Morning round-up

For those who missed the drama of last night, a quick round-up…

At time of writing, results have come in for 100 of 159 councils.  So far, the Tories have gained 147 seats and 8 councils; Labour have lost 162 seats and 6 councils; and the Lib Dems have gained 9 seats and lost 1 council.  In terms of the overall share of the vote, it’s projected to be – Tories, 44 percent; Lib Dems, 25 percent; and Labour, 24 percent.

An absolute battering for Labour, then.  And joy for the Tories, who have soared to the upper end of their expectations, claiming key victories in Bury and Southampton along the way.  So where does this leave Gordon Brown?  Well, he’s just presided over the worst Labour results since 1968 – a performance which could doom his premiership.  Expect the succession mutterings to restart in earnest over the next few days.

The results from London are still to filter through – we’ll see them today – but most pundits have already claimed the mayoral race for Boris.