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Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron says results indicate Labour has "collapsed"

Theresa May turns her attention to General Election following huge Conservative gains

UKIP loses 109 councillors while holding a solitary seat in Lancashire

Paul Nuttall’s party lost all its seats in former stronghold Lincolnshire as well as Hampshire and Essex, all key battlegrounds for Ukip at next month’s general election

Labour had lost 112 council seats by 5am and was bracing itself for more later in the day.

In Scotland, the Conservatives have made shock gains in seats in Glasgow and pushed Labour into third place north of the border

Labour's Andy Burnham wins Greater Manchester Mayor election

Tories won the West Midlands and West of England metro mayor contests and topped the first round of voting in the West Midlands, while Labour claimed mayoralties in Liverpool, Doncaster and North Tyneside Labour tried to play down the significance of a bruising set of results which saw it forfeit almost 300 council seats, lose control of Glasgow for the first time in around 40 years and suffer reverses in Welsh strongholds. And Brexit-backing voters in Labour’s heartlands in the North East and the Midlands appear to flock to the Prime Minister’s party as they turned away from the muddled Labour party led by Jeremy Corbyn. Early results gave a major boost to Theresa May's hopes of a General Election landslide on June 8 as Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the results indicated Labour has "collapsed". Reacting to the local election results, Theresa May was eager to turn her attention to the General Election and Brexit negotiations. She said: “This is not about who wins and who loses in the local elections. It is about continuing to fight for the best Brexit deal for families and businesses across the United Kingdom, to lock in the economic progress we have made and get on with the job of making a success of the years ahead. “The reality is that today, despite the evident will of the British people, we have bureaucrats in Europe who are questioning our resolve to get the right deal. And the reality is that only a general election vote for the Conservatives in 34 days time will strengthen my hand to get the best deal for Britain from Brexit. So today I will continue with my efforts to earn the support of you the people.” Mrs May warned she would not take a single vote for granted as political analysts said Tory gains in the local elections bode well for a Conservative landslide on June 8. She said: “I don’t take anything for granted, and if you just look at what’s happened in the last couple of years, we saw that the opinion polls got it wrong in the 2015 election, they got it wrong for the referendum and of course Jeremy Corbyn has himself pointed out that he was a 200 to 1 chance for the Labour leadership. That is why I’m not taking anything for granted.” SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES ON THE LOCAL ELECTIONS

GETTY Parties have squared up in the polls in the first gambit of the election run

Mr Farron said: "These results tell a clear and stark message. "Labour has collapsed. They cannot win the general election. "If you want a strong opposition to this government, we are the party for you." Addressing Labour supporters in Liverpool, Jeremy Corbyn admitted the party had “some difficult results”. He said: “Some have been very good. We’ve gained seats in some places, we’ve held councils that many predicted we wouldn’t. And others, unfortunately, have not been elected. I want to use this opportunity thank every Labour candidate and every party worker and supporter for the incredible effort they’ve put in in the past few weeks in this election. “We’ve now got four weeks until the general election. Four weeks to get a message out there. Pensioners do not have to live in fear of their pensions being cut in the future because the government will not protect the triple lock. “People don’t have to be living on appalling wages, through zero-hours contracts or minimum wage only, 6m earning less then the living wage. Labour will change all of that. And Labour will invest in a growing economy, an economy that works for all.” Labour was given a major boost when former MP and Cabinet minister Andy Burnham became Metro Mayor of Manchester after winning 63.4 per cent of the vote. The West Midlands metro mayor race gave the Tories a shock win, with Andy Street beating Labour's Sion Simon. Massive majorities over Labour's Sion Simon in Solihull and Dudley, and solid backing in second preference ballots, saw former John Lewis boss Mr Street elected to oversee an £8 billion investment budget. Mr Street, whose high-profile election campaign is reported to have cost almost £1 million, gave up his business career last year to stand for the newly-created mayoral post. In Scotland, Theresa May's party raced to victory - picking up seats all over the country. Tory John McIntyre was elected to Ferguslie Park ward, which has twice topped Scotland’s deprivation list. Sam Gyimah, a Conservative minister in London, said: “The key thing that is emerging, not just from the Scottish results, but in England and Wales, is under Theresa May, there are no 'no-go' areas for the Conservatives.” It was also a tough night for Ukip - after results from 25 local authorities, the party lost 44 councillors and made no gains.

