Local elections: Polls close across Yorkshire in 13 key battlegrounds

Hull City Council is the only authority planning on counting overnight, with the final results expected at around 2 am.

With the Liberal Democrats currently having a majority of just one over Labour on Hull City Council, and a third of seats up for election, a fractional swing here could see one of the earliest councils gains of the night for Labour.

Elsewhere across the region, attention will be on Sheffield City Council, where Labour are looking to improve on their current position of being the largest party – but one with no overall majority. A third of council seats are up for election in Sheffield. It is also the first election since the highly-critical Sheffield Trees Inquiry.

York, however, will see all 47 seats up for election. Currently, a Liberal Democrat/Green coalition runs the council. That result is expected to be one of the last in the country, at approximately 8pm.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak predicted a “hard night” for his party at the local elections but said the Conservatives were now moving away from “box-set drama” politics.

Speaking to an Onward think tank event on the eve of polls opening, he is reported to have said: “We should be prepared that tomorrow night is going to be hard for us. Good councillors will lose their seats because of all that has happened over the past year.”

He added: “I’ve only been Prime Minister for six months but I do believe we’re making good progress. Just think about where we were then and where we are now.”

But eyes will be on Labour as well – the gap in the opinion polls is not the chasm it was under Liz Truss but it has been significant for several months, so privately party bosses will be optimistic. Publicly a failure to win seats from the Conservatives in key areas will be seen as a warning sign, with the next General Election under two years away.

Sir Keir said his party had “a positive case to tell” and that he hoped to make electoral progress.

The opposition leader also said voters could “set Britain on a path of growth, security and the promise of a better future”.

Nationally, more than 8,000 council seats are up for grabs across 230 local authorities, ranging from small rural areas to some of the largest towns and cities.

In Yorkshire and the Humber there are eight councils where a third of councillors are up for election. These are: Barnsley (currently Labour controlled, final result expected 3pm); Bradford (Labour controlled, 5pm); Calderdale (Labour controlled, 3pm); Kirklees (Labour controlled, 3pm); Leeds (Labour controlled, 5pm); Sheffield (no overall control, Labour minority, 3pm); Wakefield (Labour controlled, 6pm); Hull (Lib Dem controlled, Friday, 2am).

There are also five councils in the region where all councillors are up for election: Darlington (no overall control, Conservative minority, final result expected 3pm) East Riding of Yorkshire (Conservative controlled, 3pm); Redcar and Cleveland (no overall control, 4.30pm); Stockton-on-Tees (no overall control, 5pm); York (no overall control, 8pm).

You can follow all the Yorkshire results as they come in here