Johnson's Conservatives crush Corbyn's Labour in General Election

GENERAL ELECTION 2019

Conservative majority of 80

	SCOREBOARD	Seats	Diff	Votes%	Diff%
•	Conservatives	365	(+48)	43.6	(+1.2)
•	Labour	203	(-60)	32.1	(-7.9)
•	Lib Dems	11	(-1)	11.6	(+4.2)
•	Scottish Nationals	48	(+13)	3.9	(+0.8)
•	Green Party	1	(-)	2.7	(+1.1)
•	Brexit Party	-	(-)	2.0	(+2.0)
•	Democratic Unionists	8	(-2)	0.8	(-0.1)
•	Plaid Cymru	4	(-)	0.5	(-)
•	Others	10	(+2)	2.8

Turnout 67.3%

EXIT POLL • CON 368 • LAB 191 • LD 13 • OTH 78  • Conservative majority of 86

BORIS JOHNSON received a huge mandate for his promise to "get Brexit done" as the Conservatives crushed Labour in its heartlands in the north, the Midlands and Wales to gain a comfortable majority of 80.
 
On a catastrophic night for Jeremy Corbyn, the Tories took seats such as Blyth Valley, Bishop Auckland, Sedgefield, West Bromwich West, and Wrexham, all of which had been Labour-held since 1935.
 

Leigh - the former seat of Andy Burnham, the current Mayor of Manchester - had been a Labour stalwart since 1922 but has now returned a Conservative MP.

It was a picture repeated all over the country throughout the night from early on when the Blyth Valley result came through just after 11.30pm.

The Sedgefield result - a constituency previously represented for 24 years by former Prime Minister Tony Blair - came in around four hours later.

Well before that, the exit poll at 10pm - giving a Conservative majority of 86 - had caused its usual stir and ultimately proved to be just about as accurate as it was in 2017 when Theresa May lost her majority.

This time, Labour lost by some ridiculous margins in supposedly solid seats and so was also defeated in many other places which had never previously come under consideration for the Tories.

Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire provided the biggest successful swing of the night - 18% - as the Conservatives ended a history of Labour control which stretched back to 1929.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Derbyshire, 87-year-old Dennis Skinner lost Bolsover after representing the area for just short of half a century.

Indeed, it is perhaps difficult to quantify fully what a horror show this election was for Labour on Friday 13th. It really was the nightmare before Christmas for the party.

The unashamedly pro-Remain Liberal Democrats - who stood on a platform of revoking Article 50 - had a similarly poor night following a lacklustre campaign.

Their eventually tally of 11 seats was one fewer than last time as leader Jo Swinson lost her own Dunbartonshire East seat to the Scottish National Party.

Few tears around the country will have been shed for her on either side of the political divide.

The Scottish Nationalists have plenty to smile about, though. Having regressed somewhat in 2017, Nicola Sturgeon's party augmented their already dominant position north of the border.

It may well take another big win in the Scottish Parliament elections in 2021 to transform their dream into reality - but, while Mr Johnson might not like to hear it, the question surrounding Scottish independence is certainly not going to disappear anytime soon.

At least this election has appears to have provided a solution to the Brexit quandary which has stalled the country since the vote to leave the European Union three-and-a-half years ago.

Still, though, Mr Johnson has been re-elected to a country which is in dire need of investment in its public services while Brexit finally gets sorted.

In fairness, the Tories have pledged to reverse some of the damaging cuts made during the post-2010 period of austerity in terms of nurses and police officers, even if they have been rather economical with the truth regarding the actual numbers.

And therein lies the problem, really. Mr Johnson has won this election in spite of his poor personal ratings, aided by the fact that Mr Corbyn's popularity was, of course, worse still.

On the question of trust, Mr Johnson rated woefully - which must surely come as no surprise to a man who has literally been sacked from top jobs for lying - twice.

But Mr Corbyn ultimately had more historical mud which stuck - and, having been an asset to his party when still relatively unknown at a national level in 2017, he was equally a liability for Labour this time.

Labour's vote went down all across the UK - in both strongly Remain and Leave seats - so, while this was a Brexit election, the party must come to accept that Brexit was not the only reason for its defeat.

A period of introspection now follows for the Opposition - might the party have done better with the same manifesto with someone more popular fronting the campaign?

Or if Labour risked replacing Mr Corbyn with a more centrist outlook, how much of its fanatical membership will the party lose - and how many votes might it win back?

Instinctively, it does not feel as if it is going to be pretty either way - and, in the last few years, Labour has given the impression that it specialises in mass infighting.

In any case, the next leadership election will merely provide a potentially messy sideshow to the early decisions of the Johnson government.

Finally, for now, a word on the media - specifically the BBC - which, by any standards, had a wretched campaign from the start.

After a dishevelled Mr Johnson made a mess of placing a red wreath at the Cenotaph, ahead of the silence on Remembrance Sunday, BBC Breakfast instead showed footage of him in much smarter dress placing a green wreath in 2016 when he was Foreign Secretary.

Then there was the rather more serious matter of the BBC editing a clip for its main bulletin to cut out the audience laughter at the Prime Minister during the party leaders' Question Time, after he was asked whether he believed it was important to tell the truth. The edited clip showed only applause.

Now, only the most ardent Corbynite would suggest that the poor editorial decisions of the BBC was truly the reason why the Conservatives have enjoyed so much success in this election at the expense of Labour.

But, in a world ravaged by fake news on social media and newspapers in the traditional media which stick rigidly to their own agenda, it would be difficult to suggest the BBC in any way provided a much better service.

Sky News is now widely available in the UK on Freeview, not just by subscription - and, out of the clutches of Rupert Murdoch, appears to provide a genuinely more balanced output. 

Certainly, it must be said the BBC cannot consider itself to be the almost untouchable national institution which it once was.