Snap election 2017: The pictures politicians may not want you to see Sat, May 27, 2017 Protests, fights and daleks, it all happened when the politicians hit the campaign trail for the snap election Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 48 A UK Independence Party supporter (L) scuffles with a pro-europe supporter ahead of a visit by UKIP leader Paul Nuttall to Hartlepool

And it was wiped out in Lincolnshire, losing 13 seats, while all its representatives in Essex were defeated. Ukip shed 63 seats while picking up a solitary councillor in Lancashire, as leader Paul Nuttall said the party was "a victim of its own success" over Brexit. Mr Nuttall issued a statement following the local election results, saying: "Our electoral success over recent years was a key driver in forcing the Conservatives to embrace our cause under a new prime minister who was campaigning for a Remain vote in the referendum a year ago." He said: "If the price of Britain leaving the EU is a Tory advance after taking up this patriotic cause then it is a price UKIP is prepared to pay." Former MEP and leadership contender Steven Woolfe said UKIP's influence was now "at an end". But ex-rival Lisa Duffy has claimed the night was not a “disaster”, adding: “I won’t use the word ‘disaster’, I’ll use the word ‘challenging’. “We knew it was going to be a difficult night.” The results sparked a furious reaction from the party's former donor Arron Banks, who said Ukip was "finished as an electoral force" under its current leadership and needed "a strategic bullet to the back of the head". Peter Reeve, UKIP's local government spokesman, said 2013 had seen his party "leading national politics". But he claimed the success of four years ago and of Brexit was always going to make this year "incredibly difficult" for the party. It has however been a big night for independent candidates, with many voters turning their back on party politics in their local regions and ousting two Labour majority councils in Wales.

GETTY The Tories look set to sweep Labour from key heartland regions

England The Conservatives gained the Isle of Wight from a state of no overall control, taking the majority of the 40 seat constituency. And they won a resounding victory in the Warwickshire County Council election gaining an extra nine seats to take full control of the local authority and pulling it from its no overall control status by slashing Labour’s representation from 22 down to 10. Conservatives won the West of England metro mayor contest and won the West Midlands metro mayor race with a narrow majority of 3,766, while Labour claimed the mayoralties in Liverpool, Doncaster and North Tyneside. The Tories also took control of Cambridgeshire, East Sussex, Norfolk, Monmouthshire, Isle of Wight, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. In Derbyshire, the Tories took 19 seats from Labour as the county passed directly from one party's hands to the other. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon insisted the Conservatives were not complacent, but said it appeared they were winning votes from all their rivals.

GETTY Ukip have made sweeping losses after a groundbreaking result in the 2012 election

He said Conservatives were winning support from former Labour voters because of Mr Corbyn's "feeble" leadership. Sir Michael said: “Voters who previously voted for all three - Lib Dem, Labour and Ukip - are now seeing that what this country needs is a government with a full, working majority to negotiate a good, successful exit from the European Union and to build a stronger, fairer Britain after that.” Philip Johnson, the head of Warwickshire County Council's Labour group, blasted Jeremy Corbyn's leadership style after losing his seat in Thursday's vote. In the North West the Tories became the largest party in Cumbria while also taking the seat of Copeland by-election loser Gillian Troughton in a humiliating loss for Labour. Hertfordshire has been held by Theresa May's party, along with Somerset, Dorset and Hampshire while Gloucestershire has been gained by the party. Flintshire continues with no overall control with a slight rise in support for Labour who gained 3 seats, going against the trend of Wrexham who have stayed NOC despite Labour losing 11 seats – many to independent candidates. In Northumberland, the Conservatives were denied a majority control after a seat was decided by drawing straws. But Labour also failed to take the full council. And Prospective Labour parliamentary candidate Gillian Troughton lost her seat on Cumbria County Council.

GETTY The new Metro Mayors could shake up the political landscape

The Conservatives won Lincolnshire gaining an official majority, while also holding on to Essex and increasing their majority from the last election. And Monmouthshire has also gone to Theresa May from a former state of no overall control. The Conservatives also gained control of Norfolk after winning 44 of 84 seats so far, with some divisions still to declare. UKIP gained one seat in Burnley West. With full results declared by 59 of the 88 councils holding elections in England, Scotland and Wales, the Tories had control of 17 authorities, including nine gains. Mrs May's party had 1,088 councillors, a net gain of 340, while Labour had 676, a net loss of 186.

