Labour vote is so bad it’s ‘beyond comprehension’

Ben Pruchnie / GettyCorbyn: behind where he should be.

Here the top stories:

• Labour should be gaining hundreds of seats if history is a guide — but it is not. It is losing seats to the Tories nationally.
• Conservatives are shaping up to become the No.2 party after the SNP north of the border. Labour is on course to lose all its seats in Glasgow.
• Labour MP John Mann says coming third in Scotland would be “beyond comprehension.”
• Labour loses seats in areas with large Jewish populations following the Ken Livingstone anti-Semitism spat.
• Modest gains for UKIP and the Lib-Dems.
• Labour MPs are not blaming leader Jeremy Corbyn (yet) … even though the results suggest he cannot make gains for Labour nationally.

This is a liveblog of the day’s events and will be updated frequently. Refresh the page for the latest news, or click here.

Latest:

OVERALL — LABOUR MPS ARE NOT BLAMING CORBYN … YET

Deputy leader Tom Watson says it is too early to blame the new leader. “I don’t think that eight months in you can reasonably think that these set of results are solely down to Jeremy Corbyn,” he told The Guardian. John Mann said no one wants a new leadership challenge. Labour Lord Peter Thain on BBC TV praised Corbyn for bringing votes back from the Greens, who are losing ground so far, but suggested that Corbyn needed to broaden his appeal beyond the left.

This is all very polite.

But it ignores the elephant in the room. Local elections are supposed to be the occasion when voters punish the government for its missteps. The average opposition party gains 434 seats in the local vote. Yet Labour is losing seats. That has only happened twice since 1974. Labour’s Sadiq Khan is on course to become London Mayor. But that is the one bright spot. Labour has done even worse in Scotland, where the party is fast becoming irrelevant. It gets only 20% of the vote North of the border. It may lose all its seats in Glasgow.

Expect the politeness to end soon.

Labour activists will wake up this morning and start asking pointed questions about how they’re supposed to win elections in the future under the current leadership.

0554 — LABOUR ARE DOWN 28 SEATS AS UKIP GAINS 20 AND THE TORIES ADD 6

0550 — CORBYN CAN TAKE SOME CONSOLATION FROM ENGLAND

The Guardian says Labour performed best in England even though it suffered losses in Wales and Scotland:

John Curtice also revealed on the BBC that it looks as though Labour may be “very slightly ahead” of the Conservatives on national share of the vote in the English council elections. He said that the Tory vote seemed to be down about four points, and that the Labour vote seemed to be up four points.

In a blog early this week Curtice said that when calculating a “proportional national share” figure for the local elections this year he would be benchmarking them against new figures he has produced for the PNS for the 2015 local elections. In 2015 the Tories were on 35% and Labour 29% on this measure, suggesting this year’s figures could put the Conservatives on 31%, and Labour on 33% – although the figures will doubtless change as new results come in.

Curtice also said that he thought Labour would not lose as many as 150 council seats, as some of the experts were predicting (see 10.25pm), and that as a result Jeremy Corbyn would be able to say he performed better than expected.

0547 — LIVERPOOL HAS RE-ELECTED LABOUR MAYOR JOE ANDERSON TO A SECOND TERM

Not a surprise.

0544 — YOU CAN SEE HOW FAR LABOUR’S VOTE IN SCOTLAND HAS SHRUNK HERE

And how dominant the SNP is, and how the Conservatives are now the primary opposition.

0512 — PLAID CYMRU TAKES RHONDDA FROM LABOUR

A shock result. This is Labour’s heartland. This should not be happening.

0452 — UKIP GAINS 20 SEATS – THE NIGHT’S BIGGEST WINNERS

Votes appear to be leaking out of Labour and going into UKIP.

0435 — UKIP DOING VERY WELL IN WALES, THE BBC SAYS

From The Guardian:

The Guardian

0431 — LABOUR KEEP LINCOLN

More signs that Labour’s most surprising showing is in the South.