GENERAL ELECTION 2019

REGION-BY-REGION

NORTH EAST ENGLAND

• Conservative

Berwick-upon-Tweed - Hexham - Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland | Gains: Bishop Auckland, Blyth Valley, Darlington, North West Durham, Redcar, Sedgefield, Stockton South

• Labour

Blaydon - City of Durham - North Durham - Easington - Gateshead - Hartlepool - Houghton & Sunderland South - Jarrow - Middlesbrough - Newcastle upon Tyne Central - Newcastle upon Tyne East - Newcastle upon Tyne North - South Shields - Stockton North - Sunderland Central - Tynemouth - North Tyneside - Wansbeck - Washington & Sunderland West

NORTH WEST ENGLAND

• Conservative

Altrincham & Sale West - Blackpool North & Cleveleys - Bolton West - Carlisle - Cheadle - Congleton - Copeland - Eddisbury - Fylde - Hazel Grove - Macclesfield - Morecambe & Lunesdale - Pendle - Penrith & The Border - Ribble Valley - Rossendale & Darwen - South Ribble - Southport - Tatton - Wyre & Preston North | Gains: Barrow & Furness - Blackpool South, Bolton North East, Burnley, Bury North, Bury South, Crewe & Nantwich, Heywood & Middleton, Hyndburn, Leigh, Warrington South, Workington

• Labour

Ashton Under Lyne - Birkenhead - Blackburn - Blackley & Broughton - Bolton South East - Bootle -  City of Chester - Denton & Reddish - Ellesmere Port & Neston - Garston & Halewood - Halton - Knowsley - Lancashire West - Lancaster & Fleetwood - Liverpool Riverside - Liverpool Walton - Liverpool Wavertree - Liverpool West Derby - Makerfield - Manchester Central - Manchester Gorton - Manchester Withington - Oldham East & Saddleworth - Oldham West & Royton - Preston - Rochdale - St Helens North - St Helens South & Whiston - Salford & Eccles - Sefton Central - Stalybridge & Hyde - Stockport - Stretford & Urmston - Wallasey - Warrington North - Weaver Vale - Wigan - Wirral South - Wirral West - Worsley & Eccles South - Wythenshawe & Sale East

• Liberal Democrats

Westmorland & Lonsdale

• Speaker

Chorley

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER

• Conservative

Beverley & Holderness - Brigg & Goole - Calder Valley - Cleethorpes - Elmet & Rothwell - Haltemprice & Howden - Harrogate & Knaresborough - Morley & Outwood - Pudsey - Richmond - Scarborough & Whitby - Selby & Ainsty - Shipley - Skipton & Ripon - Thirsk & Malton - York Outer - East Yorkshire | Gains: Colne Valley, Dewsbury, Don Valley, Great Grimsby, Keighley, Penistone & Stocksbridge, Rother Valley, Scunthorpe, Wakefield

• Labour

Barnsley Central - Barnsley East - Batley & Spen - Bradford East - Bradford South - Bradford West - Doncaster Central - Doncaster North - Halifax - Hemsworth - Huddersfield - Kingston-upon-Hull East - Kingston-upon-Hull North - Kingston-upon-Hull West & Hessle - Leeds Central - Leeds East - Leeds North East - Leeds North West - Leeds West - Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford - Rotherham - Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough - Sheffield Central - Sheffield Hallam - Sheffield Heeley - Sheffield South East - Wentworth & Dearne - York Central

EAST MIDLANDS

• Conservative

Amber Valley - Boston & Skegness - Bosworth - Broxtowe - Charnwood - Corby - Daventry - Derbyshire Dales - Mid Derbyshire - North East Derbyshire - South Derbyshire - Erewash - Gainsborough - Grantham & Stamford - Harborough - Kettering - North West Leicestershire - South Leicestershire - Loughborough - Louth & Horncastle - Mansfield - Newark - Northampton North - Northampton South - South Northamptonshire - Rushcliffe - Rutland & Melton - Sherwood - Sleaford & North Hykeham - South Holland & The Deepings - Wellingborough | Gains: Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Derby North, Gedling, High Peak, Lincoln

• Labour

Chesterfield - Derby South - Leicester East - Leicester South - Leicester West - Nottingham East - Nottingham North - Nottingham South

WEST MIDLANDS

• Conservative

Aldridge-Brownhills - Bromsgrove - Burton - Cannock Chase - Dudley South - Halesowen & Rowley Regis - Hereford & South Herefordshire - North Herefordshire - Kenilworth & Southam - Lichfield - Ludlow - Meriden - Nuneaton - Redditch - Rugby - Shrewsbury & Atcham - North Shropshire - Solihull - Stafford - Staffordshire Moorlands - South Staffordshire - Stoke-on-Trent South - Stone - Stourbridge - Stratford-on-Avon - Sutton Coldfield - Tamworth - Telford - North Warwickshire - Worcester - Mid Worcestershire | Gains: Birmingham Northfield, Dudley North, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent Central, Stoke-on-Trent North, West Bromwich East, West Bromwich West, Wolverhampton North East, Wolverhampton South West

• Labour

Birmingham Edgbaston - Birmingham Erdington - Birmingham Hall Green - Birmingham Hodge Hill - Birmingham Ladywood - Birmingham Perry Barr - Birmingham Selly Oak - Birmingham Yardley - Coventry North East - Coventry North West - Coventry South - Walsall North - Walsall South - Warley - Warwick & Leamington - Wolverhampton South East

