Barnsley: Dearne North – Labour hold
Brian John Evans – Liberal Democrats 106
Gillian Millner – Conservative 152
Martin Morrell – Labour 1048
Maxine Spencer – English Constitution Party, England, One Nation 118
Steve Vajda – Social Democratic Party 16
Barnsley Update: Labour victory in Monk Bretton
Monk Bretton - Labour gain
Monk Bretton's two other councillors are also Labour, making it a fully Labour ward.
The formally independent seat has been won by Margaret Sheard by an enormous majority.
Labour: 1,056
Independent: 760
Conservative: 182
Liberal Democrats: 98
BREAKING: first Barnsley seat announced
Dearne South - Labour gain
The first Barnsley, Dearne South, has been called for Labour.
The formally independent seat has be won by Abi Moore by a huge majority.
Labour - 1066 votes
Conservative - 162
Fox resignation confirmed
Sheffield Council Leader Terry Fox has now officially confirmed he will not be seeking re-election as the leader of Sheffield Labour.
He will be stepping down with immediate effect and a new leadership race will be held to find his replacement.
The news of his resignation was announced earlier this morning, but has now been confirmed by Fox himself.
This year’s Sheffield manifesto promises
With the count about the get underway, here's a look at the main points in the manifestos of the main contenders:
Labour:
- Deliver a strategic economic plan that builds on Sheffield's successes.
- Grow the economy while distributing wealth more equally.
- Ensuring children have the best possible care.
- Rapidly reducing carbon emissions.
- Make Sheffield more affordable with a reliable, and low-carbon public transport system.
- Build affordable, sustainable, and decent homes.
- Invest in community and faith groups.
- Tackle discrimination and remove barriers.
Liberal Democrats:
- Shorten the time it takes for calls to be answered and addressed, including council tax enquires.
- Building more homes depending on the types of households, including families, couples, single people, and the elderly.
- Investing in local authorities and increasing the powers delegated to Local Area Committees.
- Developing local business networks while providing access to businesses looking to relocate to Sheffield.
- Support the city's night-time economy.
- Establish Council Heritage Parks and Community Assets Fund.
- Monitoring pollution levels and assessing the effectiveness of the new Clean Air Zone.
- Set up an integrated public transport system, including a London-style bus service.
Greens:
- The creation of a team to work on the climate emergency, warmer homes and local, clean energy production.
- Creation of a £3mln Carbon Reduction Investment Fund.
- Better walking, cycling and public transport.
- Allocating £2mln to offset higher council tax bills.
- Allocate £1mln for solar panels on council housing; £500,000 for schools; and £1mln for low-traffic neighbourhoods.
- Free buses and trams at Christmas.
- Cheaper buly waste collection for low-income households.
- Supporting businesses coming out of lockdown.
UK: Early results see labour and Lib Dems win key target areas
Early results in local elections in England have seen labour and the Liberal Democrats gain key councils at the expense of the Conservatives
Labour has gained control in Plymouth, Medway and Stoke-on-Trent, a dormer Labour stronghold.
The Lib Dems won Windsor and Maidenhead.
So far, the Tories have lost majorities in 10 councils.
Only a small number of councils counted overnight and most of the results will not be confirmed until later on today.
The polls for more than 8,000 council seats on 230 councils, and four mayors, across England closed on Thursday.
Rishi Sunak has acknowledge disappointment at the early results but noted that only a quarter of councils have declared results so far.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Medway to celebrate his party's victory in the Kent council with local activists. He told the crowd: "You didn't just get it over the line, you blew the doors off."
he said Labour were "on course" to win a majority at the next general election.
Barnsley Update: Labour performing well in Penistone East
Penistone East has voted Conservative for the last 25 years but for the first time opposition candidates from the labour Party and the Liberal Democrats have been hopeful this can change.
Barnsley count begins!
Barnsley's first ward has been verified and the count has begun.
Dearne North is the first ward to begin it's count and will announce it's result first
The seat is currently vacant, but Labour will be looking to reclaim the seat having won it in 2022.
Critics say voter ID rule should be scrapped
A campaign group has said the requirement for voter ID should be scrapped following a "significant number" of issues during yesterday's local elections.
Unlock Democracy said the efforts to introduce the scheme "went very badly and that the new requirement for photo ID was "not necessary."
For the first time, everyone voting in the local elections needed to present ID.
It was clear yesterday that many people didn't know about the need for voter ID.
Other issues included voters not bringing the correct form of identification with them, or arriving with photographs of their ID, which were invalid.
The Electoral Commission its initial assessment is that "overall, the elections were well run” however “some people were regrettably unable to vote” because of the new requirement.
Yesterday, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran tweeted her concern about "significant numbers" being rejected after learning about people without ID being unable to vote in her Oxford West and Abingdon constituency.
Conservatives suffer early losses
The early results for local elections have shown Labour and Liberal Democrats gaining seats while the Conservatives take big losses.
Yesterday's local election was the first real test for Rishi Sunak since he became Prime Minister last year.
Asked if he took personal responsibility for the party's performance, Mr Sunak said: "Well, if you look at the results we have only had a quarter of the results in so it is hard to draw firm conclusions.
"We are actually making progress in key election battlegrounds... you mentioned the Labour Party, look, I am not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for their agenda. What people want us to do is focus on their priorities."
Labour took the first big gain of the night, winning over Plymouth, where no party had previously secured a majority, a result labelled 'terrible' by the PM.
Liberal Democrats also saw gains in Brentwood, Essex where they won two seats from the Conservatives. This means the Tories no longer have a majority in the council chamber.
How it stands – Barnsley
Over in Barnsley, Labour have a large majority control, and will be looking to expand their majority.
A local outlook into national politics
With the Conservatives still recovering in opinion polls since Liz Truss' tenure as Prime Minister crash landed, this year's local elections could be even more important.
As results continue to roll out, this year's local elections will certainly be a true test of the strength of opposing parties.