Last updated 23:50.
Labour have gained control of three formerly Conservative stronghold councils, while the Tories have hit back with two gains at Labour’s expense in borough elections results which also saw Labour lose the mayoralty of Tower Hamlets.
Overnight, the now former Tory strongholds of Barnet, Wandsworth and, sensationally, Westminster fell to Keir Starmer’s party, but afternoon results saw the Conservatives take control of Harrow from Labour.
Labour’s big early triumphs were accompanied by comfortable holds of Hammersmith & Fulham, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Ealing, Hounslow, Camden, Southwark and Barking & Dagenham – where Labour won every seat, as in 2018 – while the Tories retained Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea and Bexley and failed to take Sutton from the Liberal Democrats, as they had hoped to.
Incumbent Labour Mayors were comfortably re-elected in Hackney, Lewisham and Newham , where Labour members will also dominate the council chambers, including with a clean sweep in Lewisham. But in Tower Hamlets John Biggs was toppled by Lutfur Rahman whom he had succeed as Mayor in a re-run election in 2015 after Rahman’s victory over Biggs in 2014 was declared void following an election court ruling that he had won using “corrupt and illegal practices”.
In other results announced during the afternoon, Labour held Islington with ease, though its majority was dented by two Green Party gains, taking their representation up to three, and strengthened its majorities in Haringey and Greenwich. In Lambeth, Labour gained two seats and the Lib Dems three, while the Greens lost three and the Tories were wiped out.
The Tories have retained Bromley, though with a significantly reduced majority thanks to five gains by the Lib Dems, five by Independents and two by Labour
Labour has also kept control of: Merton, where the Lib Dems have boosted their numbers primarily at the expense of the Tories, Enfield, although the party lost eight seats to the Tories there, and Brent, where a still-commanding Labour majority has been slightly dented.
The Lib Dems have greatly strengthened their holds on Richmond-upon-Thames, where they have reduced the Tories to a single seat while the Green Party has won five to finish in second place, and in neighbouring Kingston-upon-Thames, where the Tories lost six seats and the Lib Dems gained five.
Havering has once again produced a hung council, with the Tories losing seats and Residents Association candidates taking the largest number so far, and Labour improving their total to nine. One ward has yet to declare.
The result of the inaugural mayoral race in Croydon, which had previously had a Labour administration, has yet to be declared.
UPDATE 7 May 2022: The Croydon mayoralty has been won by the Conservative candidate.
UPDATE 10 May 2022. The final ward in Havering was declared on the evening on 9 May. I produced three more seats for the Conservatives, leaving the council under No Overall Control as before.
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