EAST ENGLAND

• Conservative

Basildon & Billericay - South Basildon & East Thurrock - Mid Bedfordshire - North East Bedfordshire - South West Bedfordshire - Braintree - Brentwood & Ongar - Broadland - Broxbourne - Bury St Edmunds - North East Cambridgeshire - North West Cambridgeshire - South Cambridgeshire - South East Cambridgeshire - Castle Point - Chelmsford - Clacton - Colchester - Epping Forest - Great Yarmouth - Harlow - Harwich & North Essex - Hemel Hempstead - Hertford & Stortford - North East Hertfordshire - South West Hertfordshire - Hertsmere - Hitchin & Harpenden - Huntingdon - Maldon - Mid Norfolk - North West Norfolk - South Norfolk - South West Norfolk - Norwich North - Rayleigh & Wickford - Rochford & Southend East - Saffron Walden - Southend West - Stevenage - Central Suffolk & Ipswich North - Suffolk Coastal - South Suffolk - West Suffolk - Thurrock - Watford - Waveney - Welwyn Hatfield - Witham | Gains: Ipswich, North Norfolk, Peterborough

• Labour

Bedford - Cambridge - Luton North - Luton South - Norwich South

• Liberal Democrats 
Gains: St Albans

SOUTH EAST ENGLAND

• Conservative

Aldershot - Arundel & South Downs - Ashford - Aylesbury - Banbury - Basingstoke - Beaconsfield - Bexhill & Battle - Bognor Regis & Littlehampton - Bracknell - Buckinghamshire - Chatham & Aylesford - Chesham & Amersham - Chichester - Crawley - Dartford - Dover - Eastleigh - Epsom & Ewell - Esher & Walton - Fareham - Faversham & Mid Kent - Folkestone & Hythe - Gillingham & Rainham - Gosport - Gravesham - Guildford - East Hampshire - North East Hampshire - North West Hampshire - Hastings & Rye - Havant - Henley - Horsham - Isle of Wight - Lewes - Maidenhead - Maidstone & The Weald - Meon Valley - Milton Keynes North - Milton Keynes South - Mole Valley - New Forest East - New Forest West - Newbury - Portsmouth North - Reading West - Reigate - Rochester & Strood - Romsey & Southampton North - Runnymede & Weybridge - Sevenoaks - Sittingbourne & Sheppey - Southampton Itchen - Spelthorne - East Surrey - Surrey Heath - South West Surrey - Mid Sussex - North Thanet - South Thanet - Tonbridge & Malling - Tunbridge Wells - Wantage - Wealden - Winchester - Windsor - Witney - Woking - Wokingham - Worthing East & Shoreham - Worthing West - Wycombe | Gains: Eastbourne

• Labour

Brighton Kemptown - Canterbury - Hove - Oxford East - Portsmouth South - Reading East - Slough - Southampton Test

• Liberal Democrats

Oxford West and Abingdon

• Green
Brighton Pavilion 

LONDON

• Conservative

Beckenham - Bexleyheath & Crayford - Bromley & Chislehurst - Chelsea & Fulham - Chingford & Woodford Green - Chipping Barnet - Cities of London & Westminster - Croydon South - Finchley & Golders Green - Harrow East - Hendon - Hornchurch & Upminster - Old Bexley & Sidcup - Orpington - Putney - Romford - Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner - Richmond Park - Sutton & Cheam - Uxbridge & Ruislip South - Wimbledon | Gains: Carshalton & Wallington, Kensington

• Labour

Barking - Battersea - Bermondsey & Old Southwark - Bethnal Green & Bow - Brentford & Isleworth - Brent Central - Brent North - Camberwell & Peckham - Croydon Central - Croydon North - Dagenham & Rainham - Dulwich & West Norwood - Ealing Central & Acton - Ealing North - Ealing Southall - East Ham - Edmonton - Eltham - Enfield North - Enfield Southgate - Erith & Thamesmead - Feltham & Heston - Greenwich & Woolwich - Hackney North & Stoke Newington - Hackney South & Shoreditch - Hammersmith - Hampstead & Kilburn - Harrow West - Hayes & Harlington - Holborn & St Pancras - Hornsey & Wood Green - Ilford North - Ilford South - Islington North - Islington South & Finsbury - Lewisham Deptford - Lewisham East - Lewisham West & Penge - Leyton & Wantstead - Mitcham & Morden - Poplar & Limehouse - Streatham - Tooting - Tottenham - Vauxhall - Walthamstow - West Ham - Westminster North | Gains: Putney

• Liberal Democrats

Carshalton & Wallington - Kingston & Surbiton - Twickenham | Gains: Richmond Park

SOUTH WEST ENGLAND

• Conservative

Bournemouth East - Bournemouth West - Bridgwater & Somerset West - Camborne & Redruth - Cheltenham - Chippenham - Christchurch - North Cornwall - South East Cornwall - The Cotswolds - Devizes - Central Devon - East Devon - North Devon - South West Devon - West Devon and Torridge - Mid Dorset and North Poole - North Dorset - South Dorset - West Dorset - Filton & Bradley Stoke - Forest of Dean - Gloucester - Kingswood - Newton Abbot - Plymouth Moor View - Poole - St Austell & Newquay - St Ives - Salisbury - North Somerset - North East Somerset - Somerton & Frome - North Swindon - South Swindon - Taunton Deane - Tewkesbury - Thornbury & Yate - Tiverton & Honiton - Torbay - Totnes - Truro & Falmouth - Wells - Weston-Super-Mare - North Wiltshire - South West Wiltshire - Yeovil | Gains: Stroud

• Labour

Bristol East - Bristol North West - Bristol South - Bristol West - Exeter - Plymouth Sutton & Devonport

• Liberal Democrats

Bath

SCOTLAND

• Conservative

Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine - Banff & Buchan - Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk - Dumfries & Galloway - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale - Moray

