LIVE: Latest updates from across Yorkshire and beyond as local election results roll in

The Conservatives lost all eight of their seats on Castle Point in Essex as independents won all 39. Thirteen Conservative candidates failed to appear on ballot papers because of problems with nominations, PA reports.

A bunch more results have come in, so I’m going to bring you those - and then we’ll have a look at what everything means.

North East Mayor - this should be declared shortly, but it sounds like Labour’s Kim McGuinness has won.

East Midlands Mayor - we’re expecting a declaration around 2.30pm, and again Labour sounds confident of winning.

York and North Yorkshire Mayor - this is probably the most interesting mayoral race left today - we should get the result around 3pm. If Labour was to win this, which includes Rishi Sunak’s constituency of Richmond, then that would put huge pressure on the Prime Minister. It was not a race Labour was expecting to win at all.

Hastings - We’re also expecting the result of Hastings at around 3pm. This will give a good indication of how well the Greens are doing across the country.

Dudley - We should find out results at this key West Midlands council around 4.30pm. This is one of Labour’s main targets, however Tory leader Patrick Harley was very punchy about the Conservatives’ chances when I spoke to him.

Oxford - Another council where Labour was hit by Gaza resignations. It should give a good scale of the problem the party faces across the country.

Bristol - All councillors are up for election in Bristol City Council. The result is expected around 6.30pm, and it should give us another indication on both Labour anger over Gaza and the Greens’ popularity.

I reported earlier about how Burnley has stayed no overall control, after Labour was hit with resignations over the Gaza war. My colleague Laura Longworth of the Burnley Express has written in to confirm the Middle East had an impact on voters, but Keir Starmer’s party as mounted a recovery. Laura writes:

Labour has won six seats in the Burnley Council elections following party turmoil over Gaza last year.  

Of the 15 seats up for grabs across the borough, Burnley Independent Group took three, the Conservatives won three, Lib Dems won two and Greens won one. The total election turnout across the borough was 29.77%.

Today’s results mean that Labour has gained four extra seats on the council overall and now has a total of 15. Meanwhile, the Burnley Independent Group has 10 overall, having lost one to Labour. It means neither party has overall control of the council, which requires 23 seats.

The Co-operative Alliance, which previously controlled the council and comprises Burnley Independent Group, the Greens, and the Liberal Democrats now has 22 councillors on Burnley Council and would need to partner with either the Conservatives or Labour to have overall majority.

The political make-up of the council is now as follows: Labour – 15 seats (previously 11); Burnley Independent Group – 10 (11); Conservatives – 8 (8); Liberal Democrats – 7 (7); and Greens – 5 (7).

Oliver Ryan, Burnley's Labour parliamentary candidate, said: “I'm really pleased. I think it’s a clear indication that people feel like Labour is back in Burnley. We've taken one seat from the Greens, one from the Burnley Independent Group, one from an Independent councillor in Gannow, and one from the Tories. We’ve had four gains, and increased our vote in every ward.

“We’re ready for a general election. Sunak needs to call it. We're over-the-moon, and hopefully this means the Co-operative Coalition of the Greens, Lib Dems and Burnley Independent Group will need to make a choice whether or not to vote for the Conservatives consistently.”

Today’s results follow the shock resignation of Burnley Council’s leader Coun. Afrasiab Anwar and nine other councillors from the Labour Party in November over Sir Keir Starmer's decision not to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

At the time, the 10 councillors described their memberships as “untenable” given the leadership's refusal to demand a ceasefire in the Middle East, and became part of the Burnley Independent Group. Burnley Labour Group then appointed former leader Coun. Mark Townsend as its new leader.

Wow - if this proves to be correct it would be seismic - Labour thinks it’s won the York and North Yorkshire mayoralty. This is very rural area, which has been Tory for a generation. However, I’ve spoken to farmers from across the region who have been unhappy with Sunak’s attitude to agriculture.

A Labour spokesperson said: “This is a truly historic result in York and North Yorkshire. Keir Starmer's Labour party is now winning in Rishi Sunak’s backyard. The Prime Minister’s own constituents have taken a look at the two parties and chosen Labour.”

A party source also said it believes it has won control of Milton Keynes Council, another big Westminster battleground.

