ireland’s local council elections.
Alison Bennington has won a seat on the Antrim and Newtonabbey Council, in a significant moment for the party who strongly oppose LGBT rights.
Read more about her historic victory here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dup-first-gay-elected-alison-bennington-local-elections-a8898871.html
The Tories have now lost 1,027 council seats.
Labour have lost 70 and the Liberal Democrats have gained 555.
Results are available for 230 out of 248 councils.
The pound has surged after Jeremy Corbyn said parliament had to get a Brexit deal done.
Sterling surged past $1.3150 on Friday after the Labour leader's comments, according to Reuters.
It also rallied to a one month high against the euro.
Jo Swinson, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, has declared Friday's outcome "the best ever set of local election results" for the party.
"This is now officially the best EVER set of local election results for [the Liberal Democrats]," she wrote on Twitter.
"THANK YOU to every campaigner, candidate and voter who has helped make this happen."
The party appears to be measuring the result in terms of net gains, according to ITV journalist Paul Brand.
In a time of political paralysis, local elections matter, our columnist Lara Spirit argues.
"They give voice to a population left on the sidelines as our politicians bicker for months on end. And there was one overriding theme emerging from yesterday’s result: voters rewarded parties with clear, pro-people’s vote policies on Brexit, and punished those who support Brexit," she writes.
A defeated independent candidate has demanded a recount, after his Conservative rival was reportedly awarded victory thanks to a single ballot with the word "Brexit" written on it.
Cotswold District Council has defended its decision to accept the voting slip and grant victory to Tory candidate Stephen Hirst in the Tetbury Town ward contest.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran says "it's good to be back", after the party gained hundreds of council seats in Thursday's vote.
"Sure, we were hoping for good results in these local elections, but this is an absolutely decisive victory for the party and our hard-working local councillors and campaigners across the country," she writes in a new piece for The Independent.
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