• Labour
Edinburgh South

• Scottish National Party

Aberdeen North - Airdree & Shotts - Argyll & Bute - Ayrshire Central - Ayrshire North & Arran - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East  - West Dunbartonshire - Dundee East - Dundee West - Dunfermline & West Fife - East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow - Edinburgh East - Edinburgh North & Leith - Edinburgh South West - Falkirk - Glasgow Central - Glasgow East - Glasgow North  - Glasgow North West - Glasgow South - Glasgow South West - Glenrothes - Inverclyde - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey - Kilmarnock & Loudoun - Lanark & Hamilton East - Linlithgow & Falkirk East - Livingston - Motherwell & Wishaw - Na h-Eileanan an lar - Paisley & Renfrewshire North - Paisley & Renfrewshire South - Perth & North Perthshire - Ross, Sky & Lochaber | Gains: Aberdeen South, Angus, Ayr-Carrick & Cumnock, Coatbridge-Chryston & Belshill, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfewshire, Glasgow North East, Gordon, Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath, Midlothian, Ochil & South Perthshire, Rutherglen & Hamilton West, Stirling

• Liberal Democrats

Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross - Edinburgh West - Orkney & Shetland | Gains: North East Fife

WALES

• Conservative

Aberconwy - Brecon & Radnorshire - Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire - Clwyd West - Monmouth - Montgomeryshire - Preseli Pembrokeshire - Vale of Glamorgan | Gains: Bridgend, Clwyd South, Delyn, Vale of Clwyd, Wrexham, Ynys Mon

• Labour

Aberavon - Alyn & Deeside - Blaenau Gwent - Caerphilly - Cardiff Central - Cardiff North - Cardiff South & Penarth - Cardiff West - Cynon Valley - Gower - Islwyn - Llanelli - Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney - Neath - Newport East - Newport West - Ogmore - Pontypridd - Rhondda - Swansea East - Swansea West - Torfaen

• Plaid Cymru

Arfon - Carmarthen East & Dinefwr - Ceredigion - Dwyfor Meirionnydd  

NORTHERN IRELAND

• Democratic Unionists
Belfast East - East Antrim - East Londonderry - Lagan Valley - North Antrim - South Antrim - Strangford - Upper Bann 

• Sinn Fein

Belfast West - Fermanagh & South Tyrone - Mid Ulster - Newry & Armagh - South Down - West Tyrone | Gains: Belfast North

• SDLP 
Gains: Belfast South, Foyle 

• Alliance
Gains: North Down

Labour left limited as Tories hold ground

SCOREBOARD	Councils	+/-	Seats	+/-	Share
Labour	74	-	2350	+77	35%
Conservative	46	-2	1332	-33	35%
Liberal Democrats	9	+4	536	+75	16%
Independent	-	-	97	-	-
Residents' Association	-	-	46	-2	-
Green	-	-	39	+8	-
UKIP	-	-	3	-123	-
Liberal	-	-	1	-1	-
No Overall Control	21	-2	-	-	-

LABOUR struggled to make much headway on a mixed night for the two major parties in the English local elections held on Thursday.

Jeremy Corbyn's party gained a net total of 77 seats and took control of three more councils - but also lost control of three local authorities and failed to get near to taking many of its targets.

The Conservatives - as a governing party - had some unexpectedly bright results, taking Redditch directly from Labour as well as Barnet, Basildon, and Peterborough from no overall control.

However, the Tories lost control of Plymouth directly to Labour and lost three councils directly to the Liberal Democrats - including Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames in London.

Labour's own anticpated London surge never really materialised - there were gains in Wandsworth and four seats changed hands in Westminster.

But, in Hillingdon and in Barnet, Labour actually lost ground to the Conservatives - and, in Barnet, where there is a significant Jewish population, it was enough for the Tories to take control.

Prime Minister Theresa May thus emerged relatively unscathed in what was her first electoral test since her botched attempt to increase her majority in last year's early general election.

It did not seem to matter that, in the intervening 12 months, there have been no fewer than four major ministerial resignations with the most recent of them occurring less than a week ago.

Amber Rudd's decision to step down as Home Secretary over the Windrush scandal was not a surprise.

Indeed, it became inevitable once she had admitted to “inadvertently” misleading Parliament over the existence of deportation targets.

Out of all the resignations from this ramshackle government, however, the departure of Ms Rudd will have hit Mrs May hardest.

After all, many of the problems at the Home Office are historic in their nature and date back to when the current PM was Home Secretary herself.

Meanwhile, the Brexit negotiations continue to be a mess. As it stands, Britain is still no closer to knowing what relationship it will have with the customs union or indeed what will happen with the border in Ireland.

Time is running short. There are now just 328 days until Britain formally leaves the European Union on 29 March 2019 - although even this does not appear as black-and-white as it seems.

One thing which can be said for certain as a result of these elections - UKIP, having already achieved its aim of removing Britain from the EU, is now finished as a political force.

Four years ago, when the vast majority of these seats were last contested, UKIP was riding high and in fact took the most votes in the European elections held on the same day.

On Thursday, however, the Eurosceptic party took only three seats - including two in Derby - but it also lost 123 councillors, a year after having lost 145.

In a remarkable interview, the near-wipeout led Paul Oakley, the general secretary of UKIP, to liken the party to the Black Death, a pandemic which claimed millions of lives in the 14th century.

And there certainly can be no more definitive end than that.

Of course, the Conservatives have been the main beneficiaries of the collapse in the UKIP vote - but this is effectively just the right-wing of the Tory party returning to the fold.

Indeed, neither major political party seems able to break outside of its comfort zone.

For instance, there are still no Conservative councillors in Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, Liverpool, or Sheffield.

And, within the capital, Labour now holds all the seats in the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Lewisham, and Newham, and all-but-one of the councillors in Islington.

Outside of the big cities, though, Labour continues to struggle to break through.

There was little progress, if any, in the likes of Dudley, Swindon, Carlisle, or Walsall - and Mr Corbyn admitted he was "disappointed at any places where we lost a bit of ground".