The Lib Dems had 262 councillors, a net loss of 31; the Scottish National Party had 217, with no net change; Plaid Cymru was on 142, a net gain of 19 and the Greens were on 15, a net gain of two. Lib Dem former business secretary Sir Vince Cable said Ukip's collapse had important implications for the General Election. He said: “Ukip has virtually disintegrated, and that matters politically because, if you are a middle-of-the-road Conservative who voted Remain and you see your own party effectively assimilating Ukip and its values as well as its voters, I think they will have pause now, and worry about the future.” Sir Vince called the results "neutral" for his party: "We've held our ground, unlike Labour, which has collapsed, and Ukip, which has virtually disappeared," he said. England - overall seats with 34/34 declared Conservatives 1,426 seats (+313) Labour 403 (-145) Liberal Democrats 309 (-23) Independent 155 (-) Green 20 (-) Ukip 1 (-139)

BBC Final England election results

GETTY Labour are under threat in this former stronghold

Scotland The Conservatives rallied north of the border, as the SNP held onto seats and Labour suffered futher losses. Nicola Sturgeon's SNP became the largest party on Edinburgh City Council for the first time as Labour slipped into third place behind a Tory resurgence. Talks are already under way to form the first SNP-led administration in the capital's history after the nationalists won 19 of the available 63 seats. However the party's celebrations will be tempered by a strong showing for the Scottish Conservatives, who increased their tally of councillors to finish just behind the SNP on 18. Edinburgh council had been run by a Labour-SNP coalition, after the parties took 20 and 18 seats respectively in 2012, but Labour's tally fell to just 12 seats, while the Greens secured eight and the Liberal Democrats six. The last council election saw Liberal Democrat support collapse in the city, leaving them with just three councillors compared to 11 for the Conservatives and six for the Greens. Sally Cogley was elected in Irvine Valley for the Rubbish Party, which was set up on a platform to tidy up the local area. And Labour went from 11 seats to eight but remain one ahead of the SNP to retain control in Inverclyde. Ruth Davidson tweeted: "Another First. Ranald Fraser becomes first @ScotTories councillor elected in the Western Isles. Ever." In a devastating blow Labour lost overall control of Glasgow for the first time in 40 years. With only 43 candidates over 85 seats, the party needed to win them all to keep overall control. But the writing was on the wall as the first three wards were counted seeing Labour lose one seat in Shettleston to the Tories - the first time a Conservative has been elected in the area.

PA Tories have gained seats in Scotland

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale told the BBC News Channel that "Glasgow was a very strong Yes city", with voters backing independence in the 2014 referendum. After the SNP won every seat in the city in the 2015 Westminster election and the 2016 Holyrood poll, she said Ms Sturgeon's party "should have walked it" in the council ballot. Ms Dugdale said: "I know they (the SNP) are screaming and shouting just now and delighting in the result, but the reality is the SNP took every single seat in that city in 2015, every single seat in 2016, they should have walked it. "But it looks like they're not going to get an overall majority in Glasgow." Labour has been in power in the city since 1980 but lost seats through gains in support for the SNP, Greens and the Tories. Nicola Sturgeon said: "This is the end of an era for Glasgow, but the start of an exciting new era. "This is a fantastic, historic result in Glasgow." But the SNP is unable to take overall control of Glasgow City Council after three-quarters of the seats were declared stopping the SNP from reaching the 43 needed to take majority control. The Tories also gained a seat in Ferguslie Park in Renfrewshire - which last year was identified as the area of Scotland with the greatest level of deprivation. It was the second successive time the area had been at the bottom of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), which is published every four years. And the Tories also picked up two more seats to become tied with Greens on 5 each, with the SNP on 15 and Labour 12. South Ayrshire Council has declared all its results - with the Conservatives coming out on top with 12 seats - up two on 2012. The SNP also gained two seats and now have nine but Labour lost four seats.

