Local Elections 2019: The Tories are being punished for Brexit, and four other things we learnt

The results of the Local Elections 2019 are in, and the two main parties have been punished over Brexit by voters, with Labour and Tories suffering significant losses.

More than 8,000 seats are up for grabs, and voting took place in 248 English councils outside London, and 11 local authority areas in Northern Ireland.

With 109 of the 248 councils declared at the time of writing, the Liberal Democrats have made huge gains in traditionally Conservative areas; despite making gains in metropolitan areas.

Labour on the other hand has seen significant losses in traditional heartland areas such as Sunderland and Barnsley; and and the Tories are on course to lose hundreds of seats on Shire district councils.

Oh, and some other groundbreaking news we've learned from those busily working away overnight to bring the results of the elections to the nation? Dogs are still very much present at polling stations.

Here are five things we've learned from this year's Local Elections.

1. The Tories are being punished for Brexit.

According to the latest figures, the Conservatives have lost control of 16 councils, and have suffered a net loss of 409 seats. The Conservatives were expecting to do very badly, partly because most of those seats were last contested in 2015, on the day of the General Election.

Prime minister Theresa May is also under fire from Brexiteers for delaying the UK's exit from the European Union until the end of October, reports the Standard.

2. The Liberal Democrats have made significant gains in traditionally 'Tory' areas.

Good news if you're a yellow voter! The Liberal Democrats gained control of nine councils, and have achieved a net gain of 283 seats, according to the latest figures, reports the Guardian.

Sir Ed Davy, the Liberal Democrat MP celebrated by saying:

It's a fantastic morning. The Liberal Democrats are back in business!

Let's hope no one brings up 'tuition fees' any time soon...

3. Dogs are still very much 'in vogue' at polling booths.

As is the custom, there was a strong turn out of dogs at local election polling booths this year, which is always an encouraging sign.

Here are a couple of the friendly pooches to cheer your morning:

4. Labour has made losses in their heartlands.

Labour, alongside the Tories, has been punished for its obfuscation over declaring its position on Brexit. Labour's pro-Remainers have blamed their poor performance on the party's equivocal stance on Brexit, with Jess Phillips tweeting:

I'm off to bed as have to be up at 7am to do the school run. My final word is that I think our position on Brexit has failed. Bravery is needed. If you combine kindness and effectiveness with a bit of grit most people will respect you even when they don't always agree.

Labour MP Wes Streeting echoed these claims, reports the Guardian:

Results from places like Liverpool and Sunderland - a Remain city and a Leave town - surely demonstrate that looking both ways on Brexit isn’t doing Labour any good.

5. Dire Tory results lead to more calls for Theresa May to resign...

After absolutely dire results for the Tories, there have been a number of calls for the embattled PM Theresa May to resign.

In an interview overnight, conservative ex-minister Priti Patel said:

People have categorically said [Theresa May] is part of the problem.

Bernard Jenkins, another Tory Brexiteer echoed these calls:

If the Conservative party does not mend its ways pretty quickly, the Conservative party is going to be toast.

Crispin Blunt, another Tory Brexiteer, echoed these calls when talking on the Today Programme:

I was publicly one of those who thought [May] should go in December. There is no reason for me to change that judgment. She now formally has the leadership without a challenge under our rules until December, but plainly we are going to need a new leader at some point to get a clear strategy to get Brexit over the line.

Let's see if it's Theresa who ends up as toast...

HT Guardian

More: 20 of the best dogs at local election polling stations

More: Gavin Esler called his dog 'Farage' and the jokes wrote themselves