But, if anything, Mrs May should be more worried. For, even with the support of the voters returning from UKIP, the Conservatives' lack of appeal in London and the big cities appears to leave them without a clear path to a majority.

It was quite appropriate that, after all the votes were counted, the national projected share of the vote calculated both parties to be sat on 35%.

Yes, these elections were the definition of political stalemate.

  

Results in full

Labour Conservatives Liberal Democrats No overall control

  

LONDON

Barking and Dagenham	Barnet	Bexley
Brent	Bromley	Camden
Croydon	Ealing	Enfield
Greenwich	Hackney	Hammersmith and Fulham
Haringey	Harrow	Havering
Hillingdon	Hounslow	Islington
Kensington and Chelsea	Kingston upon Thames	Lambeth
Lewisham	Merton	Newham
Redbridge	Richmond upon Thames	Southwark
Sutton	Tower Hamlets	Waltham Forest
Wandsworth	Westminster

Note: Bolded areas show party has gained control

METROPOLITAN AND UNITARY COUNCILS

Barnsley	Birmingham	Blackburn with Darwen
Bolton	Bradford	Bury
Calderdale	Coventry	Derby
Dudley	Gateshead	Halton
Hartlepool	Kingston upon Hull	Kirklees
Knowsley	Leeds	Liverpool
Manchester	Milton Keynes	Newcastle upon Tyne
North East Lincolnshire	North Tyneside	Oldham
Peterborough	Plymouth	Portsmouth
Reading	Rochdale	St Helens
Salford	Sandwell	Sefton
Sheffield	Slough	Solihull
Southampton	Southend-on-Sea	South Tyneside
Stockport	Sunderland	Swindon
Tameside	Thurrock	Trafford
Wakefield	Walsall	Wigan
Wirral	Wokingham	Wolverhampton

Note: Bolded areas show party has gained control

NON-METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COUNCILS

Adur	Amber Valley	Basildon
Basingstoke and Deane	Brentwood	Broxbourne
Burnley	Cambridge	Cannock Chase
Carlisle	Castle Point	Cheltenham
Cherwell	Chorley	Colchester
Craven	Crawley	Daventry
Eastleigh	Elmbridge	Epping Forest
Exeter	Fareham	Gosport
Great Yarmouth	Harlow	Harrogate
Hart	Hastings	Havant
Huntingdonshire	Hyndburn	Ipswich
Lincoln	Maidstone	Mole Valley
Newcastle-under-Lyme	North Hertfordshire	Norwich
Nuneaton and Bedworth	Oxford	Pendle
Preston	Redditch	Reigate and Banstead
Rochford	Rossendale	Rugby
Runnymede	Rushmoor	St Albans
South Cambridgeshire	South Lakeland	Stevenage
Tamworth	Tandridge	Three Rivers
Tunbridge Wells	Watford	Welwyn Hatfield
West Lancashire	West Oxfordshire	Winchester
Woking	Worcester	Worthing
Wyre Forest

Note: Bolded areas show party has gained control

MAYORAL ELECTIONS

Hackney	Lewisham	Newham
South Yorkshire	Tower Hamlets	Watford

Election 2017: Young hearts run free as May clings on

GENERAL ELECTION

Preview - Results - Review

OVERALL SUMMARY

CON	318 (-13)	42.4% (+5.5%)
LAB	262 (+30)	40.0% (+9.5%)
SNP	35 (-21)	3.0% (-1.7%)
LD	12 (+4)	7.4% (-0.5%)
DUP	10 (+2)	0.9% (+0.3%)
Others	13	6.3%

RESULT CON minority government 
Turnout 68.7% (+2.6%)

THERESA MAY has desperately clung onto her position as Prime Minister following a failed gamble on another dramatic General Election night.

Mrs May's Conservatives won the most votes and most seats in Thursday's poll but they fell short of retaining even the narrow majority which they had previously held.

Consequently, Mrs May has been forced into doing a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party who won 10 seats in Northern Ireland, though it is only a loose arrangement and not a formal coalition.

Certainly, it is not the strong and stable government which Mrs May had set her heart on when she called the election seven weeks ago.

In all, the Tories lost a net total of 23 seats against Labour in England and Wales, and only gains from the Scottish Nationalists provided any solace.

The SNP had won 56 out of the 59 Westminster seats in 2015 but, with their own record in the devolved Holyrood government to defend, they were always likely to go backwards.

Indeed, Nicola Sturgeon's party lost 13% of their previous share of the vote in Scotland, resulting in almost 40% of their MPs being unseated.

The defeated included their former party leader Alec Salmond in Gordon and Angus Robertson, who had been their leader in the House of Commons during the last Parliament.

But the biggest name of the night to lose his seat was former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who finally got his comeuppance as Labour gained Sheffield Hallam from the Liberal Democrats.

Despite this, the Lib Dems at least had a mixed night, rather than a totally disastrous one. 

There were modest gains in Scotland at the expense of the SNP and in London against the Conservatives as former ministers Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Jo Swinson all returned to Parliament.

Overall, though, the party's vote share was down slightly, and there was little sign of a revival in their former heartland in south west England.

Elsewhere, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas defied a slight decrease in her party's overall vote to retain her Brighton Pavilion seat.

However, the UKIP vote collapsed massively just about everywhere, down from 12.6% to just 1.8%. 

Paul Nuttall was humiliated in the Boston and Skegness constituency, taking only just over 3,000 votes, and he became the only party leader - so far - to resign.

At the time of writing, Mrs May has not followed suit despite this having been a huge personal humiliation for her.

After all, just a few weeks ago, the polls suggested that she was on course for the massive landslide victory which she craved heading into the Brexit negotiations.

In Jeremy Corbyn, she faced a supposed relic of an opponent, a man who had struggled to keep his party united during the course of his leadership.

But, with the launch of the manifestos, the tone of the campaign changed. 

