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

Labour’s Pat McFadden says the most important election today has been the Blackpool South by-election. That was called after former Tory MP Scott Benton was caught in a sting, offering to lobby and leak documents to gambling investors. He was suspended from the House of Commons and eventually resigned in ignominy.

In the neighbouring Fylde constituency, fellow Tory Mark Menzies will stand down at the next election after allegations claimed he called his former campaign manager in the middle to the night, demanding she send him £5,000 to pay “bad people”.

It was no surprise then that when I visited Blackpool last week, voters were beset with apathy. Martin Jones, who owns Jackie’s Shop, accused politicians of “pocketing money”, before adding the familiar refrain “they are all the same”. He said: “I voted before, but I’m not voting this time.”

Robert Price, 58, repeated the maxim with similar anger. “They are all much of a muchness,” he said about the political parties, adding: “They never do anything.”

Chris Webb is the Labour trying to drum up support. I met him in a cafe on his birthday, while he was looking after his newborn son Cillian. He was effusive about his links to Blackpool, clearly proud of his hometown. “My Dad was a postie,” he said. “My Mum moved to Blackpool to be a Redcoat in Butlins, where she met my Dad and two years later I popped along.” Chris told me their lives were transformed by Tony Blair’s government in 1997, and he believes Keir Starmer can do something similar in 2024.

Tory candidate David Jones has pledged to reopen Blackpool Airport for commercial aviation “to restore flights to Belfast and Douglas to grow key markets in the island of Ireland and the Isle of Man”.

Reform UK’s candidate is well known local charity founder Mark Butcher (not the former England test cricketer). He founded the Amazing Grace charity which supports homeless people, and says he will passionately campaign for Blackpool with his focus set on creating a film studio - to rival Pinewood Studios.

He told the Gazette: “If elected, I will be banging on the door of the culture secretary for a slice of £40bn funding to make this a reality - and I will not leave it alone. We need a £1.5m slice.”

This has been a theme as I’ve been out on the campaign trail ahead of the votes today. Local Tories have been almost trying to portray themselves as independents, in particular Andy Street in the West Midlands.

My colleague Toby Paine, who is reporting from Portsmouth, says the Conservative group leader in the south coast city blames losses on the “national picture”. “It’s going to be a tough evening,” councillor Simon Bosher told him. “A lot of it is probably not due to the work of councillors, it's more to do with conflating it with the national picture".

Earlier on I told you about the Greens’ campaign in Bristol. It’s one of four target councils for the party, the others being Worcester, Stroud and Hastings. Greens co-leader Carla Denyer, who is a council candidate in Bristol, said: “It has been a wonderful experience to be out on the doorstep listening to voters and understanding why their concerns over the cost of living, cuts to local services and the climate crisis are turning into votes for the Green Party. 

“I want to thank every single voter who has gone to the polls today to vote for a fairer, greener country. Our fantastic volunteers and candidates have been out knocking on doors, listening to voters and responding with a positive vision of what their Green vote would mean. 

“As counting begins, I look forward to another record night for the Green Party. We have increased our councillor numbers at each of the last four elections – and I believe we can do so again. 

“That will lay the firmest of foundations for our General Election campaign when we are going to do everything we can to get at least four Green MPs elected to Parliament. We know that having a Green in the council chamber or in Parliament delivers for people, the community and the planet.”

My colleague Shelagh Parkinson, from the Blackpool Gazette, writes in about the buzz at the by-election count:

“All the ballot boxes have now arrived at the count from the polling stations for the Blackpool South by-election with the first job being to verify the votes. There is already a buzz about the place as the counters face a long night ahead.

“It will be interesting to hear what the turnout is as it's been a sunny day in Blackpool which may have encouraged more people to cast their vote. Not quite sure if all the candidates are here yet as it will be a few hours before the result but tension is bound to mount when the counting gets underway.

”There are nine candidates vying to be the next MP. There is also a much bigger than usual media presence due to the significance of the by-election which comes just months before the next general election is expected.”

Labour sources tell me they’re confident in winning the Blackpool South by-election. They say activists have reported large numbers of former Tory voters saying they would be voting Labour for the first time. It needs a 12.5% swing to retake the seat, which voted Tory for the first time in two decades in 2019.

A reminder of the timings for tonight, we’re expecting Broxbourne to be the first council to declare at around 12.30am. That’s likely to stay with the Tories.