0428 — THE TORIES ARE MAKING MORE GAINS IN SCOTLAND

Dumfriesshire and Edinburgh Central go to the Conservatives. Labour lost the former, the SNP lost the latter. The Cons also gain Aberdeenshire West from the SNP.

0420 – LABOUR LOSING GROUND TO UKIP AND LIB DEMS

0413 — HOW SCOTLAND IS SHAPING UP

0407 — LIB DEMS GAIN FROM SNP IN EDINBURGH

That is an amazing result.

0403 — CONSERVATIVE VOTE IN THE SOUTH GOES SOFT

Tories lose Worcester to hung council. Labour holds Southampton, Nuneaton and Coventry.

0402 — LABOUR HOLD SOUTHAMPTON — OFFICIAL

0358 — THE GUARDIAN (VIA PA) PREDICTS A LANDSLIDE FOR THE SNP

Labour and the Lib Dems become also-rans.

The Guardian

0356 — GREEN PARTY INCREASES VOTE IN SCOTLAND

But not by much … vote up two points to about 6%. Won’t affect their seat count, the BBC says.

0347 — RECOUNT DEMANDED IN CAERPHILLY

BBC

0344 — LABOUR LOSE DUDLEY

It’s now a hung council.

0341 — STATE OF PLAY IN WALES

0338 — STATE OF PLAY IN ENGLAND

0335 — HERE’S THE CURRENT PICTURE IN SCOTLAND

0333 —LABOUR HOLD SOUTHAMPTOM, THE PARTY BELIEVES

0328 — “HOLY HELL!’ IT’S A MIRACLE! LIB-DEMS GAIN ONE IN SCOTLAND!

0321 — LABOUR MP JOHN MANN SAYS ANTI-SEMITISM IN LABOUR PARTY HAS LOST THE PARTY SOME SEATS

Wikimedia, CCJohn Mann

Labour MP John Mann tells the BBC:

The Jewish vote which for generations has gone to Labour … Labour is not going to win power if we don’t get on top of this problem … in those results where the Jewish vote is significant we are losing those seats.

On the topic of coming third in Scotland, Mann said it was “beyond comprehension”:

That would be cataclysmic for our morale. It would be so beyond comprehension. It would need soul-searching among us.

0316 — SOME GOOD NEWS FOR LABOUR: THE TORY VOTE IN THE SOUTH ISN’T THAT STRONG

From the BBC:

BBC

0313 — THE LABOUR COLLAPSE IN ENGLAND CONTINUES

Remember, the party in opposition usually gains hundreds of seats in these elections. The average gain since 1974 has been 434 seats. Yet Labour is losing ground:

0311 — UKIP WILL GAIN REPRESENTATION IN WALES FOR FIRST TIME

THE Guardian

0306 — SCOTTISH RESULTS COMING THICK AND FAST

Labour losing all of them to the SNP. Two Twitter accounts are doing a very good job of feeding the results: @BritainElects and @UKGE2020

0304 — LABOUR HOLD OGMORE BYELECTION

The BBC says:

BBC

0302 — LABOUR COMING THIRD IN SCOTLAND

Buzzfeed’s man thinks so.

0258 — SNP SOLIDIFIES GAINS IN SCOTLAND AS LABOUR FADES

East Kilbride, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City West, Carrick — all go to SNP. Labour loses votes in all of those constituencies.

0250 — HERE IS THE GUARDIAN’S GRAPHIC OF THE NIGHT SO FAR

Astonishingly, the Conservatives are making gains. History says sitting governments tend to lose seats in local elections.

The Guardian

0240 — LABOUR VOTE DOWN BY 11% SO FAR IN SCOTLAND

0231 — CONSERVATIVES TAKE EASTWOOD FROM LABOUR IN SCOTLAND

Eastwood has Scotland’s largest Jewish population, the BBC reports. Perhaps the Ken Livingstone anti-Semitism scandal has hurt Labour’s vote. That is the second area with a large Jewish population to slip from Labour. The party lost a ward in Bury earlier this evening (see below).

