What happened in local elections overnight and what’s still to come?

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn36 minutes agoShareSaveBecky MortonPolitical reporterShareSaveGetty ImagesKnife-edge Runcorn by-electionReform UK won its first Parliamentary by-election, taking Runcorn and Helsby from Labour by just six votes after a recountReform candidate Sarah Pochin got 38.7% of the vote. The Conservatives came a distant third, with the Green Party fourthFirst Reform mayorReform also won its first mayoral contest, with former Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns getting 42% of the vote in Greater Lincolnshire – a long way ahead of the Conservative candidate on 26%Labour hold trio of mayoral contestsIn North Tyneside Labour held the mayoralty by just 444 votesIt was also a tight result in Doncaster, with Labour clinching victory over Reform by 698 votesLabour also held on in the West of England mayoral contest, with a majority of 5,949, as the Tories were pushed into fourth place behind Reform and the GreensBut the party saw its share of the vote fall significantly as Reform came a close second in all three racesReform make council gainsReform UK is making big gains in council seats across England and has a vote share so far of about 38%The Conservatives have lost more than 60 seats in early results, with Labour – which was defending fewer seats – down 13Northumberland County Council is the first council to declare and will stay in No Overall Control with the Conservatives having the most seats and Reform a close second Reform UK appears well on the way to winning control of Lincolnshire County Council after taking 30 of the first 36 seats to declare, with Labour on three seats, the Liberal Democrats two and the Conservatives on oneWhat’s still to come?Results for the remaining two mayoral contests in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and Hull & East Yorkshire, as well as the majority of council elections are expected to start pouring in from Friday afternoonThe first council results are expected from around 13:00, with the bulk due early eveningThe Conservatives are defending the most seats and expecting heavy losses across the countryIn places such as Lincolnshire the Tories are facing a threat from the right in Reform UK but in the south the challenge comes from the Liberal Democrats, who are targeting councils including Gloucestershire and HertfordshireOne bright spot for the Tories could be the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough mayoral race. Labour won there in 2021 but the Tories are hoping a split of the left-wing vote between Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens could see them emerge victoriousLabour is hoping to pick up seats in Derbyshire and Durham, where it performed well at last year’s general electionMeanwhile, the Greens and pro-Gaza independents could threaten Labour in areas such as LancashireThe Greens are hoping for gains on councils including Oxfordshire and Kent, where Reform is also expected to do wellHull & East Yorkshire could be a closely fought contest, with the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems all enjoying support in different parts of the region. Reform is also targeting the mayoralty with its candidate, former Olympic boxer Luke CampbellElections are also taking place in Devon, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, North Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, West Northamptonshire and WiltshireYou can follow all the results and reaction on BBC One and on iPlayer, the News Channel, Sounds and on the BBC live page. …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]