Labour has continued to make larger gains in areas with fewer university graduates, while the Conservatives are going back fastest in areas with more… #LocalElections2023 @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/85r8Njng0j

— Will Jennings ? (@drjennings) May 5, 2023

It's the same story with social class. The Conservatives are doing very badly in areas with fewest working class voters, while the Lib Dems are doing well in those areas. Labour is making gains more evenly across the board. pic.twitter.com/0EdH2dIz6K

— Will Jennings ? (@drjennings) May 5, 2023

It is important to note that we have only had a small number of results so far with the vast bulk of councils doing their counts during the day. I have little doubt that things will change in the next few hours.

A big figure to look out for will be the scale of Tory losses. One projection overnight has the party losing over 1,100 seats.

No doubt there will be speculation over Sunak’s position given that this is his first big electoral test since becoming leader and PM.

Mike Smithson