Nearly 48 hours since polls closed on Thursday, and the last council in England has now been announced as an Aspire gain from no overall control.

Some wards still need to finalise results but below is a quick look at what the general political picture looks like in England this evening:

Aspire has won a majority in Tower Hamlets, taking the council from no overall control. Aspire's leader Lutfur Rahman was re-elected as mayor of Tower Hamlets yesterday.

With that, we now have results from every council in England.

Hannah Bayman
Reporting from the Lewisham count

The Green Party has won control of Lewisham Council from Labour.

The Greens have now won at least 28 of 54 seats, to give them an outright majority, with a number of the council's 19 wards still to declare. Labour have nine seats so far.

No other party but Labour has controlled the council for 55 years, since the last Conservative administration in 1971.

Labour had held every seat on the council since 2018. The council was under no overall control between 2006-2010 and before that the last Conservative administration of Lambeth ended in 1971.

Labour controlled the council from 1971 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2026.

David Deans
BBC Wales political reporter

BBC Wales understands that Labour is likely to abstain in the vote to confirm Rhun ap Iorwerth as first minister.

The move is not a surprise but makes it clear that the Plaid Cymru leader faces little obstacle to take the helm of the Welsh government.

It is thought Plaid wants the vote to take place on Tuesday - the Senedd must give 24 hours notice if a meeting can take place.

There is still the unresolved matter of who will be the presiding officer.

In Wales, Shavanah Taj - the Welsh Labour candidate elected to represent Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf - says she "wasn't expecting to see so little" of her party in the Senedd.

Speaking to BBC Walescast, the former general secretary for education union TUC says: "The post mortem at the moment is that we need to regroup as the group of nine of us that are there."

Conversations on the doorstep signalled it was a "two-horse race" between Plaid and Reform, she says, adding there was an attitude that Wales need a change, and it may serve Labour well to have a "time out".

"There were people really angry at the UK government and the issues there," she said, adding that some people genuinely believed Keir Starmer was running Welsh Labour.

"We need to be very clear, when it comes to Wales, Welsh Labour and UK Labour are two separate entities."

West's efforts could galvanise MPs against Starmerpublished at 18:41 BST

18:41 BST

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

This was a day where the consequences of votes cast on Thursday played out - in the smiles of victors in Cardiff and Edinburgh and the grimaces of Labour folk across Britain.

The intervention of the former minister Catherine West earlier on Radio 4 is a moment, without question - a Labour MP willing to explicitly attempt a leadership challenge, in the hope of dislodging Sir Keir Starmer.

Her efforts may peter out, but they may too galvanise others to also move against him. Already around 30 Labour MPs had publicly said Sir Keir should resign or set out a timetable for his departure.

This weekend has long been seen with trepidation in Downing Street, and with good reason, it turns out.

No 10 will nervously eye the 400-plus army of Labour MPs in the coming hours, before the Prime Minister attempts a reboot in a speech on Monday and the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Now some are turning on Catherine West publicly.

Immigration minister Mike Tapp tells me: “When those within your own walls begin dismantling the gate, the enemy no longer needs a battering ram.

“Reform are loving it. Awful from Catherine West and she should know better.”

Labour MP confident West can 'get to 81'published at 18:08 BST

18:08 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

A Labour MP who is not a prominent public critic of Keir Starmer just called me and said that while they had been blindsided by Catherine West’s announcement, they will be giving her their support on Monday.

They say: “I am reasonably confident she will be able to get to 81."

That’s the number of supporters required to trigger a leadership ballot.

The MP says: “The frustration on the backbenches runs far wider than the voices we’ve heard from publicly. There are far more moderate centrist Labour MPs who also think his time is up.

“Like most Labour MPs I am utterly furious at the cabinet for putting their jobs before the country.”

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

Image source, PA Media

Catherine West has made her intentions clear, but what’s the process for challenging a Labour leader?

A leadership election can only be triggered if the leader resigns, or if Labour MPs launch a challenge when there is no vacancy.

A challenger wishing to oust an incumbent leader must be supported by 20% of Labour MPs. Based on the current number of Labour MPs, 81 would need to support a challenger to formally start the process.

MPs must inform the party's general secretary in writing of their nomination if they have enough backers.

Challenger nominees would then need to seek support from 5% of constituency parties or backing from at least three affiliates of the Labour Party (at least two must be trade unions).

Nominees must be Labour MPs, which would rule out potential challengers like Andy Burnham.

If enough support is gathered to initiate a membership ballot, the incumbent leader is automatically on the ballot paper, and they do not need to seek nominations from MPs.

The timing of any contest would be decided by Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC).

West's move takes a lot of MPs by surprisepublished at 17:43 BST

17:43 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Catherine West’s intervention appears to have taken a lot of Labour MPs by surprise.

One minister - themself quite critical of the prime minister - told me: “She’s mad”.

A prominent backbench critic of Starmer said that it was a “totally irresponsible solo mission”.

However, another minister appeared open to West’s gambit, saying: “Let’s see where this goes”.

And another member of the government simply sent me a link to the Pet Shop Boys performing Go West.

Becky Morton
Political reporter

Cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has just been asked for his reaction to Catherine West’s intervention.

He tells BBC Radio 4’s PM programme he would “caution colleagues” against her proposal to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader.

“We’ve seen over the past 10 years now what happens when a party in government just starts chopping and changing leaders,” he says.

“It just generates instability and it militates against a focus on delivery.”

He adds: “I'm confident going forward that Keir Starmer is the best prime minister for our country.”

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

In the last hour, Labour MP Catherine West issued Keir Starmer's cabinet with an ultimatum after Thursday's election losses - but who is she?

