23 May 2014
Last updated at 01:48 GMT
UKIP gaining seats across England
UKIP is gaining seats at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour in English local elections.
- LIVE: Council election updates
- Robinson: Four party politics?
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What are the parties hoping for?23 May 2014 Last updated at 01:49 GMT
UKIP gaining seats from Tories and Labour in English elections
BBC News coverage following voting across the UKUKIP is gaining council seats across England at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour.The anti-EU party is on course to show that last year's breakthrough in town halls was not a one-off.
Labour is struggling to make progress and the Tory vote is falling back.
But the Lib Dems are suffering the heaviest losses in the results declared so far from the elections held in 161 English councils - Euro elections results are due on Sunday.
Some 11 councils in Northern Ireland are also up for grabs.
- The results of UK-wide European elections will not be known until late Sunday when counting takes place across the European Union.
- Most councils will not declare their results until after sunrise on Friday
- Essex has voted strongly for UKIP - and the party has also increased its share of the vote strongly in the north
- So far turnout is up on average by 1 point compared with 2012
- You can follow full coverage with all the latest updates at bbc.co.uk/vote2014.
- There are election specials on BBC One and on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 5live.
The surge in support for UKIP, which comes on top of big gains at last year's local elections, has sent shockwaves through the main parties at Westminster.Ipswich was one of the first councils to begin piling up the ballot papers
'Unforgivably unprofessional' Labour MP Graham Stringer, who wants an in/out EU referendum, said it was now clear his party was not going to do as well as it expected in the European and local elections, with UKIP eating into its vote in traditional Labour heartlands.
The Blakeley and Broughton MP launched an attack on Ed Miliband's campaign calling it "unforgivably unprofessional".
He told the BBC "we have not done as well as we should have done in both the presentation of our policies and the organisation of the campaign".
He said: "The centrepiece of our campaign has been the cost of living and Ed didn't know his own cost of living, he didn't know how much he was spending on shopping."
Mr Stringer, a longstanding critic of Mr Miliband who wants an in/out EU referendum, said the referendum was a "real trust issue", even if it was not the first subject raised on the doorstep.
Labour's shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna rejected the criticisms, but said it was now clear the UK was in an era of "four-party politics".
Some Conservative backbenchers have called for an electoral pact with UKIP going into the general election, with Jacob-Rees-Mogg warning UKIP could split the "small c Conservative vote" and let Labour in.
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps rejected a formal deal between the two parties, saying there was "no question of a pact per se".
UKIP's chairman Steve Crowther also poured cold water on the suggestion.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said that while the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem leaders were not under threat, the MPs expressing discontent were merely saying in public what others were saying in private.
"Each of the leaders can feel secure personally," he said.
"Yet their strategy is under challenge as never before as people look over their shoulder and have a wee panic."
'Humanity' As senior figures in the party predicted, it is looking like another bad night for the Liberal Democrats, with support down 16% on its 2010 performance.
Business Secretary Vince Cable admitted it was going to be a bad night but told Sky News supporters would be "pleasantly surprised" in areas where the party is well-organised.
But Lib Dem minister Lynne Featherstone said being in government had cost the party some its "humanity".
"The reason UKIP has had such amazing success is... they have managed to sound like human beings," she said.
Labour - which is targeting the battleground seats it needs to win Westminster next year - is down 10% on 2012 so far.
Counting got under way within an hour of the polling stations closing in some councils
Early indications suggested it could be a happy night for UKIP and its supporters
Expectations In contrast to most of the rest of England, where a third of seats on local councils were up for grabs, every seat in all 32 London boroughs was being contested on Thursday, raising the prospect of a dramatic redrawing of the capital's political map.Tellers for Labour and the Tories were watching closely as the votes stacked up in Croydon
A Labour source told the BBC its results in the capital look strong - especially in Croydon and Tower Hamlets.
If the party has a good night, it will also take Barnet and Hammersmith and Fulham from the Conservatives.
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In 2010, Nigel Farage's party were tiddlers in local government. The opinion polls now - and their performance at the local elections a year ago - suggest they are not any longer.”Election experts Professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher believe Labour will gain between 490 and 500 council seats - but party sources were playing down expectations, suggesting 150 to 200 gains would represent a good night.The Conservatives were defending 1,574 seats and 53 councils in England they currently control, including Trafford, Solihull, Milton Keynes, Croydon and Barnet.
Rallings and Thrasher believe David Cameron's party can expect to lose about 200 seats.
The Green Party overtook the Lib Dems in some opinion polls and is hoping to double its number of MEPs to four - it is also targeting areas where it has a strong activist base at the local elections such as Camden and Westminster.Counting is already under way in Sunderland where a result is expected at 01:00 BST
Mayoral elections took place in the London boroughs Hackney, Lewisham, Newham - all with Labour incumbents seeking their fourth consecutive term - and in Tower Hamlets, where controversial independent mayor Lutfur Rahman was battling to retain power. Lib Dem Dorothy Thornhill was fighting to remain mayor of Watford.
In Northern Ireland, voters were electing 462 representatives to 11 so-called "super districts" following a reorganisation that took place in 2012, reducing the number of councils from 26 previously.
There were no local elections in either Scotland or Wales.
COPY http://uk.reuters.com/
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