Image source, PA Media

The Wales Green Party is "open to having conversations" about how the next Welsh government will be formed, the party leader has said.

Earlier, the deputy leader of Plaid Cymru said her party - which came out top in the election but fell short of an outright majority - would consider co-operating with other "progressive parties" in the Senedd where there is common ground.

Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter welcomed that Reform did not win the vote - coming second with 34 seats out of 96 - and congratulated Plaid Cymru on their result.

"This is a victory for everyone who wanted to keep Reform’s divisive, Trumpian politics out of Wales," he says in a statement.

"When it comes to the next government of Wales, we are open to having conversations, but no decisions have been made at this point," he continues.

"In any negotiations we will be looking to deliver on the Green objectives that people voted on in this election – including action to address the cost-of-living crisis, protecting our NHS, fixing the renting crisis and restoring our natural environment."

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Anna Sabine tells BBC News her party increasing its number of councillors in the eighth consecutive set of local elections in England is "phenomenal".

The Frome and East Somerset MP argues that gains from other parties appear more dramatic as they have come from a much lower base than the Lib Dem.

"When people have a local Liberal Democrat MP, when they have local councillors, they know they get out and do the work and that's why we keep winning," she says.

Pressed on why the Lib Dems have only had one candidate elected to the Welsh Parliament, Sabine concedes that Plaid Cymru and Reform "kind of dominated the narrative there".

But she says it is "not all doom and gloom" as the Lib Dems doubled the number of Scottish MSPs they have and have been successful in England.

Sabine is also pressed on why there is so little speculation about Lib Dem leader Ed Davey being a future prime minister and whether the Lib Dems are a strong enough force in the House of Commons.

She insists the party has been an "extremely effective force in parliament", but adds the party "struggle" with "two extremes on the left and the right" which she says gets "clicks and media attention". But she says people want parties that "do the work".

All results have been declared in the parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales.

In England, we've had almost all the results - 131 councils out of the 136 that held elections on Thursday.

The five council results we're still waiting for are: Bradford, Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets.

We're expecting them to be announced by this evening.

Image source, PA Media

As we’ve just reported, the prime minister has today appointed Gordon Brown as special envoy on global finance, and Harriet Harman has been appointed Starmer's adviser on women and girls.

Gordon Brown is the former Labour prime minister who led the country from 2007-2010, including through the global financial crisis.

This period included the bail-out of the Royal Bank of Scotland - considered the biggest rescue of a bank in the world at the time.

He was also the longest-serving chancellor of the exchequer in modern history, having served in the role for a decade under Tony Blair.

Harriet Harman served as Brown's deputy leader of the Labour Party, and is a member of the House of Lords.

She has held several senior government positions in her career, including two brief stints as acting party leader in 2010 and 2015.

She has been serving as the UK's special envoy for women and girls - a global role appointed by the foreign secretary - since March last year.

Image source, Getty Images

All seats in the Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections have been counted, and just five councils are left to declare in England. Here's where things stand:

Wales

• Plaid Cymru are the biggest party in the Senedd with 43 seats, falling short of the 49 needed for a majority
• Reform UK takes 34 seats - they had none in the 2021 election. The Green Party are up two seats and the Lib Dems have one
• Labour, who had been in power in the Senedd for 27 years, are 35 seats down on their previous performance, with just nine seats
• It was also a big loss for the Conservatives, who lost 22 seats in this election, leaving them with just seven

Scotland

• The SNP won for a fifth successive time with 58 seats - down six from last time - but failed to achieve the 65 needed for a majority
• Labour lost four seats bringing them to a total of 17
• Reform gained 17 up from zero, putting them on a par with Labour in Scotland
• The Scottish Greens and Lib Dems both gained six, bringing them to 15 and 10 respectively
• And the Conservatives lost 19, leaving them with 12 seats

England

• With the last results still coming through, Reform UK is the biggest winner, gaining 1,442 seats
• Labour's losses were on a similar scale, down 1,406 seats. That leaves them with 997
• The Lib Dems gained 151, putting them in third place with 834 seats overall
• The Conservatives lost 557 seats, leaving them with 773
• The Greens gained 374 seats, giving them a total of 515
• And there was a rise in the number of independent seats too - up by 27 to a total of 199

As a reminder, here's how we report the election and calculate seat changes.

Starmer has posted on X to say he is pleased to appoint Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown in their new advisory roles.

"As Britain’s longest-serving chancellor, Gordon is well placed to work with our international allies to build a stronger Britain and boost our country’s security and resilience," he says.

He calls Harman a "strong advocate for women and girls" and says he will work with her to tackle "structural misogyny".

"I know she will deliver greater opportunity for women in public life," he says.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

More and more criticism is pouring in from Labour people over this morning’s appointments.

A Labour MP says: "Not sure voters in Wigan, Wandsworth, Salford or Sunderland voted Reform because they thought we needed more advisers from a different era of Labour politics. I think this shows that Keir doesn't even understand the problem, never mind the solution."

A former Labour adviser says: "Is his plan to combat the notion that he has no ideas to just double down on that and bring in a load of other people to come up with ideas?"

Green Party peer Jenny Jones says the result from Thursday's election is "absolutely huge" for the Greens.

"If I weren't sitting down, I'd be dancing around the room," she tells BBC Breakfast.

The Greens have gained 374 seats in the English council elections, bringing their total number to 515, with only a handful of authorities left to declare. They have also gained two seats in the Senedd in Wales, up from none.

The party is hoping to get more seats in the Commons at the next general election than its current five, Jones says. Asked whether they have benefitted from a protest vote, she says: "I think a lot of people will be [with us for the long term]".

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

It’s early days but I am starting to hear some bafflement, even anger, from Labour ministers, MPs and officials about the appearance of Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman this morning.

While both widely respected by Labour MPs, there is widespread confusion about how figures from Labour’s past signify change.

One normally loyal minister just said to me: "It’s a joke. There is no question to which bringing these two back is the answer."

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been appointed as a special envoy on global finance.

The prime minister has committed to boosting the country's security and resilience and "in this role, Gordon Brown will advise on how global finance co-operation can help to achieve this," Downing Street says.

It comes after former Deputy Prime Minister Harriet Harman was appointed as an adviser on women and girls.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Not long after Harriet Harman emerged from No 10 with PM Keir Starmer, another figure from Labour's past has done the same - Gordon Brown.

We don't know what role the former prime minister has agreed to take. But this is a clear strategy: Starmer seeking to reassert his authority through the backing of some of the figures from Labour's past most respected by the party's MPs.

Harman charged with helping PM deliver change faster - but will it work?published at 10:12 BST

10:12 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

The appointment of Harriet Harman is an attempt to flesh out what the prime minister means by delivering change faster.

He has repeatedly said that tackling violence against women and girls is one of his priorities.

Harman has now been charged with helping Keir Starmer deliver that.

The former Labour deputy leader Harriet is universally respected by Labour MPs, but whether her elevation to a part-time, unpaid adviser role is enough to reassure Labour MPs digesting the election results remains to be seen.

Harry Farley
Political correspondent, reporting from Downing Street

Harriet Harman has been appointed the prime minister’s adviser on women and girls as part of a reset following Labour’s heavy election losses.

Baroness Harman will work with ministers, Number 10 said, on tackling violence against women and girls.

Downing Street said: "The role will see her draw on work with women across Parliament to identify action needed to tackle misogyny and deliver greater opportunity for women in parliamentary and public life."

Image source, Getty Images

New Member of the Scottish Parliament Stephen Gethins says there is "now a bigger pro-independence majority" in Scottish Parliament than ever before, when other parties are included alongside the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Gethins is a former Westminster MP who will now need to step down after being elected as MSP for Dundee City East.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it is "incumbent on all politicians to listen to the electorate" in the aftermath of "seismic elections".

"People in Scotland want a choice about their future" and "deserve" that choice, he says.

The SNP won the Holyrood election for the fifth consecutive time with 58 seats, down six from 2021, but failed to achieve the 65 required for a majority.

Image source, Reuters

The deputy leader of Plaid Cymru says the party is "absolutely not" considering a coalition with Reform UK in the Welsh government.

Plaid Cymru made big gains in Thursday's election and is now the biggest party in the Senedd with 43 seats, but it hasfallen short of the 49 needed for a majority

Delyth Jewell tells BBC Breakfast that Plaid Cymru's success is a "historic moment" for Wales and says it signals faith in the country's potential and "a triumph in the politics of hope over division".