Conservative GAIN Eastwood from Labour. (Scot Parl)

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) 6 May 2016

0227 — CONSERVATIVES ON COURSE TO REPLACE LABOUR AS No.2 PARTY IN SCOTLAND

This is extraordinary. Labour is doing so badly in Scotland — where it was wiped out by the SNP in 2015 — that the Tories may become the second most popular party in the nation. That hasn’t happened in years. It is looking like a total realignment in Scotland.

0223 — LABOUR SUFFERING ONLY NET LOSSES, BBC SAYS

This from Prof John Curtice, the BBC’s election expert:

BBC

0220 — LABOUR WINS SHEFFIELD BRIGHTSIDE BYELECTION

That’s a HOLD. The new Labour MP is Gill Furniss.

0212 — LABOUR MAKING ZERO GAINS IN COUNCILS

With 44 councils declared so far, no change in control in any of them. Remember, Labour ought to be taking hundreds of seats across the country if history is a guide.

2:05 England update. Not a single council has changed hands

— Ross Hawkins (@rosschawkins) 6 May 2016

0201 — SNP HOLD HAMILTON

13,945 votes for the SNP. Labour comes in second with 8,508.

0156 — QUESTIONS ARE BEING RAISED ABOUT THE EFFECT LABOUR’S ANTI-SEMITISM ROW HAS HAD ON JEWISH VOTERS

One of the big questions everyone wants an answer to is whether the ugly row over alleged anti-Semitism within Labour over the last week or so has affected the party’s electability. Some people are pointing to Bury’s strong swing away from Labour as an early indication that it might have. But we won’t know for sure until we get more results in.

0145 — TONIGHT IS ALL ABOUT LABOUR

Tonight is unusual. Local elections like these are normally an early barometer of the success (or otherwise) of the party in power: The Tories have governed for a year now, and this is a chance for voters to say what they think. But all anyone is talking about is Labour.

This is because there’s a huge question mark over leader Jeremy Corbyn’s head, and has been ever since he was elected in a shock vote dominated by hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic new party members, in the face of opposition from many in the parliamentary party.

Some are itching to be rid of Corbyn, and these polls offer a potential opportunity. Labour is predicted to lose as many as 100 seats, when traditionally, opposition parties make major gains in mid-term local elections. But Labour counters that this is the wrong metric, and that Labour is working to close the gap on the Conservatives.

It’s just all anyone is talking about in election broadcast coverage, with former secretary of state for defense Liam Fox remarking on the BBC that tonight makes an unusual change from how the party in power normally has to defend losses in local elections.

0135 — NIGEL FARAGE IS CHEERING ON SOME POSITIVE EARLY RESULTS FOR UKIP

0132 — LABOUR HOLDS NUNEATON

Labour has held Nuneaton council — but lost some seats to the Tories.

0124 — REPORTS OF A POSSIBLE LABOUR GAIN FROM THE SNP IN SCOTLAND

There are as-yet-unconfirmed reports that Labour could gain Edinburgh Southern from the SNP. It’d be a remarkable win for the party, as the SNP eyes up another sweeping majority. Elsewhere, Labour is tipped to lose every one of its Glasgow constituency seats to the SNP, with some even predicting that the Conservative Party could push Labour into third place in Scotland.

0105 — LEAKED DOCUMENT: HOW LABOUR IS DOING DAMAGE PREVENTION

Ben Pruchnie / GettyLabour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The BBC’s Nicholas Watts has got his hands on a “close of poll script,” an internal Labour Party memo intended to give its senior figures talking points for Thursday’s election results. The whole thing emphasises the process of “rebuilding” and attempts to downplay what are likely to be significant losses for Labour on the council level. For example, one bit reads:

After what was a hugely disappointing result in 2015, Labour is rebuilding with a focus on the 2020 General Election. It will be a long, hard climb back and these elections are just an early step on that road to recovery.

