Local elections - as it happened: Corbyn insists Labour ‘ready for an election', despite missing top London targets
All the latest updates, as they happened
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Labour has urged the government to scrap controversial ID pilots, which saw some voters turned away during local elections in England.
Parties faced mixed results at the polls, although Jeremy Corbyn insisted Labour was "absolutely ready" for a general election, despite failing to deliver on its pledge to snatch key councils from the Tory clutches.
While Labour made gains in areas like Plymouth and Trafford, it was unable to win the Tory "crown jewels" in London, such as Wandsworth and Westminster.
The party had hoped to seize Kensington and Chelsea from the Tories in the wake of public outcry over the Grenfell Tower tragedy but failed to do so, while its chances in Barnet - which has a large Jewish population - may have been damaged by the recent antisemitism row.
The Conservatives capitalised on the near-collapse of Ukip, and gained control of councils in Peterborough, Southend and Basildon, with a small swing in their favour outside London.
Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats won several councils - including target seats of Richmond-upon-Thames and Kingston-upon-Thames - while the Greens elected a string of new councillors.
Here is the projected national vote share from the local elections, according to the BBC.
Unite has confirmed that a complaint that Len McCluskey breached the rules when re-elected as general secretary election has been rejected.
The ruling, by assistant certification officer Jeffrey Burke QC, rejected a complaint by Gerard Coyne and found that Unite had acted in accordance with its rules when calling last year’s election.
A spokesperson for the union said: “Unite welcomes the assistant certification officer’s rejection of Mr Coyne’s complaint and his ruling that the union acted in accordance with its rules in calling a general secretary election.
“It should be noted that when the general secretary election was called no complaints or objections were made by Mr Coyne or any other individuals.
“Unite presumes that Mr Coyne will accept the judgement and looks forward to the election being fully upheld following June’s hearing, allowing the union to focus unhindered on the job of representing its members.”
The Lib Dems have taken control of South Cambridgeshire, in a surprising gain from the Tories.
Chuka Umunna has called for a probe into Labour's local election campaign, warning that the results cannot leave it confident of success at the next national poll.
Mr Umunna said the advances which could be expected at this stage in the electoral cycle under a "divided and incompetent" Government had failed to materialise.
He told BBC Radio 4's World at One that "the whole Labour leadership" had to address the failure to capitalise on Government divisions, faltering Brexit negotiations and voter concern over the economy and public services.
He said: "From a Labour point of view there needs to be a proper post-mortem - I think the National Executive Committee should appoint somebody to do that - on this result.
"We haven't gone forwards and if we are looking to form an election-winning majority, we cannot be confident of that happening based on the results yesterday."
Here is the BBC estimate on what the House of Commons would look like based on the voting patterns of the local election.
It estimates a hung parliament but gives Labour three more seats than the Tories.
Labour MP Dan Jarvis has been elected as mayor of Sheffield City region.
The Barnsley Central MP, once tipped for the party leadership, will be the first mayor of the South Yorkshire area.
There is some speculation that Labour MP Heidi Alexander will announce plans to stand down after her council (Lewisham) declares later.
The former frontbencher has been vocal over her displeasure at Labour's Brexit strategy, leading the campaign to urge Jeremy Corbyn to back staying in the single market.
Dan Jarvis defended his decision to stand to be Sheffield City Region mayor while remaining as an MP.
In his victory speech, the Barnsley Central MP said: "I have always believed in the value of public service so when it was decided that this election was going to take place it was a desire to serve that motivated me to put myself forward.
"I understood then that the exceptional nature of my candidacy would raise some eyebrows and it has.
"But I believed then, as I know now, that the exceptional circumstances of this mayoralty and the importance of devolution for the future of the UK meant that I couldn't stand on the sidelines and that I had to step forward."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments