Local elections 2023: Tories suffer major losses as Labour make key gains - key results

Polls have closed across England in the 2023 local elections.

If you are still in a queue to vote at your polling station and have been there since before the 10pm deadline, you will still be able to cast your ballot.

It's been a tumultuous day, with reports that voters were being turned away from polling stations for having incorrect forms of ID.

In terms of results, we should start hearing some calls throughout the night and into Friday. It's been predicted by the Conservative Party itself that the party could be in for a "tough night", with a spokesman saying: "Any Government which has been in power for 13 years is highly likely to lose seats.”

Continue to follow National World's live blog for the latest updates from major races and calls at the 2023 local elections.

The Electoral Commission has conceded that "some people were unable to vote" due to ID issues but insisted that elections overall were "well run".

Reports throughout the country of voters being turned away for a range of different ID issues were reported, with one candidate telling NationalWorld: “I saw four people turned away because they didn’t have ID, and one turned away because she had the wrong form of ID.”

A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said: “It will be essential to understand the extent of this impact, and the reasons behind it, before a final view can be taken on how the policy has worked in practice and what can be learned for future elections,” a spokesman said.

“The commission has already started this work.

“We are collecting data from polling stations about the numbers turned away and returning, and carrying out national public opinion research to collect data about voters’ experiences.

“Given the fundamental role played by electoral administrators, it will also be vital that we hear from them about their experiences of the day, as well as other participants in the elections, including candidates.”

Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, has said the party expects to make gains and believes voters have “sent a damning message about Rishi Sunak’s leadership”.

She said: “We are proud of the positive campaign we have run, focused on the issues that matter most to voters.

“This is a cost of living election. We have set out the choices we would make to help people through the cost of living crisis, cut crime and cut NHS waiting lists, but the Tories have been silent on the issues that matter most. If the Conservatives go backwards from their disastrous 2019 local election results, the voters will have sent a damning message about Rishi Sunak’s leadership.

“It’s going to be a long night and the full picture of results will not form until well into Friday afternoon but we expect to make gains and show we’re making the progress in the places we need to win at the next election.“

With reports coming in from across the country of people being turned away from polling stations due to issues with voter ID, campaigners have called for an independent inquiry into the new voting requirement.

Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy, who is leading a coalition of groups opposed to the move including the Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote UK and Open Britain, said “many thousands” of people were estimated to have been turned away.

“Today has been a dark day for British democracy. Reports from all over the country confirm our very worst fears of the impact of the disastrous policy which has been made worse by the shambolic way it has been introduced,” he said.

“One voter turned away is one too many, but early estimates point to many thousands of people being turned away and denied their right to vote. Too many people were unaware that they needed photo ID or weren’t clear on exactly what type of ID was required.

“The buck for this attack on democracy rests squarely with Government. This policy was always a sledgehammer looking for a nut to crack.”

It may be after midnight, but the night is still very young, with only a handful of results starting to trickle in in the last half hour or so. Most councils will not announce until midday tomorrow at the earliest, and it is worth remembering that early results may not be representative of the wider picture.

That said, the few results which have come in so far seem to back up the theory that Labour and the Liberal Democrats are set for a good night, while the Conservatives are likely to see really significant losses.

I’m in Middlesbrough, where we’re expecting the results of a combative mayoral race to be announced in the next hour or two (hopefully closer to the former than the latter) - but the full council result won’t be announced until mid-afternoon tomorrow.

Early signs across the country suggesting turnout is down on previous years. Seems likely that new voter ID requirements will be a factor in this if it bears out across the board, but could equally be a product of increased apathy.

On the ID question, science minister Paul Scully has told the BBC that the impact of the requirement should be looked at once results are in, but is is “not good enough to use anecdotes” to draw any wider conclusions.

Asked about the Electoral Commission’s statement, Scully said : “I think the chief exec of the electoral returning officers has said in his view that it has worked pretty well. It hasn’t had much of an effect. But we do need to see. We clearly need to see after this.

“I think when it was introduced by a Labour government in Northern Ireland, the then-Northern Ireland minister said at the time it was introduced, it had no effect on suppressing the vote there.”

He added: “But what we have got to find out is whether those people weren’t able to vote at the time or whether they went back and got their ID. We have heard a couple of examples, but it is not good enough to use anecdotes.”

Of the councils to have announced results so far, Labour are performing relatively well. The party has retained control of Sunderland and held Halton, while the Conservatives maintain both Broxbourne and Harlow, picking up a seat from Labour in the process.

Reports from Hartlepool - where Labour suffered a striking by-election defeat almost exactly two years ago - suggest the party could be on course to take control of the council. One to watch in the next few hours.

The Conservatives have lost control of Brentwood council, with the Liberal Democrats picking up three seats there so far.

The Greens are expected to make gains in certain areas, and have kept hold of a seat in Peteborough with the re-election of a former Labour councillor who defected to the party last year.

Things taking slightly longer than expected to get the mayoral result here in Middlesbrough - all candidates saying it looks very close between independent incumbent Andy Preston and Labour challenger Chris Cooke.

As a reminder, Preston won here by a pretty staggering margin in 2019, amassing almost 60% of the vote compared to Labour’s 23%. A lot of ground to make up for Labour.

Turnout is down, at around 27.8% compared with 31.7% in 2019 - not clear if this stands to benefit any particular candidate.

It’s never advised to make predictions, but my guess would be that Preston holds on with a reduced vote share, followed by Cooke, then Conservative candidate John Cooper (who returned to the UK today from several weeks holiday travelling around Africa), and independent Jon Rathmell likely coming in fourth.

As we approach 3:30am, with the count now well underway, things look closer than expected. Andy Preston has said it looks to him like Labour have won, but that could be expectation management - we won’t know until we know.

Meanwhile, this reporter has just overheard someone utter the terrifying phrase “potential recount”.

More when we get it.

And there we have it, Labour’s Chris Cooke is elected mayor of Middlesbrough, winning by a narrow margin of less than 1,000 votes.

A visibly exhaused Cooke said very little, noting that many of those still left at the count will be returning in a few hours, before thanking the other candidates and everyone involved in administering the election.

“I am thoroughly looking forward to getting on with the job,” he said, to cheers from the large Labour contingent in the room.