Rated How the mainstream parties fared across the country

The electoral picture is broad, and the results are not all in yet.

- Peter Walker

But enough has happened for each of the five main parties to have a good sense of how well or badly they did in Thursday's local elections:

Reform UK ★★★★★ The earliest results seemed to point at Nigel Farage's party doing much as the polls had predicted - very well, and from a standing start, but with some squeeze from voters trying to keep it out. Thus the Runcorn and Helsby byelection, labelled by bookmakers a dead cert for Reform, was taken by just six votes, and it fell short in some mayoral races.

But as the council tallies streamed in, Farage's grin became ever wider. Reform was not just winning councillors but a series of whole authorities, giving the party new power and prominence. The bulk were in expected areas, such as Kent and former Labour heartlands in the north. But it also won 23 seats in Warwickshire and 27 in Worcestershire, becoming the largest party in both.