Labour’s shock poor performance today has shielded the Conservatives from much of the criticism their woeful local election performance deserves. The Tories were bracing for losses around the 700-800 mark, the higher numbers briefed out last week were meant to be for expectation management purposes. They have just plunged through the 1,000-seat loss mark…

One of the bigger Tory casualties was Arun District Council leader Gillian Brown – it just so happens that Brown is Philip Hammond’s mother-in-law. That’ll make for some awkward conversations at the next family occasion…

UPDATE: The final casualty count for the Tories is 1,332 Councillors, their worst performance since 1995. Two years before Major was annihilated by Blair…