Election results in full: Nightmare night for Sunak as Tories suffer 160 losses and Reform UK celebrate inroads in Brexit heartland

Labour registered 64 gains, with the Liberal Democrats bolstering its local representation by 27 and the Green Party returning 17 extra councillors.

Sir Keir Starmer, who celebrated victory in the parliamentary by-election of Blackpool South shortly before 5am, gained control of several key councils.

In the North East, Labour's Kim McGuinness won the race to become the region's first ever mayor, defeating Jamie Driscoll - the North of Tyne mayor who ran as an independent after blocked from standing by Labour.

McGuiness beat out Driscoll by almost 60,000 votes, finishing with 185,051 - 41.3 per cent of the vote.

Driscoll received 126,652 votes - 28.2 per cent - while Tory candidate Guy Renner-Thompson finished third with just over 52,446.

In the East Midlands mayoral election, Labour claimed victory in the region - which a party source described as "the beating heart of the general election battleground".

The Labour source said their candidate Claire Ward had "comfortably" won out against Conservative Ben Bradley - MP for Mansfield and the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council.

While in York and North Yorkshire - which covers Rishi Sunak's constituency of Richmond - Labour's David Skaith won the regional mayoral race by just shy of 15,000 votes, beating the Tories' Keane Duncan with 35.1 per cent of the vote compared to the latter's 27.3 per cent.

It could get even worse for Sunak after polling guru Sir John Curtice warned the Tories are on course for "one of the worst, if not the worst" performances by the party in 40 years.

He told the BBC: "So far they are basically losing a half of the seats they are trying to defend. If that continues they may end up losing 500 or so seats, which is the thing they were meant to avoid.

"Early days yet, but where we have got the detailed voting numbers, it looks as though the Conservative vote is a wee bit down on where it was last year.

"We are probably looking at certainly one of the worst, if not the worst, Conservative performances in local government elections for the last 40 years."

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The bellwether seat of Thurrock in Essex delivered a major boost for Southside, with eight Labour gains proving enough to topple the Tories.

Responding to the result, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “This is exactly the kind of place we need to be winning to gain a majority in a general election.

"The people of Thurrock have sent the Conservatives a message that they want change.”

Sunak was able to call on ultra-marginal Harlow to bring some joy to Downing Street, with voters in the Essex new town narrowly opting to keep its council under Conservative control.

Harlow MP Robert Halfon said: "Biggest comeback since Lazarus. Labour predicted landslide in Harlow with 2 visits from Starmer - but Harlow Compassionate Conservatives retained control of Harlow Council by relentlessly focusing on freezing council tax, regeneration and housing."

However, Tees Valley provided the Conservative Party with its biggest triumph after Ben Houchen won his third successive mayoral race.

Andy Street may yet provide Sunak with another victory in the West Midlands but the result will not be declared until tomorrow afternoon.

Despite not proving enough for an electoral breakthrough, Reform UK also continues to pose a fatal threat to Sunak's Tories.

The populist party outpolled the Conservatives in 16 of 25 wards across Sunderland.

However, Reform UK's only councillor Paul Donaghy lost his Washington South seat to Labour and Ukip obtained higher levels of support when the seats went up in 2019.

Reform UK separately trailed the Conservative Party by just 117 votes in Blackpool South, with Labour romping to victory with their third-largest swing from the Tories since the Second World War.

Despite Richard Tice arguing Reform UK's Sunderland showed the populist party is the "real opposition" to Labour in the Red Wall, the rebranded Brexit Party fielded candidates in just 15 per cent of wards contested yesterday.

However, it is not just in the so-called Red Wall where the Tories have been facing a challenge.

The Liberal Democrats registered most of its gains in leafy southern England.

A source from the centrist party said: "We are already hearing of Lib Dem gains in former Conservative heartlands. Lib Dems expecting to move forward overnight in Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Hertfordshire."

The Liberal Democrats have set their sights on a number of southern seats, including Wokingham, Tunbridge Wells and Dorset.

Labour has also gained control of Hartlepool but Oldham fell into no overall control this morning.

Pat McFadden MP, Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator, said: “These results show that Labour is making progress in the places needed that will decide the general election.

“The Tories needed to be making gains in an election year. Instead their vote has collapsed in a key by election and they are suffering losses of council seats.

"Responsibility for this sits firmly with Rishi Sunak who is being punished by voters for the Tories’ failure.

“These results are sending a clear message that people across the country are demanding change, and only the Labour Party will deliver that. It’s time for a general election now.”

Labour managed to gain two police and crime commissioner posts following victory in Cumbria and Avon & Somerset.

Tory Party chairman Richard Holden argued the local elections were "mixed".

He told GB News: "There's a bit of a mixed picture there. But I don't want to say that things haven't been very tough for us this evening."