On Aberdeen City Council, the SNP regained full control - but the Conservatives, who went from 3 to 11,made the largest gains. The final results put the SNP on 19, up 3, as Labour lost nine of its 18 seats. In North Ayrshire, Labour and the SNP brought in 11 seats each - while the Tories went from just one seat to seven. Scotland - overall seats with 32/32 declared Independent 172 (-26) SNP 431 (-7) Conservative 276 (+164) Labour 262 (-133) Liberal Democrat 67 (-3) Green 2 (-)

BBC Final Scotland election results

PA Millions of votes have already been counted in the local elections

PA Ruth Davdison is seeing a Scottish Tory success

Wales There were severe blows for Labour in the south Wales valleys, with independents taking control of Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil. Labour held key Welsh councils in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, but lost control of Bridgend - the stronghold of First Minister Carwyn Jones, which Mrs May had targeted with a campaign visit. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell insisted that Labour's vote "held up" in areas of Wales where Jeremy Corbyn had campaigned, and said there were signs that voters were developing more confidence in the party leader as he had the chance to get his message across. There was some good news for Jeremy Corbyn’s party, who held onto Newport, taking 27 of the region’s 50 seats with votes still to be added to the tally. And they retained Neath Port Talbot with an early night majority of at least 64 seats. Labour also held on to control in Swansea and Torfaen, and retained Cardiff Council, with 38 of the 75 seats.

Theresa May awkwardly eating chips could be 2017's 'bacon sandwich' Tue, May 2, 2017 Theresa May suffered what has been suggested to be her “bacon sandwich” moment after pausing for a quick snack while on the campaign trail Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 7 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May eats chips as she meets with residents in Mevagissey, south-west England, on May 2, 2017, during a campaign visit ahead of the forthcoming elections

Ceredigion and Vale of Glamorgan meanwhile remains under no overall control. The former Merthyr council leader said Labour is "having a very disappointing evening to say the least". But some claim the losses suffered in Wales during the council elections overnight are not as bad as they could have been, as the Tories have failed to make as many gains as expected. Julie Morgan, Welsh Assembly member and the former MP for Cardiff North, described the outcome for Labour as "a tremendous result, absolutely wonderful". She said: "I think things are much better than I expected at the beginning of the night."

GETTY It could be the first time in recorded history a party in power has made gains three times in a row

PA Labour have suffered huge defeats in England and Wales so far

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood says "so far things are looking good" for her party. Although results are still coming in thick and fast, she added "it looks as though Plaid Cymru has made breakthroughs in new ground". Wales - overall seats with 22/22 declared Labour 472 seats (-107) Independent 322 (+13) Conservative 184 (+80) Plaid Cymru 202 (+33) Liberal Democrat 62 (-11) Llais Gwynedd 6 (-7) Green 1 (+1) Ukip 0 (-2)

BBC Wales election result with all 22 councils declared

GETTY The Scottish vote will be a test of the SNP's hold north of the border

PA Count volunteers are scrambling to announce the results today

Mayoral Elections Labour celebrated as former MP and Cabinet minister Andy Burnham became Metro Mayor of Manchester after winning 63.4 per cent of the vote. He said: “I will give it my all, I will not let you down. All I can say is wow 63 per cent of the vote. I hear the candidate down the road in Liverpool got 59 per cent. So all I can say is Manchester 1-Liverpool 0. “Politics has been too London-centric for too long…Westminster has created a crisis in politics. We can hold as many general elections as we like but that will never solve the problem. Greater Manchester is going to take control.” Int he West Midlands, Tory Andy Street won the mayor race with massive majorities over Labour's Sion Simon in Solihull and Dudley, and solid backing in second preference ballots, saw former John Lewis boss Mr Street elected to oversee an £8 billion investment budget. Mr Street, whose high-profile election campaign is reported to have cost almost £1 million, gave up his business career last year to stand for the newly-created mayoral post. The West of England Metro Mayor race went to the Tories' Tim Bowles after a second round of voting led to a Tory vs Labour head to head run off. The Conservative candidate pulled in 70,300 votes after including second preference voting, making him the nation's first Metro Mayor and one of many to be named in the election. His convincing victory will cast even further doubt on the prospects of Labour candidates, who looked set to thrive in similarly metropolitan constituencies. Mr Bowles said he's "very, very humbled and excited" to be elected metro mayor for the West of England.

TWITTER Steve Rotheram was elected as Liverpool's mayor