And here’s another:

It’s never been a realistic target to talk about hundreds of gains given that the last time these elections were fought, in 2012, Labour’s performance was a high water mark. The results then were Labour’s best in the local elections since those that took place in 2001 on the same day as Blair’s second landslide election. At the end of the day, we should be looking for Labour to advance on the 2015 election results, where we finished almost seven per cent behind the Conservatives.

0057 — SCOTTISH RESULTS: SNP GAINS RUTHERGLEN FROM LABOUR

15,000 to 11,500. More to follow.

0048 — FIRST SCOTTISH RESULT: LIB DEMS HOLD ORKNEY

We’ve got the first result in from the Scottish Parliament election: The Liberal Democrats have held the Orkney Islands. The Lib Dems are fighting for their survival across the UK in what is likely to be a tough night for the party, while the nationalist SNP is expecting some bumper wins.

As such, the Lib Dems will be very relieved to have held Orkey — and comfortably. With turnout of 62%, it scored a majority of more than 4,500.

0040 — LABOUR MAKES GAINS, AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

0036 — MCDONNELL: LABOUR ANTI-SEMITISM ROW “HAS SET US BACK”

John McDonnell told the BBC that the row over alleged anti-Semitism within Labour “has set us back, no doubt about that.”

He also attacked Zac Goldsmith’s divisive campaign for London mayor, saying he thinks it has “tarnished for a long time to come.”

0025 — JOHN MCDONNELL RAINS ON UKIP’S PARADE

Labour shadow chancellor is attempting to downplay UKIP’s claims of a fantastic night, arguing to the BBC that — counter to Nigel Farage’s assertions — the Euroskeptic party’s support is a bit lacklustre, all things considered.

“They’re still not achieving the huge breakthrough you’d expect” given the imminent EU Referendum, McDonnell said.

0021 — NIGEL FARAGE: “BREAKTHROUGH”

“UKIP is now voting very hard into the old Labour vote,” Nigel Farage told the BBC in appearance tonight.

He hailed the elections as a “breakthrough” for the Euroskeptic party, predicting gains in Wales, London, and Northern Ireland, and highlighting the party’s high share of votes in Sunderland.

0017 — ALEX SALMOND SPEAKS TO THE BBC

Former SNP leader Alex Salmond made an upbeat appearance on the BBC talking about the SNP’s chances tonight. He refused to be drawn on making a prediction for a win, but reiterated that the party is looking for another outright majority. He also repeated what we’ve been hearing about Glasgow — that Labour has lost out there to the SNP. “We may have made a clean sweep of the entire city,” he said.

0002 — ZAC GOLDSMITH BLASTED BY SENIOR LONDON TORY

Andrew Boff, leader of the Conservatives in the General London Assembly, has attacked Tory candidate for London mayor Zac Goldsmith over his campaign. “It was effectively saying that people of conservative, religious views are not to be trusted and you should not share a platform with them,” he told BBC Newsnight. “That’s outrageous.”

The mayoral race between Goldsmith and Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been pretty ugly. Goldsmith has repeatedly called Sadiq a “radical” and attacked his judgement for sharing a platform with extremists, which Khan’s supporters have countered is “dog-whistle racism” intended to play on voters’ prejudices around Khan’s Muslim faith.

“Well, I don’t think it was a dog whistle because you can’t hear a dog whistle,” said Boff. “Everybody could hear this.”

2339 — TRUMP BACKS BREXIT

Highly controversial presumptive US Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump backs Britain leaving the European Union.

2337 — TURNOUT IN SUNDERLAND: NOT GOOD. UKIP IN SUNDERLAND: VERY GOOD.

Turnout in Sunderland was apparently in the “mid to high twenties.” There’s always a dip for local elections alone compared to the general election, but it’s still a big drop on 2015: That election saw turnout of between 45% and 60% in Sunderland’s different wards.

Meanwhile, UKIP is surging in the area, as it expects a good night all-round.

2328 — RESULTS ARE STARTING TO TRICKLE IN

Here’s some of what we have so far in Sunderland, traditionally one of the first areas of the country to declare results:

2327 — LABOUR HAS AN UNCONVENTIONAL WIN

A Lib Dem councillor has apparently defected to Labour in Stockport — just one minute after the polls closed!

2324 — MORE ON LABOUR’S APPARENT MISFORTUNES IN GLASGOW

2316 — FIRST RESULT: LABOUR HOLDS SUNDERLAND

2313 — REPORTS OF BAD NEWS FOR LABOUR IN SCOTLAND COMING IN

Labour is reportedly expecting to lose all its Glasgow MSP’s in the Scottish parliamentary election. Right now it has four of the nine constituency seats, with the other five going to the SNP. SNP also returns seven MSPs by party list, so Labour may still be able to field some MSPs for Glasgow — but it’s still not a pretty result if true.

2310 — UKIP IS PREDICTING A “BREAKTHROUGH” RESULT

Ben Pruchnie / GettyNigel Farage.

Speaking ahead of today’s election, UKIP leader Nigel Farage was extremely positive about his party’s chances — claiming the Eurosceptic party will have a “breakthrough” result.

Farage predicted that UKIP would win at least five seats on the Welsh Assembly, and if ITV’s on-the-day poll is accurate, then he’s going to be over-joyed: It predicts the party has won 8.

But whatever the final result, the real vote for UKIP comes in a month’s time — when Britain goes to the polls again for the EU referendum.

2252 — FIRST WELSH POLL — LABOUR LOSES THREE SEATS

Here’s an on-the-day opinion poll on the Welsh Assembly elections. Note that this is not a formal exit poll, so take it as you will.

Labour is down three seats, according to the poll, and the Lib Dems have also lost seats, as expected — but they’re not down to the nightmare scenario of just one Assembly Member.

More to come.

2251 — TONIGHT COULD BE MAKE OR BREAK FOR CORBYN

How the Labour party performs tonight could either signal the beginning of the end of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership or provide some much needed support after a turbulent campaign period.

It’s bad enough that predictions of Labour losing over 100 seats loomed over the party before voting even closed. But Labour has just been dealt another blow, with former Labour leader contender Andy Burnham considering running for Mayor of Manchester.

Burnham was a popular choice for the Labour leadership behind Corbyn. However, his public decision to consider the mayoral position could interpreted as an abandonment of the parliamentary party.

Over the last couple of weeks, allegations of anti-semitism across the Labour party has caused a great deal of damage to Britain’s main opposition.

It led to a flurry of party suspensions, including former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, Bradford West MP Naz Shah, Newport councillor Miqdad Al-Nuaimi , and Renfrewshire councillor Terry Kelly.

While Sadiq Khan has been seen as the frontrunner in the Mayor of London race, allegations of giving a platform to extremists have also dominated the campaign.

2249 — MCDONNELL: BURNHAM BECOMING MANCHESTER MAYOR WOULD BE A “LOSS”

John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, has responded to the news that Andy Burnham is considering running for mayor of Manchester, telling Sky News it would be a “loss to the Labour Party” ahead of the General Election in 2020, but he can “see why people are approaching him.”

Here are more of his comments, via the BBC:

I would want him to stay on and be the home secretary when we go into power because I think he is such a tremendous asset for the Labour Party, but I know how dedicated he is not just to his constituency, but how he has been a dedicated advocate for the north as well. He is a northern lad, he has got real grassroots and I can see how he is tempted by that and why others are saying ‘why not think about it’.

2240 — FIRST PHOTOS OF THE COUNT

We’ve got our first photos of the count underway showing up on social media. Results will come in throughout the night and well into tomorrow, depending on the particular election.