The Conservatives' policy on social care became dubbed the dementia tax and, generally, the discussion moved away from Brexit and towards the provision of services.

Historically stronger ground for Labour, Mr Corbyn was able to point out that - even after seven years of austerity - Mrs May was set to make even more cuts.

Worse still in the eyes of many of the public, the Tories did not even appear to be prepared to defend their policy positions.

For, while Mr Corbyn toured the country holding mass rallies, Mrs May organised small private events with a particularly memorable instance of her hiding away coming in a barn in Aberdeenshire.

Rarely can there ever have been a lazier, more arrogant, more insulting campaign in a General Election in Britain.

Terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, which killed a combined total of 30 people, naturally left a sombre backdrop to the election, and campaigning was briefly suspended twice.

But, on its resumption, Mr Corbyn went straight back on the offensive, criticising Mrs May for cutting police numbers during her six-year tenure as Home Secretary.

Suddenly, it was Mrs May who was having to defend her political past - and there is a certain further irony in her eventual deal with the DUP.

The DUP's past links with loyalist paramilitary groups are more well-founded than anything connecting Mr Corbyn to the IRA - and yet, as it stands, their 10 MPs now hold a significant stake in determining Britain's future.

That, of course, includes the Brexit negotiations. There, a diminished Mrs May, previously a Remainer herself, will head to the table aware that she only retains any sort of power courtesy of MPs from Scotland and Northern Ireland, areas which both voted to stay in the EU.

Already, the lack of authority which Mrs May commands, even within her own party, has been exposed by the resignation today of her two top aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill.

But, rather than shoring up Mrs May, their departure undoubtedly makes her weaker still - and, far from delivering her a massive landslide majority, this whole election has turned into a complete mess.

By contrast, things are looking up for Labour. True, the party still finished 56 seats short of the Conservatives - but there has been some excellent progress, especially in the south.

Seats like Peterborough, Enfield Southgate and Reading East - all won in the 1997 landslide under Tony Blair - have returned to the Labour fold after an intervening period of Conservative control.

More astonishingly, Labour gained Canterbury, a seat which had been held by the Tories since its inception in the 1800s.

And then, in the final result to declare, Kensington - the richest constituency in the country - fell to Labour after a third recount.

Overall, Mr Corbyn won over 12 million votes, more than Mr Blair in his "quiet" landslide in 2001 as Labour polled at 40% for only the third time since 1970.

The return of two-party politics has undoubtedly helped - though it has also assisted in keeping the Conservatives in power.

Nevertheless, if there is now going to be a period of binary politics, a strong opposition must now focus on presenting itself as a government-in-waiting. 

That means more support for Mr Corbyn from his own side, less sniping against him and certainly no embarrassingly pointless and diversionary leadership elections.

It seems inconceivable that the Conservatives will not, at some point in the near future, tear themselves apart over Mrs May's continued leadership after her failed gamble. Meanwhile, the arrangement with the DUP is tenuous in the extreme.

This General Election, when it was called, seemed incredibly unnecessary - and yet perhaps the greatest irony of this result is that it has necessitated another. 

Strong and stable times, indeed.

Election 2017: the full results

GENERAL ELECTION

Preview - Results - Review

OVERALL SUMMARY

CON	318 (-13)	42.4% (+5.5%)
LAB	262 (+30)	40.0% (+9.5%)
SNP	35 (-21)	3.0% (-1.7%)
LD	12 (+4)	7.4% (-0.5%)
DUP	10 (+2)	0.9% (+0.3%)
UKIP	0 (-1)	1.8% (-10.8%)
GRN	1 (-)	1.6% (-2.1%)
PC	4 (+1)	0.5% (-0.1%)
Others	8 (-10)	2.4%

RESULT CON minority government 
Turnout 68.7% (+2.6%)

EXIT POLL CON short of a majority.

CON 314 LAB 266 SNP 34 LD 14 PC 3 UKIP 0 GRN 1 OTH 18

REGION-BY-REGION

NORTH EAST ENGLAND

Conservative

Berwick-upon-Tweed - Hexham - Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland

Labour

Bishop Auckland - Blaydon - Blyth Valley - Darlington - City of Durham - North Durham - North West Durham - Easington - Gateshead - Hartlepool - Houghton & Sunderland South - Jarrow - Middlesbrough - Newcastle upon Tyne Central - Newcastle upon Tyne East - Newcastle upon Tyne North - Sedgefield - South Shields - Stockton North - Stockton South - Sunderland Central - Tynemouth - North Tyneside - Redcar - Wansbeck - Washington & Sunderland West

NORTH WEST ENGLAND

Conservative

Altrincham & Sale West - Blackpool North & Cleveleys - Bolton West - Carlisle - Cheadle - Congleton - Copeland - Eddisbury - Fylde - Hazel Grove - Macclesfield - Morecambe & Lunesdale - Pendle - Penrith & The Border - Ribble Valley - Rossendale & Darwen - South Ribble - Southport - Tatton - Wyre & Preston North

Labour

Ashton Under Lyne - Barrow & Furness - Birkenhead - Blackburn - Blackley & Broughton - Blackpool South - Bolton North East - Bolton South East - Bootle - Burnley - Bury South - Bury North - City of Chester - Chorley - Crewe & Nantwich - Denton & Reddish - Ellesmere Port & Neston - Garston & Halewood - Halton - Heywood & Middleton - Hyndburn - Knowsley - Lancashire West - Lancaster & Fleetwood - Leigh - Liverpool Riverside - Liverpool Walton - Liverpool Wavertree - Liverpool West Derby - Makerfield - Manchester Central - Manchester Gorton - Manchester Withington - Oldham East & Saddleworth - Oldham West & Royton - Preston - Rochdale - St Helens North - St Helens South & Whiston - Salford & Eccles - Sefton Central - Stalybridge & Hyde - Stockport - Stretford & Urmston - Wallasey - Warrington North - Warrington South - Weaver Vale - Wigan - Wirral South - Wirral West - Workington - Worsley & Eccles South - Wythenshawe & Sale East

Liberal Democrats

Westmorland & Lonsdale

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER

Conservative

Beverley & Holderness - Brigg & Goole - Calder Valley - Cleethorpes - Elmet & Rothwell - Haltemprice & Howden - Harrogate & Knaresborough -  - Morley & Outwood - Pudsey - Richmond - Scarborough & Whitby - Selby & Ainsty - Shipley - Skipton & Ripon - Thirsk & Malton - York Outer - East Yorkshire

Labour

Barnsley Central - Barnsley East - Batley & Spen - Bradford East - Bradford South - Bradford West - Colne Valley - Dewsbury - Don Valley - Doncaster Central - Doncaster North - Great Grimsby - Halifax - Hemsworth - Huddersfield - Keighley - Kingston-upon-Hull East - Kingston-upon-Hull North - Kingston-upon-Hull West & Hessle - Leeds Central - Leeds East - Leeds North East - Leeds North West - Leeds West - Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford - Penistone & Stocksbrige - Rother Valley - Rotherham - Scunthorpe - Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough - Sheffield Central - Sheffield Hallam - Sheffield Heeley - Sheffield South East - Wakefield - Wentworth & Dearne - York Central

EAST MIDLANDS

Conservative

Amber Valley - Boston & Skegness - Bosworth - Broxtowe - Charnwood - Corby - Daventry - Derbyshire Dales - Mid Derbyshire - North East Derbyshire - South Derbyshire - Erewash - Gainsborough - Grantham & Stamford - Harborough - Kettering - North West Leicestershire - South Leicestershire - Loughborough - Louth & Horncastle - Mansfield - Newark - Northampton North - Northampton South - South Northamptonshire - Rushcliffe - Rutland & Melton - Sherwood - Sleaford & North Hykeham - South Holland & The Deepings - Wellingborough

Labour

Ashfield - Bassetlaw - Bolsover - Chesterfield - Derby North - Derby South - Gedling - High Peak - Leicester East - Leicester South - Leicester West - Lincoln- Nottingham East - Nottingham North - Nottingham South

WEST MIDLANDS

Conservative

Aldridge-Brownhills - Bromsgrove - Burton - Cannock Chase - Dudley South - Halesowen & Rowley Regis - Hereford & South Herefordshire - North Herefordshire - Kenilworth & Southam - Lichfield - Ludlow - Meriden - Nuneaton - Redditch - Rugby - Shrewsbury & Atcham - North Shropshire - Solihull - Stafford - Staffordshire Moorlands - South Staffordshire - Stoke-on-Trent South - Stone - Stourbridge - Stratford-on-Avon - Sutton Coldfield - Tamworth - Telford - North Warwickshire - Worcester - Mid Worcestershire 

Labour

Birmingham Edgbaston - Birmingham Erdington - Birmingham Hall Green - Birmingham Hodge Hill - Birmingham Ladywood - Birmingham Northfield - Birmingham Perry Barr - Birmingham Selly Oak - Birmingham Yardley - Coventry North East - Coventry North West - Coventry South - Dudley North - Newcastle-under-Lyme - Stoke-on-Trent Central - Stoke-on-Trent North - Walsall North - Walsall South - Warley - Warwick & Leamington - West Bromwich East - West Bromwich West - Wolverhampton North East - Wolverhampton South East - Wolverhampton South West

EAST ENGLAND

Conservative

Basildon & Billericay - South Basildon & East Thurrock - Mid Bedfordshire - North East Bedfordshire - South West Bedfordshire - Braintree - Brentwood & Ongar - Broadland - Broxbourne - Bury St Edmunds - North East Cambridgeshire - North West Cambridgeshire - South Cambridgeshire - South East Cambridgeshire - Castle Point - Chelmsford - Clacton - Colchester - Epping Forest - Great Yarmouth - Harlow - Harwich & North Essex - Hemel Hempstead - Hertford & Stortford - North East Hertfordshire - South West Hertfordshire - Hertsmere - Hitchin & Harpenden - Huntingdon - Maldon - Mid Norfolk - North West Norfolk - South Norfolk - South West Norfolk - Norwich North - Rayleigh & Wickford - Rochford & Southend East - Saffron Walden - St Albans - Southend West - Stevenage - Central Suffolk & Ipswich North - Suffolk Coastal - South Suffolk - West Suffolk - Thurrock - Watford - Waveney - Welwyn Hatfield - Witham

Labour

Bedford - Cambridge - Ipswich - Luton North - Luton South - Norwich South - Peterborough

Liberal Democrats 
North Norfolk

SOUTH EAST ENGLAND

Conservative

Aldershot - Arundel & South Downs - Ashford - Aylesbury - Banbury - Basingstoke - Beaconsfield - Bexhill & Battle - Bognor Regis & Littlehampton - Bracknell - Chatham & Aylesford - Chesham & Amersham - Chichester - Crawley - Dartford - Dover - Eastleigh - Epsom & Ewell - Esher & Walton - Fareham - Faversham & Mid Kent - Folkestone & Hythe - Gillingham & Rainham - Gosport - Gravesham - Guildford - East Hampshire - North East Hampshire - North West Hampshire - Hastings & Rye - Havant - Henley - Horsham - Isle of Wight - Lewes - Maidenhead - Maidstone & The Weald - Meon Valley - Milton Keynes North - Milton Keynes South - Mole Valley - New Forest East - New Forest West - Newbury - Portsmouth North - Reading West - Reigate - Rochester & Strood - Romsey & Southampton North - Runnymede & Weybridge - Sevenoaks - Sittingbourne & Sheppey - Southampton Itchen - Spelthorne - East Surrey - Surrey Heath - South West Surrey - Mid Sussex - North Thanet - South Thanet - Tonbridge & Malling - Tunbridge Wells - Wantage - Wealden - Winchester - Windsor - Witney - Woking - Wokingham - Worthing East & Shoreham - Worthing West - Wycombe