West is the Labour MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet in Greater London, having first been elected in May 2015 to represent Hornsey and Wood Green. She currently sits on the Treasury Committee and also serves as trade envoy to Pakistan.

West was a shadow Foreign Office minister between 2015 and 2017 under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose leadership campaign she supported.

She was later sacked by Corbyn for defying him over a vote on the single market, before returning to the role between 2020 and 2024 under Starmer's leadership.

After Labour's 2024 election victory, she became parliamentary under-secretary in the Foreign Office, a role she held until September 2025.

Whatever happens next, this is a big momentpublished at 17:13 BST

17:13 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

This is a big moment.

Catherine West does not want to be leader of the Labour Party. And she is not going to be leader of the Labour Party.

But she has just kicked off the process by which the Labour Party may have its first leadership election since Keir Starmer was elected in 2020.

West’s plan (which she says she came up with this morning) is this: by Monday, either the cabinet will have ousted Starmer, or West’s colleagues will have a chance to nominate her formally to contest the party leadership.

It is highly unlikely that West would get to the 81 MPs required for there to be a full ballot of party members between her and Starmer.

But suppose she got close? Suppose dozens of Labour MPs backed West as a show of frustration? That might be enough to tempt others to launch a leadership bid.

Or it might fall apart rapidly and prompt Labour MPs to row in behind Starmer, solidifying his position for now.

Let’s see. Whatever happens next, this is a big moment.

Becky Morton
Political reporter

West has not named who she thinks would be the best replacement for Starmer.

"I don't have a candidate. That's part of the problem,” she says.

"But I think there are several people who would like to do it, who have been planning for months, but I'm very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say ‘I will do it’."

She adds: "We need to bring on the person who can really sell Labour values and sell our programme."

West says Starmer has done "excellent" work rebuilding the Labour Party and on foreign policy.

"But what we do worry about is taking the fight to Reform on the domestic agenda, which I think he has less of a grip of, and also trying to identify traditional Labour voters who we've lost so that we can get them back on side and we can win the country in the 2029 general election," she says.

She adds: "We can't just go on with our main spokesperson being Keir."

Becky Morton
Political reporter

Labour MP Catherine West says if a cabinet minister does not put themselves forward to challenge Keir Starmer as party leader by Monday, she will attempt to trigger a leadership contest herself.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet tells Radio 4’s PM programme her preferred option would be for the cabinet to “reorganise themselves” and put forward their “best communicator” to replace the PM, avoiding a leadership election.

However, West says she was putting the cabinet “on notice” and if she does not hear from a leadership hopeful by Monday she would ask Labour MPs to back her to trigger a contest.

For a leadership election to be set in motion, 20% of Labour MPs - 81 people - would have to back a single challenger.

West, a former junior Foreign Office minister, says she currently has 10 people prepared to back her in a leadership bid but she is “confident” enough people would come forward to trigger a contest.

“My preferred option is for the cabinet to do a reshuffle within itself, where there's plenty of talent, and for Keir to be given a different role, which he might enjoy, perhaps an international role,” she says.

“Then for others to come to the fore who can communicate the message, who are very able, so we can have minimum fuss.”

Croydon Council has announced its results, with no party taking control of the authority.

That's the same result as the last election, where neither Labour nor the Conservatives were able to achieve a majority.

We've now had results from 134 councils in England, with two more - Lewisham and Tower Hamlets - expected to declare by this evening.

Image source, PA Media

Among the headlines of Friday's election results was the news that Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan had lost her seat.

After meetings of the party’s Executive Committee and the Welsh Labour group, Member of the Senedd (MS) Ken Skates has been announced as the party's new interim leader.

He was first elected in 2011 and has held several Welsh Government roles including transport secretary and economy and infrastructure secretary. He was re-elected to the Senedd for Fflint Wrecsam yesterday.

Praising Morgan for "her role in history as the first woman to lead our Party and country is an achievement second to none", Skates says today is "just the beginning of a process that will help us to understand what we got wrong".

The PM has thanked Skates for "stepping up", adding that he will "do a fantastic job bringing Welsh Labour together" and holding the new Welsh Government "to account for working people".

Skates will serve as leader until a timetable is set for a full leadership election in line with Welsh Labour rules.

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

The electoral map is a messy patchwork of colours after this bumper set of elections in England.

This picture reflects the fragmentation of British politics, the breakdown of the dominance long enjoyed by Labour and the Conservatives, and the rise of the Greens and Reform UK.

In practice, that means many more councils not controlled by any one party and in some cases, a grudging acceptance that sharing power is necessary.

So far, 63 councils are in no overall control (NOC) following these elections, an increase of 24.

So what happens next?

The approach will differ depending on the make-up of each council.

If one party is close to a majority, it may attempt to run the council as a minority administration.

But sometimes, the largest party is unable to form a minority administration because a coalition of smaller parties has banded together to make up a majority.

In other places, two, three, four or more parties, or independents, may team up to govern the council as a coalition.

Some councils in NOC can work well together in the spirit of compromise, while others struggle to overcome sharp political differences.

Back in England, Labour has lost Bradford council to no overall control.

It means just three councils are left to declare their results.

Image source, PA Media

Plaid Cymru will seek to form a minority government in Wales, after securing 43 of 96 available seats in the Welsh Senedd, six short of a majority.

That's according to party leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, who says Plaid will seek to govern alone in Wales without a coalition after it won the largest bloc in the Senedd from Labour.

Speaking to reporters, ap Iorwerth says that during the election campaign he "made it clear that my desire, were we able to, would be to form a minority government”.

Now, he says it is "clear now we are in that position”.

Earlier on, Wales Green Party's leader Anthony Slaughter suggested his party would be "open to having conversations" about forming the next government.