Local elections results: Ballots spoiled by voters furious about Brexit

Defaced slips include messages of ‘traitor’, ‘none of these, deliver Brexit’, and ‘get May out’ scrawled across them

Disillusioned voters have vented their anger at both the Conservatives’ and Labour’s handling of Brexit by spoiling their ballot papers in local council elections.

Voters up and down the country turned out to vote for none of the candidates on their ballot papers in a bid to send a message to the main political parties.

Many posted pictures of their papers on social media with messages demanding the government delivers the Brexit result voted for in the 2016 referendum.

Some Remainers also vented their frustration at the government, calling for a second vote of for Brexit to be cancelled entirely.

While it is not illegal to spoil a ballot paper, it will be rendered invalid if it is defaced or deliberately filled in incorrectly.

The spoiled slips will still be counted and recorded as part of the official election results.

Some had messages of “traitor”, “none of these, deliver Brexit”, and “get May out and us out of the EU” written on them.

Twitter user DTWLes tweeted a photo of his spoiled paper, saying: “After the #BrexitBetrayal none of the main political parties represent me.

“I will support the @brexitparty_uk in the EU elections, but until then a spoiled ballot paper was the only option.”

Another user said: “Never spoiled a ballot paper in the past and I’ve always voted Tory. Next time I vote it will be for @brexitparty_uk.)"

Both of the main parties were punished over Brexit in the local elections, losing seats across the country.

With almost half of local council election results declared, the Conservatives had lost 433 seats, while Labour had lost 81.

The Liberal Democrats had gained 301 councillors and are expected to win as many as 500 seats.