Labour

Brighton Kemptown - Canterbury - Hove - Oxford East - Portsmouth South - Reading East - Slough - Southampton Test

Liberal Democrats

Eastbourne - Oxford West and Abingdon

Green

Brighton Pavilion

Speaker

Buckinghamshire

LONDON

Conservative

Beckenham - Bexleyheath & Crayford - Bromley & Chislehurst - Chelsea & Fulham - Chingford & Woodford Green - Chipping Barnet - Cities of London & Westminster - Croydon South - Finchley & Golders Green - Harrow East - Hendon - Hornchurch & Upminster - Old Bexley & Sidcup - Orpington - Putney - Romford - Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner - Richmond Park - Sutton & Cheam - Uxbridge & Ruislip South - Wimbledon

Labour

Barking - Battersea - Bermondsey & Old Southwark - Bethnal Green & Bow - Brentford & Isleworth - Brent Central - Brent North - Camberwell & Peckham - Croydon Central - Croydon North - Dagenham & Rainham - Dulwich & West Norwood - Ealing Central & Acton - Ealing North - Ealing Southall - East Ham - Edmonton - Eltham - Enfield North - Enfield Southgate - Erith & Thamesmead - Feltham & Heston - Greenwich & Woolwich - Hackney North & Stoke Newington - Hackney South & Shoreditch - Hammersmith - Hampstead & Kilburn - Harrow West - Hayes & Harlington - Holborn & St Pancras - Hornsey & Wood Green - Ilford North - Ilford South - Islington North - Islington South & Finsbury - Kensington - Lewisham Deptford - Lewisham East - Lewisham West & Penge - Leyton & Wantstead - Mitcham & Morden - Poplar & Limehouse - Streatham - Tooting - Tottenham - Vauxhall - Walthamstow - West Ham - Westminster North 

Liberal Democrats

Carshalton & Wallington - Kingston & Surbiton - Twickenham

SOUTH WEST ENGLAND

Conservative

Bournemouth East - Bournemouth West - Bridgwater & Somerset West - Camborne & Redruth - Cheltenham - Chippenham - Christchurch - North Cornwall - South East Cornwall - The Cotswolds - Devizes - Central Devon - East Devon - North Devon - South West Devon - West Devon and Torridge - Mid Dorset and North Poole - North Dorset - South Dorset - West Dorset - Filton & Bradley Stoke - Forest of Dean - Gloucester - Kingswood - Newton Abbot - Plymouth Moor View - Poole - St Austell & Newquay - St Ives - Salisbury - North Somerset - North East Somerset - Somerton & Frome - North Swindon - South Swindon - Taunton Deane - Tewkesbury - Thornbury & Yate - Tiverton & Honiton - Torbay - Totnes - Truro & Falmouth - Wells - Weston-Super-Mare - North Wiltshire - South West Wiltshire - Yeovil  

Labour

Bristol East - Bristol North West - Bristol South - Bristol West - Exeter - Plymouth Sutton & Devonport - Stroud

Liberal Democrats

Bath

SCOTLAND

Conservative

Aberdeen South - Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine - Angus - Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock - Banff & Buchan - Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk - Dumfries & Galloway - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale - Gordon - Moray - Ochil & South Perthshire - East Renfewshire - Stirling

Labour
Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill - East Lothian - Edinburgh South - Glasgow North East - Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath - Midlothian - Rutherglen & Hamilton West 

Scottish National Party

Aberdeen North - Airdree & Shotts - Argyll & Bute - Ayrshire Central - Ayrshire North & Arran - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East  - West Dunbartonshire - Dundee East - Dundee West - Dunfermline & West Fife - East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow - Edinburgh East - Edinburgh North & Leith - Edinburgh South West - Falkirk - North East Fife - Glasgow Central - Glasgow East - Glasgow North  - Glasgow North West - Glasgow South - Glasgow South West - Glenrothes - Inverclyde - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey - Kilmarnock & Loudoun - Lanark & Hamilton East - Linlithgow & Falkirk East - Livingston - Motherwell & Wishaw - Na h-Eileanan an lar - Paisley & Renfrewshire North - Paisley & Renfrewshire South - Perth & North Perthshire - Ross, Sky & Lochaber

Liberal Democrats

Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross - East Dunbartonshire - Edinburgh West - Orkney & Shetland

WALES

Conservative

Aberconwy - Brecon & Radnorshire - Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire - Clwyd West - Monmouth - Montgomeryshire - Preseli Pembrokeshire - Vale of Glamorgan

Labour

Aberavon - Alyn & Deeside - Blaenau Gwent - Bridgend - Caerphilly - Cardiff Central - Cardiff North - Cardiff South & Penarth - Cardiff West - Clwyd South - Cynon Valley - Delyn - Gower - Islwyn - Llanelli - Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney - Neath - Newport East - Newport West - Ogmore - Pontypridd - Rhondda - Swansea East - Swansea West - Torfaen - Vale of Clwyd - Wrexham - Ynys Mon

Plaid Cymru

Arfon - Carmarthen East & Dinefwr - Ceredigion - Dwyfor Meirionnydd  

NORTHERN IRELAND

Democratic Unionist

Belfast East - Belfast North - Belfast South - East Antrim - East Londonderry - Lagan Valley - North Antrim - South Antrim - Strangford - Upper Bann
Sinn Fein

Belfast West - Fermanagh & South Tyrone - Foyle - Mid Ulster - Newry & Armagh - South Down - West Tyrone

Independent

North Down