As I reported earlier, Labour’s Kim McGuinness has won the new North East mayoralty, which covers around two million people across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

She won 41.3% of the vote, beating Jamie Driscoll, who won the North of Tyne mayoralty for Labour in 2019, but stood as an independent after losing the party’s nomination. He received 28.2%, and indicated he would run again in four years time.

David Skaith has won the race to become the first York and North Yorkshire Mayor for Labour. This will be a huge blow for Rishi Sunak, who will now have a Labour mayor in his constituency. If Tories were hopeful after Ben Houchen’s win, this will seriously worry them ahead of the general election later this year.

Labour won a majority of almost 15,000 over the Conservatives. David Skaith polled 66,761 votes (35.06%) with Keane Duncan (Conservative) on 51,967, with Lib Dems third, Greens fourth and two independents in fifth and sixth.

The results are flooding in now, so I’ll run through another batch.

Adur - Labour gain from Conservative. This a big win for Keir Starmer, the West Sussex council which includes Shoreham has been Tory since 2002.

Norwich - this one stays no overall control. Labour won two seats from independents, but lost two to the Greens, which could be down to Gaza protest votes.

Walsall - Tory hold in the West Midlands. This will give the Conservatives confidence that Andy Street can also keep hold of the mayoralty.

Sheffield - Steel City stays no overall control in a blow to Labour. One Tory councillor lost their seat, by colleague Harry Harrison messages in to say the real story is Labour struggling to make ground.

Rochdale - Labour has held the council of Rochdale in Greater Manchester. This will give the party confidence it can win back the seat from George Galloway at the next election.

Halton - Labour has held Halton in Cheshire, winning an additional seat from the Conservatives.

If the plot against Rishi Sunak was put on ice after Ben Houchen won in the Tees Valley, messages may have started circulating again when Labour won in York and North Yorkshire.

Until a report by my colleague Mason Boycott-Owen in the Yorkshire Post earlier this week that Labour was polling ahead of the Tories, this was a result no one saw coming. As Mason said “the idea that Labour are even in contention for this is crackers”.

Now the party has won majorities in some massive Tory areas, including Sunak’s constituency of Richmond, Thirsk and Malton and Skipton and Ripon. This part of Yorkshire has been Tory heartland, however farmers have been left disappointed by the Prime Minister’s policies on agriculture.

I’ve been covering this story a lot over the last year, and farmers have told me they feel let down by the government who has left them to the mercy of supermarkets cutting their prices. They’re also furious about the post-Brexit trade deals the government has signed.

I also wonder if the government’s rhetoric about asylum seekers and the Rwanda policy has put off some voters in North Yorkshire. What’s certain is that this leaves the Tories vulnerable all over the country come the general election, and the council results back this up. Labour has won in Thurrock, Redditch, Adur and Rushmoor for the first time in years.

Businessman David Skaith has pledged to “bring York and North Yorkshire together to grow as one” after sweeping to victory as the first mayor of a traditionally Conservative-dominated region, my colleague Stuart Minting reports.

The married father-of-two said as someone who grew up and works in the area winning the election had meant a lot to him. Skaith said his first priority would be to “get the right team in place and setting the agenda early on”.

He added: “This is a brand new combined authority so we haven’t got anything already to build on from. We will not be jumping into crazy big spending plans.”

While Tory Keane Duncan received about 3,600 more votes than Mr Skaith in North Yorkshire, when the county’s vote was combined with that from York, the Labour candidate’s margin of victory was by almost 15,000 votes.

Liberal Democrat Felicity Cunliffe-Lister secured 30,867 votes, Mr Duncan 51,967, Green Party candidate Kevin Foster 15,188, Independent Paul Haslam 12,370, Mr Skaith 66,761 and Independent Keith Tordoff 13,250.

Declining to answer whether he attached any blame on the direction Rishi Sunak was taking the Conservative Party, Duncan replied: “Democracy is a wonderful thing, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

He added he was “very disappointed” with the result, but very proud of his campaign. When asked what he thought had gone wrong with his campaign, he said: “We always knew this was going to be tough. Obviously we won in North Yorkshire, I’m very pleased about that, but it was to be expected we didn’t win in York.

“I think we’re up against a really difficult national picture, but this election for me was always about York and North Yorkshire.”