Local elections 2017 LIVE: The Tories are making early gains

The Conservatives continue to make gains in the early counts. Tory Tim Bowes is elected West of England mayor. Labour starts badly with over a hundred net losses. UKIP loses all its seats it has been defending so far. Final counts for local and mayoral elections ends at 6 p.m. BST on Friday.

LONDON – Results are underway in the 2017 local and mayoral elections with announcements being made in England, Scotland, and Wales throughout today.

We are expecting results in 4,851 council seats plus six regional mayoral contests. The results will give us a clear insight into how the country’s political parties are performing with just five weeks until the general election.

Theresa May’s Conservatives are expected to make over a hundred gains while Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour is bracing itself for a bruising day. UKIP and the Liberal Democrats have a lot at stake, too.

Scroll down for our latest updates.

08:08 – IT’S ALL SMILES FOR THE GREEN PARTY SO FAR

One of Corbyn’s big selling points upon becoming Labour leader was his left-wing credentials would win over lots of Green Party voters. That doesn’t seem to be the case if the local elections results we have so far are anything to go by.

“Overall, a very good night in difficult circumstances!” a senior Green Party source tells me.

The party has made five gains so far. Interestingly, this includes gains in the West Country, where in five weeks time Green candidate Molly Scott Cato will challenge Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire for the Bristol West constituency.

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08:06: THE STATE OF PLAY SO FAR

The BBC has produced this very handy graphic showing where we stand so far.

As you can see, a clear theme as already emerged. The Tories have already reached 150 gains while Labour is moving in the opposite direction. UKIP is having a torrid time and it hasn’t been a great start for the Lib Dems, either.

The Greens have five net gains so far and Welsh party Plaid Cymru 12.

07:55 – WILL THE REAL JEREMY CORBYN PLEASE STAND UP?

Speaking to Sky News moments ago, Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell insisted that the party’s fortunes at the ballot box will turn around as soon as voters are exposed to “the real” Jeremy Corbyn.

“As Jeremy gets more airtime, people will see the real Jeremy Corbyn emerge,” McDonnell said.

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07:51 – LABOUR MAKING HISTORY FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS

The New Statesman’s political editor George Eaton tweeted this interesting statistic.

07:44 – UKIP ON THE BRINK?

Serious questions are already being asked about the future of the UK Independence Party.

The party has lost every seat it has contested so far. Interestingly, this includes 14 in Lincolnshire – a largely Eurosceptic country in the east of England.

Boston & Skegness, where Nuttall is standing to be an MP at the June 8 election, is situated in Lincolnshire.

The party’s deputy chair Suzanne Evans tweeted a message of defiance.

07:42 – LABOUR HOLDS IN WALES

Labour holds on to Torfaen and Swansea in Wales.

07: 32 – THE BIGGEST TALKING POINTS SO FAR

There are four points to take away from the early results, says Business Insider UK’s political editor Adam Bienkov.

“1. The polls are broadly right.

“This is the best performance for a governing party since 1974 and a dire result for Jeremy Corbyn’s party. Given that opposition parties tend to do better in local election results than in the following general election it looks like we’re on course for potential Labour wipeout in June.

“2. UKIP is close to over.

“Paul Nuttall’s party has lost every seat they have contested so far with some early projections saying they could have an equivalent national vote in the low single figures. It looks like Brexit and the departure of Nigel Farage may have been the beginning of the end for the party, with the Conservatives set to gain pretty much all of the benefits from UKIP’s collapse.

“3. Lib Dem disappointment.

Predictions that the Lib Dems would exceed their national opinion polling numbers in seats that voted heavily for Remain in the EU referendum have not materialised. While they have made some gains, the results so far are broadly in line with what you would expect from their national polling. Far from becoming the party of the 48% as their leader Tim Farron has claimed, they look set to remain the party of the 11%.

“4. Labour are doing less badly in metropolitan areas

“The one bright spot for Labour so far has been their performance in metropolitan areas, particularly in Wales. In Swansea the party actually increased their majority on the council, the only place so far where they have done so. Early signs are that the party is also in a very close race for the West Midlands mayoral election, where some had predicted that they could suffer a humiliating defeat.”

07:15 – LABOUR SEATS DROPPING LIKE FLIES

Some interesting news coming out of Cumbria this morning.

Gillian Troughton, who stood as Labour’s candidate in the recent Copeland by-election, has just lost her council seat in Howgate. Troughton told me last week that she plans to stand again for Labour in the upcoming general election.

Elsewhere, the Conservatives have held onto Clacton West, Clacton North, and Tendring Rural East, while former Labour MP Ivan Henderson has held onto his Harwich council seat.

Here’s Troughton with Labour leader Corbyn in the run-up to the February by-election.

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07:10: – BOWES IS “HUMBLED AND EXCITED” TO BE WEST OF ENGLAND MAYOR

Tim Bowes’ victory in the West of England mayoral election will have Conservative Party HQ feeling jubilant.

Bristol, a major city within the region, is a Labour area. It has a Labour council and the city’s mayor Marvin Rees is a Labour man. However, the Tories have one of their men in the region’s first mayor of its sort.

Here is Bowes reacting to being elected.

The message about providing”strong leadership” has come through – new West ofEngland mayor Tim Bowles https://t.co/GtqVPoJZBm #LE2017 pic.twitter.com/GbVecQQhua

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 5,2017

The message about providing”strong leadership” has come through – new West ofEngland mayor Tim Bowles https://t.co/GtqVPoJZBm #LE2017 pic.twitter.com/GbVecQQhua

https://t.co/GtqVPoJZBm#LE2017pic.twitter.com/GbVecQQhuaMay 5,2017

06:58 – WHAT’S HAPPENED SO FAR?

There are still lots more results to come but early signs look very good for the Conservatives.

The party has made a series early gains in council seats, with Labour already losing, and Paul Nuttall’s UKIP failing to pick up a seat and losing every seat its defended so far.

May’s Tories have so far have taken control of Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire County Councils, plus the Isle of Wight. All were previously under “no overall control.”

Conservative candidate Tim Bowles has also won the West of England mayoral election.

And over in Wales, the party has won Monmouthshire, while Labour has lost control of Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend.