| Vote | Councils | Change | Seats | Change | |
| Conservatives | 29% | 41 | (-12) | 1359 | (-231) |
| Labour | 31% | 82 | (+5) | 2101 | (+338) |
| Liberal Democrats | 13% | 6 | (-2) | 427 | (-307) |
| UKIP | 17% | 0 | (-) | 163 | (+161) |
| Green | 10% | 0 | (-) | 36 | (+16) |
| NOC/Other | - | 32 | (+9) | 125 | (+23) |
UKIP produced a political surge last night to trouble all three of the traditional parties after taking 163 seats across the 161 local authorities which went to the polls.
Yes, of course, as it stands today, Nigel Farage's party still does not control a single council in England and it still does have a single MP in the House of Commons.
But a strong performance in Essex yesterday suggested that may well change in next year's general election.
UKIP gains meant that the likes of Brentwood, Castle Point and Southend in Essex fell from the clutches of the Conservatives into no overall control.
Notably, so did Basildon, where UKIP made an astonishing 11 gains to become the second largest party in a town historically famed for its working class support of Margaret Thatcher.
It was not just against the Tories that UKIP tasted success, though. Labour also had three authorities fall into no overall control including another Essex town, Thurrock, which Mr Farage visited after five gains there.
And, in Labour's northern heartlands too, UKIP made an impression, surely ending the myth once and for all that its vote only damages the Tories.
In Rotherham, it won 10 seats and finished second in the other 11 which were up for grabs. Meanwhile, on the basis of ward results, the party would have won the Westminster seat of Great Grimsby in a general election.
Indeed, the only area in which UKIP struggled was London, coincidentally the only area where Labour performed to a level required to win an outright majority next year.
The most noteworthy result in the capital came in what had previously been a flagship Tory council in Hammersmith and Fulham. There, Labour won 11 seats directly from the Conservatives to win back power for the first time since 2006.
Labour also overturned the Tories in Croydon and made other capital gains in Harrow, Merton and Redbridge which it controls for the first time ever.
Outside of London, Labour gained Crawley and Amber Valley in Derbyshire from the Conservatives, as well as Bradford and Cambridge from no overall control.
And, altogether, Ed Miliband's party gained more than 2,000 local authority seats to become the largest party in local government in England and Wales for the first time since 2004.
But the projected national share of the vote was not such good news for Labour with the party's 31% down seven points on 2012 and only two percent ahead of the Conservatives.
The Tories, as expected, had a tough night at the ballot box, losing control of 13 councils including Havering, Maidstone, Peterborough, Purbeck in Dorset, and West Lancashire as well as those already mentioned.
Prime Minister David Cameron doused calls from the Eurosceptic wing of his party for a pact with UKIP next year, stating the Conservatives would be fighting for an "all-out win".
But room for optimism was confined to strong holds in Swindon and Trafford, and a sole success in Kingston upon Thames against their beleaguered coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.
In fact, across the board, Nick Clegg's party lost an amazing 41% of the seats which it was defending, being replaced by the Green Party as the official opposition in Liverpool and getting totally wiped out in Manchester.
Nevertheless, Mr Clegg vowed to fight on as leader, echoing a familiar refrain to that which he gave following similar local council losses last year.
But it has not only been Mr Clegg's future which has been challenged by these results.
Labour's lacklustre performance was greeted this morning by the Times newspaper running the headline 'Knives out for Miliband as Labour jitters grow'.
The story was based upon the assessment by a "senior" party insider that Mr Miliband "looks weird, sounds weird, is weird".
Meanwhile, Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, Graham Stringer - a regular critic - lambasted the campaign, calling it "unforgivably unprofessional".
And he was joined by fellow backbencher John Mann. The MP for Bassetlaw criticised Mr Miliband for a "tremendously ill-judged campaign", and accused his own party of complacency in the belief that UKIP would only harm the Conservatives.
If that was indeed the Labour party strategy, it was undoubtedly a mistake - although it must also be accepted that UKIP was always going to do well in a year alongside the European elections.
By the way, the results of those Europe polls are announced from 10pm on Sunday evening.
And, with Mr Farage predicting a first ever win for UKIP in a national election, the other parties have already begun to brace themselves again.
SWITCHED COUNCILS
- Labour gains (9)
From Conservatives: Amber Valley - Crawley - Croydon - Hammersmith and Fulham
From NOC: Bradford - Cambridge - Harrow - Merton - Redbridge
- Conservative gains (1)
From Liberal Democrats: Kingston upon Thames
- No overall control gains (14)
From Conservatives: Basildon - Brentwood - Castle Point - Havering - Maidstone - Peterborough - Purbeck - Southend-on-Sea - West Lancashire
From Labour: Great Yarmouth - North East Lincolnshire - Thurrock - Tower Hamlets
From Liberal Democrats: Portsmouth
LONDON
All seats are up for election
Conservatives
Barnet - Bexley - Bromley - Hillingdon - Kensington and Chelsea - Kingston upon Thames - Richmond upon Thames - Wandsworth - Westminster
Labour
Barking and Dagenham - Brent - Camden - Croydon - Ealing - Enfield - Greenwich - Hackney - Hammersmith and Fulham - Haringey - Harrow - Hounslow - Islington - Lambeth - Lewisham - Merton - Newham - Redbridge - Southwark - Waltham Forest
Lib Dems
Sutton
No overall control
Havering - Tower Hamlets
MAYORS
All five mayors held their seats
Labour
Hackney (Jules Pipe) - Lewisham (Steve Bullock) - Newham (Robin Wales)
Lib Dems
Watford (Dorothy Thornhill)
Independent
Tower Hamlets (Lutfur Rahman)
METROPOLITAN BOROUGHS AND UNITARIES One-third of seats are up for election (*whole council)
Conservatives
Solihull - Swindon - Trafford - Wokingham
Labour
Barnsley - Birmingham - Blackburn with Darwen - Bolton - Bradford - Bury - Coventry - Derby - Doncaster - Dudley - Gateshead - Halton - Hartlepool - Kingston upon Hull - Knowsley - Leeds - Liverpool - Manchester - Newcastle upon Tyne - North Tyneside - Oldham - Plymouth - Reading - Rochdale - Rotherham - St Helens - Salford - Sandwell - Sefton - Sheffield - Slough* - Southampton - South Tyneside - Sunderland - Tameside - Wakefield - Warrington - Wigan - Wirral - Wolverhampton
No overall control
Bristol - Calderdale - Kirklees - Milton Keynes* - North East Lincolnshire - Peterborough - Portsmouth - Southend-on-Sea - Stockport - Thurrock - Walsall
NON-METROPOLITAN DISTRICTS One-third of seats are up for election (*whole council, ^half council)
Conservatives
Adur^ - Broxbourne - Cherwell - Craven - Daventry - Elmbridge - Epping Forest - Fareham^ - Gosport^ - Harrogate - Havant - Hertsmere - Huntingdonshire - North Hertfordshire - Reigate and Banstead - Rochford - Rugby - Runnymede - Rushmoor - South Cambridgeshire - Stratford-on-Avon - Tamworth - Tandridge - Tunbridge Wells - Welwyn Hadfield - West Oxfordshire - Woking - Worthing
Labour
Amber Valley - Bassetlaw - Burnley - Cambridge - Cannock Chase - City of Carlisle - Chorley - Crawley - Exeter - Harlow - Hastings^ - Hyndburn - Ipswich - Lincoln - Newcastle-under-Lyme - Norwich - Nuneaton and Bedworth^ - Oxford^ - Preston - Redditch - Rossendale - Stevenage
Lib Dems
Cheltenham^ - Eastleigh - South Lakeland - Watford - Three Rivers*
No overall control
Basildon - Basingstoke and Deane - Brentwood - Castle Point - Colchester - Gloucester - Great Yarmouth - Hart* - Maidstone - Mole Valley - Pendle - Purbeck - St Albans - Stroud - West Lancashire - Weymouth and Portland - Winchester - Worcester - Wyre Forest
NORTHERN IRELAND
New councils
Antrim and Newtownabbey - Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon - Belfast City Council - Causeway Coast and Glens - Derry and Strabane - Fermanagah and Omagh - Lisburn and Castlereagh - Mid and East Antrim - Mid-Ulster - Newry, Mourne and Down - North Down and Ards
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