Voters have turned away from the two main parties in a sign the public is fed up of the Brexit turmoil at Westminster.

Local elections across England have seen both the Conservatives and Labour lose control of councils, following a significant swell in support for the Liberal Democrats.

The Greens and independent candidates have also enjoyed success.

More than 8,400 council positions were up for grabs across 248 English local authority areas on Thursday, while Northern Ireland was electing 462 seats in 11 councils.

With dozens of councils left to declare, it is already clear Jeremy Corbyn has failed to make the inroads that might have been expected of an opposition leader eyeing up 10 Downing Street.


Labour has lost more than 90 seats and control of seven councils - Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Cannock Chase, Burnley, Hartlepool, Wirral and Bolsover - although they gained control of Trafford, Amber Valley and Calderdale to give the party a net loss of five local authorities.

Mr Corbyn said "of course" the party wanted to do better, but the results were a "basis" to win marginal seats in the next general election.

He said there were a "number of reasons" why Labour had not done as well as expected in areas where it has traditionally been strong.

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Mr Corbyn added: "Some of them were local factors and some of them were people probably disagreeing with both parties on attitudes towards the European Union.

"Our policy is that we're the only party that seeks to appeal to people however they voted in 2016 and to ensure that we try to defend jobs and working conditions in this country."

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the message from the voters was "Brexit - sort it".

The Conservatives have lost control of more than 30 councils so far, with the loss of more than 550 seats.

The losses included Folkestone and Hythe, Tandridge, Torbay, Tendring, Welwyn Hatfield, Worcester, North Kesteven, St Albans, Southend-on-Sea, Basildon, Broxtowe and Peterborough.

Corbyn responds to difficult night for Labour so far

But there was a slither of good news for Theresa May, as her party gained control of Walsall and North East Lincolnshire councils.

The prime minister admitted it was a "very difficult" night for her party.

She added: "This is a difficult time for our party and these election results are a symptom of that.

"We have the privilege of governing our country at a momentous time and we have a responsibility of delivering something truly historic.

"What is momentous and historic is seldom simple and straightforward.

"But I think there was a simple message from yesterday's elections to both us and the Labour Party - just get on and deliver Brexit."

Mrs May was heckled as she began her speech at the Welsh Conservative Conference, with a man shouting: "Why don't you resign? We don't want you."

Heckler to May: 'We don't want you'

The majority of Thursday's elections in England were last contested in 2015, the same day as that year's general election when David Cameron won a surprise House of Commons majority for the Tories.

Gaining the most ground in Thursday's elections were the Lib Dems, as they delivered the strongest sign yet they are recovering at a local level from their 2015 near-wipeout.

The party gained more than 400 seats and control of 13 councils, including South Somerset, North Norfolk, Bath and North East Somerset, Winchester, Chelmsford, Hinckley and Bosworth, Somerset West and Taunton, Cotswold, Vale of White Horse and Mole Valley - with the majority gained from the Conservatives.

Leader Sir Vince Cable declared "three-party politics is back".

"Our army of 100,000 members and 250,000 supporters have shown us to be the strongest campaigning force in local government, in Remain and Leave areas alike," he said.

"We are winning from leave-voting Chelmsford to remain-voting Cotswolds, gaining ground in rural England and cities too.

Image: The success is likely to be Sir Vince Cable's parting gift to the Lib Dems

"Today's Lib Dem surge is a springboard to the European elections, where we are clearly the strongest Remain force on the ballot paper. Every Liberal Democrat vote on May 23 will be a vote to stop Brexit."

The success is likely to be Sir Vince's parting gift to his party, with the veteran politician having vowed to stand down as Lib Dem leader after this set of local elections.

The Green Party and independent candidates also benefited from the apparent reluctance of voters to support the two main parties, with both boosting their number of council seats.

Image: The Lib Dems celebrate winning control of Bath and North East Somerset Council from the Tories

Meanwhile UKIP, who might have been expected to lose all their council seats following their decline over the last four years, didn't suffer the wipeout that may have been expected.

Thursday's elections precede European Parliament polls later this month, when both the Brexit Party and Change UK - who did not stand candidates in the local ballots - will also look to exploit voters' dissatisfaction with bigger parties.

Some had made their anger explicit on Thursday by scrawling protest messages such as "Brexit" and "traitors" on their ballot papers.