[denphone]

Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the LGiU, the local government thinktank, on what the results show so far.

It’s looking like a pretty grim night for the Conservatives and Labour and a very good night for the Lib Dems.

The Conservatives were expecting to lose hundreds of seats and they have. But they’ve also lost control of 13 councils so far. Councils due to declare on Friday are more solidly Conservative, so they will be hoping that trend doesn’t continue; if it does, things could be even worse than they were expecting.

Things aren’t as bad for Labour. They have taken control of Trafford but they’re also losing seats and have lost control of Hartlepool and Wirral.

Labour and Conservative local leaders have angrily blamed the national parties for their losses.

Big winners are the Liberal Democrats, up hundreds of seats with surprise wins in Winchester, Chelmsford and Bath and North East Somerset.

Does this mean that remain voters are flocking to the Lib Dems while disillusioned Tory and Labour leave voters simply stay home? Perhaps. But we shouldn’t forget the salience of local issues. Campaigners around the country have been desperate to shift the debate on to local issues and have had some success.

These elections are not a glorified opinion poll, they’re about electing councillors who will make decisions about the local services people rely on.