What to expect in the coming hours
We are past 4am now and would have expected Hampshire to be the first county council to declare results there, but that’s a bit behind schedule. The Conservatives have held a majority in Hampshire since 1997.
Here’s what else to look out for in the hours ahead:
Among the authorities counting overnight still left to declare are six London councils: Bexley, Hammersmith & Fulham, Havering, Kensington & Chelsea, Merton, and Richmond upon Thames.
Bexley is Reform’s top target in the capital and the party may also do well in Havering, while the Lib Dems have gained ground in Merton in recent years and – together with other parties – may take enough seats from Labour this time to leave the council in no overall control.
Counting gets under way for the parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, for 86 local authorities in England, and for the six mayoral contests.
The first constituency results from Scotland are likely to be announced around this time, with Airdrie, Ayr and Coatbridge & Chryston potentially among them.
In England the first mayoral result is due, from Hackney in east London. The result for the Newham mayoral contest should also be declared around this time, which is another Labour defence.
Among the first councils to finish declaring results should be Manchester, where a third of seats are up for election but where Labour’s majority is so huge it will remain in overall control even if it sustains heavy losses.
Results due to be completed in England around this time include Hyndburn, Preston, Rochdale and St Helens, all of which currently have a Labour majority but where it would only take a few seat changes to leave Preston and St Helens with no party in overall control.
Results from Scottish constituencies should be coming in fast by now, though it will be some time before the overall state of the parties in the parliament will become clear, as most of these individual seats are likely to be won by the SNP.
The first declarations from Wales are due around this time, where a new system of voting has been adopted that has seen the country divided into 16 super-constituencies, each of which sends six members to the Senedd, allocated proportionally according to the number of votes cast.
In London, the first of Friday’s results should be complete, with Labour defending huge majorities at Islington and Waltham Forest in the face of challenges from the Greens and independents in the former and Reform in the latter.
The mayoral result from Lewisham is due around this time – a role Labour has held continuously since the post was created in 2002, but which is another target for the Greens.
Results will pick up pace, with around 40 councils in England due to finishing counting in the next couple of hours.
Full results are also due from Barnsley and Gateshead, two more Labour strongholds since 1973 where every seat is up for grabs, along with other Labour-majority councils at Bury, Crawley, Greenwich, Ipswich, Trafford and Wolverhampton.
A string of London councils currently held by Labour are due to finish counting, including Barnet, where the Tories are hoping to regain control; Hackney, a top target for the Greens; and Redbridge, where Reform and independents are eyeing gains.
Two county councils should have a complete set of results by now, both of which are currently run by the Tories and where Reform is the main challenger: Essex and Norfolk.
In Scotland, the first members elected under the regional vote system should be announced by now, which is where smaller parties – particularly the Greens and Reform – are hoping to have some success.
The mayoral result for the London borough of Tower Hamlets is due, where Lutfur Rahman of the Aspire party is seeking another term.
Two brand new local authorities should finish their declarations, East Surrey and West Surrey, which will operate as “shadow” councils until formally replacing Surrey county council in 2027.
The last results of the day from England will include Bromley in London, where the ruling Conservatives will hope to hold on to their majority in the face of a challenge from Reform, and Calderdale in West Yorkshire, where Labour is defending a very slim majority.
All the results from Scotland and Wales are scheduled to be announced by Friday evening, though it may be late in the night before counting is complete.