She adds that the party stands ready to form the next Welsh government and would consider co-operating with other "progressive parties" where there is common ground.

Pressed on which parties this may be, Jewell lists the Greens, Labour and the Liberal Democrats as parties it may work with on a "case-by-case basis" when there is common ground.

She says that Plaid Cymru will be "standing in Wales' corner" and demanding what she characterises as a better deal from Westminster.

The results are "historic" for the country and Reform UK, the party's home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf tells BBC Breakfast.

The Conservative party have been "rendered irrelevant in Scotland, Wales and large parts of England now", he says, and adding he believes it's a similar picture for Labour, saying the party has been "annihilated" in large parts of England.

The party has taken a "big step towards making Nigel Farage our prime minister", he says.

The party has gained 1,442 seats in English councils so far, up from just two in 2022. It has also emerged as the second largest party in Wales and joint second in Scotland.

Asked whether he's concerned the party is just a protest vote, Yusuf says the UK is on a "trajectory of decline" and suggests that won't change under Labour. He says the party can increase its vote share before a general election and then "deliver for the British public".

It's then put to Yusuf that defending policy once you're in government is more challenging. "We welcome scrutiny," he says, saying that Reform took control of a number of councils last year.

Trickle of Labour MPs join calls for Starmer to go, but so far no cabinet ministers or rivals have joined thempublished at 09:05 BST

09:05 BST

Harry Farley
Political correspondent, reporting from Downing Street

This morning has seen a trickle of Labour MPs joining those calling for the prime minister to step down.

In the last few minutes the former minister Catherine West added her voice.

"The Labour Party need the chance to have an honest conversation about how we deliver the change we promised in 2024, and that requires new leadership which understands the urgent and real concerns of people across the UK," she said.

I’m reporting from a sunny Downing Street this morning. But if you’re one of those sat inside pondering the prime minister’s next steps, it’s looking pretty gloomy.

Their one silver lining is, so far, there haven’t been any cabinet ministers or leadership rivals among those saying Starmer should go.

He will give a speech on Monday to try and set a direction and vision for where he wants to take the country now. But writing in The Guardian, the prime minister said he'd made mistakes, but added "that doesn’t mean tacking right or left". From that, it doesn’t sound like a major overhaul in policy or approach.

His problem is many more Labour MPs than the 20 or so who’ve publicly said so believe his time is up.

Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice tells BBC Breakfast the picture for Labour "has frankly emerged to be one that has been about as bleak as might have been imagined in advance of these elections".

In Wales, the defeat was "about as serious as anybody had thought it might be", he says.

Downing Street has a "substantial challenge on their hands" he says - to persuade colleagues they do not need a new leader, and if they don't change leader the challenge for Starmer to turn things around "is clearly now a very very substantial one".

Looking at the wider trends, the polling expert says "frankly none of the political parties have the support of a substantial section of the public", and are all minorities.

He says a national share projection shows Reform with more support, and that it's then "hard to get a cigarette paper" between support for the Green Party, Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems.

"The crucial point is the results confirm the fragmentation of our politics," he adds.

Labour, he adds, now have to "think seriously" about the "substantial difficulties" they find themselves in.

Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell is pressed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the growing number of Labour backbenchers calling for a Starmer to set out a timeframe for when he could stand down as prime minister.

She says she agrees there has to be a "step change", but that she wants to see Starmer continue and lead that process.

Thinking that setting out a timetable would "put to bed the issues of leadership I think is actually the wrong conclusion", saying it would "fire the starting gun of a quite honestly, a very distracting and ongoing debate about leadership".

She says there has been "incessant speculation" in the last few weeks, adding: "I don't want to hear about that anymore. I want us to get on with the job."

Powell is asked if she can say categorically that Starmer will still be Labour leader in six months time, or if there will be a change.

"I don't think it should happen and I don't want it to happen," she says.

Challenged again, she says that predictions about a leadership change are "already being proven to be incorrect" and adds that "we don't do hostile takeovers in the Labour party".

Powell is asked to answer the question directly and say if she can say Starmer will still be leader in six months' time.

"Yes, yes, yes," finishes Powell.