Ukip has confirmed its apparent slide into political irrelevance with a disastrous performance in the local elections in England, prompting a senior official to compare the party to the Black Death.

Ukip gained or held three councillors and lost 123 in results by Friday afternoon. The party, which was the third-biggest by vote share in the 2015 general election, had anticipated a bad night given its recent leadership problems, financial crises and the fact it was defending seats won at its high point in 2014.

Paul Oakley, Ukip’s general secretary, said the party had been damaged by a lack of money and a protracted battle in which the former leader Henry Bolton was forced out by members after a row over offensive messages sent by his girlfriend.

In an unlikely sounding parallel, Oakley tried to put on a brave face by comparing his party to the bubonic plague. “Think of the Black Death in the Middle Ages,” he said. “It comes along and it causes disruption, and then it goes dormant. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Our time isn’t finished, because Brexit is being betrayed.”

Asked whether he thought the Black Death was a good comparison to make, he said: “Absolutely. What’s wrong with that?”, adding that the plague had “led to economic growth and the Renaissance”.

Quick guide Local elections: the night at a glance Show Hide Status quo prevails on night of no real victors By early morning Labour had gained seats but failed to make the advances it had hoped for in London. The Conservatives lost seats but were relieved to cling on to key councils. Brandon Lewis, the Conservative party chairman, said his party had a “reasonable night, a good night”. Jeremy Corbyn celebrated seizing Plymouth council and said he was "delighted" by the result. One pollster estimated that a general election matching these results would see Labour with a similar number of seats to the 262 it scored in 2017, while the Tories would lose 12. Tories lose control of Trafford stronghold Surprise success for two Green candidates against Conservative incumbents helped Labour become the biggest party in the Manchester council, one of its biggest successes of the night. "I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said Andrew Western, the leader of the Labour group on Trafford council. “This is far beyond our expectations." Labour's Barnet defeat blamed on antisemitism row Hoping for a 1.6% swing and one additional seat to win Barnet from no overall control, Labour instead saw the council move into the Conservative column. Party activists in the area - which has a significant Jewish population - blamed the antisemitism row that has engulfed the capital. Defeated Labour councillor Adam Langleben called for Jeremy Corbyn to apologise to Jewish activists, adding: "We as Jewish Labour activists were told we were endorsing anti-semitism." Modest success for Lib Dems in remain areas The party celebrated as it took control of Richmond by gaining 22 seats and had some other good results. Ed Davey, the party’s home affairs spokesman, said: "It’s building a hugely important platform for future victories.” But elsewhere Vince Cable’s party showed no signs of enjoying the sort of recovery that would see it turn into a strong force at Westminster. Catastrophic night for 'Black Death' Ukip Ukip's vote collapsed and by Friday morning it held just two seats, 44 down on four years ago. General secretary Paul Oakley tried to put a brave face on things by comparing the party to the Black Death. "It's not all over at all," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "Think of the Black Death in the Middle Ages. It comes along and it causes disruption and then it goes dormant, and that's exactly what we are going to do. Our time isn't finished because Brexit is being betrayed." Dan Sabbagh and Andrew Sparrow Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

“We’re a small party, and we’ve had a couple of big shocks in the recent past,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “The thing that I am most astonished by is that the media is pretending to be shocked about this. We were never going to do brilliantly in these elections.



“If we’d had the money to campaign, we’d have done a lot better. But look, we were never going to take over councils all over the country.”



Ukip did have some success in Derby, holding on to one seat, gaining another and removing the Labour leader of the council in the process.



Nonetheless, a total vote share of slightly above 1% was enough for even senior party members to anticipate its possible demise, or at least temporary hibernation.

Ukip’s former deputy chair Suzanne Evans conceded the party could be in terminal decline. “If Ukip does crumble, I think you could still arguably make the case that it’s been one of the most successful political parties in history,” she said.

A new party led by Anne-Marie Waters, the anti-Islam activist who quit Ukip after losing the leadership contest to Bolton, did even worse in its first electoral outing.



Recently endorsed by the former Smiths singer Morrissey, For Britain gained only a few hundred votes in seats it contested in places including Leeds, Sandwell, Hartlepool and Sunderland, and generally finished last or second last.