A Conservative candidate in Fareham, near Portsmouth, has said “troublemakers” have affected the election. Pamela Bryant, the party’s candidate for the Uplands and Funtley ward, told my colleague Noni Needs: “This is a very different election from what we’ve had for the last 20 years with very different vibes.

“People coming out of the woodwork that have no interest in politics. I call them troublemakers. We don’t have sufficient people coming forward as candidates or to vote.”

Fareham is having a rare full election, with all 32 seats in 16 wards up for grabs due to boundary changes. The Conservatives hold the majority at the moment, however Labour and the Lib Dems will be hoping to wrestle that from them.

Fellow Tory Joanne Burton told Noni: “It’s excitement, adrenaline, nerves and very tired. As a team, we’ve all worked together and worked hard. I’m sure there’ll be lots of tears tonight but hopefully, they’ll be tears of happiness.”

Our first result of the night has come in, and you guessed it - it’s Sunderland. And it’s a Labour hold. The party gained a ward from the Tories in St Anne’s and held onto its other wards.

Very notably, in several seats Reform UK actually replaced the Tories as the second largest party - winning 32.3% of the vote in one ward. Now it’s unlikely that will be replicated nationally at a general election, but Reform’s presence could well push several tight seats from Conservative to Labour.

We’ve got our first bit of colour on our interactive map with that Labour hold in Sunderland. This will be updated as results across the country come in, along with the mayoral elections.

Keep up to date with the interactive map here.

The Labour Party believes it has taken control of Hartlepool Council. It was previously run by a Conservative-Independent coalition, despite Labour being the largest party. This would be a significant moment for Keir Starmer, given the nadir of his time as Labour leader was losing the by-election in Hartlepool three years ago.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Winning back Hartlepool council is a ground-breaking moment after the disappointing results we saw here in 2021. Keir Starmer pledged to change the Labour Party after that result, and today’s win shows that this changed Labour party is ready to deliver the change that communities like Hartlepool are crying out for. Making gains here shows that the Party is on track to win a general election and is firmly back in the service of working people.”

There have been a few interesting results coming in across the North East just now. Firstly, in Newcastle, while Labour has been holding onto its seats, the Lib Dem and Green vote has increased significantly, particular in the student area of South Jesmond.

In South Tyneside, the Greens have taken a seat from the Conservatives, while an independent candidate has gained a seat from Labour. Earlier on, my colleague Ryan Smith told me about the dissatisfaction with the ruling Labour administration’s handling of bin worker strikes. Perhaps that’s having an impact on votes.

We’ve got our second official result of the night - the Tories have held onto the Hertfordshire seat of Broxbourne. The Conservatives have 27 of the 30 seats, however the party’s vote share dropped by 13 %.

Another update from my colleague Shelagh Parkinson, who’s at the Blackpool South by-election count. Shelagh writes:

Labour seem confident their hard graft on the campaign trail will pay off at the ballot box as they hope to get Chris Webb elected in Blackpool South. Samantha Dixon, MP for Chester, and political lead for Labour at the by-election, said: "I think it's going to be a very good night for Chris Webb." The feeling on the doorstep over the past six weeks has been really positive."

By contrast, Conservative party candidate David Jones admitted he was expecting "a tough night". He said: "We have given the people of Blackpool South a choice and put a compelling argument across."

Mark Butcher, candidate for Reform UK, said he was feeling confident and had reached out to voters in the pubs and clubs of Blackpool during his campaign. He said: "I think people have been able to have a much more honest debate in the pubs and clubs than they would on the doorstep." Liberal Democrat candidate Andrew Cregan said his party had run a good campaign "with the resources we had". He added: "My priorities for Blackpool are unchanged and we will have an encore for this later in the year."

The Green Party has gained the ward of Byker in Newcastle from Labour with a whopping 42% swing. This is a working class area just to the east of the city centre, with a fairly sizeable student population.

It’s unclear at the moment what has caused this shift. It could be local issues, although there has been speculation it could be down to Labour’s stance on Gaza. Either way, this will worry Labour HQ.

Despite that astonishing win for the Greens in Byker, Labour has held onto Newcastle City Council.

Despite the Green insurgence in South Tyneside, amid dissatisfaction with the administration’s handling of a refuse dispute, Labour has held the council.

Across in Lancashire, as expected, Labour has held onto Chorley Council.

The Essex council of Rochford remains in no overall control.