2235 — LIB DEMS BRACING FOR AN UNCOMFORTABLE NIGHT

Christopher Furlong / GettyTim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats are expecting tonight is going to be “difficult.” The Guardian has posted a memo sent to journalists from the party in which the party attempts to spin what it clearly expects will be an unpleasant set of results:

The task of turning things around after last year is gargantuan, but it’s underway and we are hoping to see some progress. We are realistic though, the loss last year was so catastrophic it will be incredibly difficult.

This is a test for Corbyn regardless of what they brief. Labour have been crowing about the thousands of people flocking to their new movement and this is their first test. If they go backwards, the voters will have seen them for the ineffectual opposition they are

Regardless of the Conservative’s result tonight, it is a simple prelude to the referendum which is about to tear the Tory Government apart.

2229 — LIB DEMS REPORTEDLY EXPECTING LOSSES IN WALES

The BBC reports the Liberal Democrats expect to be left with as few as one assembly member in Wales after today’s election.

2220 — THERE ARE NO EXIT POLLS — BUT THAT’S NOT THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD

It’s certainly disappointing that there won’t be any exit polls for the May elections this evening, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

At Business Insider, we’re reported several times about how inaccurate polling has been over the last year.

In 2015’s General Election 2015, no one, apart from tech group Survey Monkey, had accurately predicted that the Conservative party would win.

And in EU Referendum polls, there is no trend between each poll that has been brought out.

In one of our reports, we highlighted how there are four big reasons for why polls in a way are kind of pointless:

1. Phone polling gives the “remain” camp a lead in the polls compared to online polls.
2. How the question is phrased makes a massive difference to responses.
3. Phone polls don’t have a “don’t know” option.
4. Politicians and the media want quick polling turnaround times

You can read about this in more detail here. (It discusses the EU Referendum, but the points can be applied more broadly.)

2211 — WELSH POLL EXPECTED AT 10.30PM

A poll for Wales is expected at 10.30PM tonight, just over 15 minutes.

2207 — ANDY BURNHAM CONSIDERING RUNNING FOR MANCHESTER MAYOR

Andy Burnham, the failed Labour leader hopeful, is considering running for mayor of Manchester, Sky News reports. The election will be held in May 2017. We’ll bring you more details as they come in.

2204 — DON’T EXPECT ANY EXIT POLLS

There aren’t any formal exit polls for tonight’s results, although there will be opinion polls.

2200 — POLLS ARE CLOSED!

We’ll post early polls as soon as we have them.

2156 — CATCH UP ON THE DAY’S EVENTS

There’s still a few minutes until the polls close, so amuse yourselves by reading our earlier coverage of the day’s events, from leader votes to screw-ups in Barnet, North London.

2150 — BRACE YOURSELVES

Welcome to part two of our live coverage of the Britain’s elections. Polls close in 10 minutes, at 10 p.m. BST. We’ll bring you any opinion polls as soon as we have them, as well as the actual results as they come in throughout the night and into tomorrow.

The BBC’s Daily Politics has put together a good guide to when (it predicts) results will start coming in. The short version is that we should get some council results tonight, as well as all the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament results, with more coming tomorrow.

The London mayor is expected to be announced officially tomorrow evening — though with all of these, earlier opinion polls should give us some indication of which way it’s likely to go.

Tonight will be a crucial test of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Corbyn was elected leader off the back of a huge wave of activist support, but he faces opposition from within the parliamentary party. Britain’s opposition has also been gripped by an ugly row over alleged anti-Semitism from some party members in its ranks over the last week.

There are rumours circulating that Labour could face heavy losses in Council elections.

The results will also serve as a barometer of public support for Prime Minister David Cameron, who has led a majority Conservative government for the last year but faced upsets including a crisis in the British steel industry and huge junior doctor’s strikes.

One of the key races to watch is London mayor, which is considered a two-horse race between the Conservative Zac Goldsmith and Labour’s Sadiq Khan, who is odds-on favourite to win and would be the city’s first Muslim mayor.

You can catch up on our previous coverage of today’s events here.

This is a liveblog of the day’s events and will be updated frequently. Refresh the page for the latest news, or click here.