What just happened in the local elections and what does it mean for the UK's future?

Voters headed to the polls yesterday to participate in a range of council and mayoral elections.

For the first time, they had to come armed with photo ID or risked being turned away from the ballot box.

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The results? While many councils are yet to tot up the votes meaning we won't know a fuller picture later in the day, it looks like it has been a bad night for the Conservatives who lost councils, and a good night for Labour and the Lib Dems who gained them.

Here is everything you need to know about the results so far.

What seats were up for grabs?

The polls were for more than 8,000 council seats on 230 councils, and four mayors, across England. Spare a thought for the people counting all those...

What are the results so far?

Plymouth, Medway and Stoke-on-Trent councils were won by Labour, while the Lib Dems took Windsor and Maidenhead - a symbolic gain given it is the parliamentary constituency of former prime minister Theresa May.

The Conservatives lost their majorities in Tamworth, Brentwood, Hertsmere and North West Leicestershire. They also lost Medway to Labour - which they had controlled for 20 years.

At the time of writing, the latest result is from East Hertfordshire, which the Tories have just lost. The authority will now be hung, with no party majority.

We'll know the full results by around 8pm, when York is expected to count their council votes.

How have people reacted?

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said the Conservatives were making progress in "key election battlegrounds" like Peterborough, Sandwell and Bassetlaw adding: "I'm not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for their agenda."

Shabana Mahmood MP, Labour's national campaign coordinator, said the "strong" results showed Labour were "on course" to win a majority in the next government.

"We've seen success all over the country," she said, saying Labour had been dealing with the cost of living crisis while the Tories had not been.

"Tonight has been a disaster for Rishi Sunak as voters punish him for the Tories' failure," she added.

Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey told the BBC he had a "Cheshire-cat" grin on his face following what he said had been a "ground-breaking night" for his party.

And this is how he reacted when he found out his party had gained Windsor and Maidenhead:

Tory party chairman Greg Hands blamed Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine and the resultant spike in energy prices and inflation for the results.

What do the results mean?

With the elections being the first big vote since Sunak became prime minister, they are widely being seen as a test of his popularity, and as a dummy run for how the public will vote in a general election

After all, there is often correlation between the two.

If these results were replicated at a general election level, we could see top Tories including new deputy PM Oliver Dowden lose his seat as well as Johnny Mercer and Jonathan Gullis.

However, politics is a notoriously unpredictable game - you never really know what is going to happen.

A lot can change in a year, which is when a general election is expected to take place. Just look at how many prime ministers we had last year (three!).

So, as ever, triumphant Labour and Lib Dem politicians will have to quell their glee with a hefty pinch of salt, while Tories licking their wounds may need not start administering their last rites.

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