- Labour is on course for big gains in English local elections, with a projected 39% vote share ahead of the Tories 31% and Lib Dems 16%
- Lowest turnout in English local elections for 12 years - just 32%
- UKIP spokesman calls Tory Baroness Warsi a 'b****h' after she linked the rise of the UK Independence Party with the decline of the BNP
- Lib Dem candidate thrown out of count after trying to punch Labour candidate in St Helens, Merseyside
- An eve-of-poll survey suggests that Boris Johnson is set for victory today over Labour's Ken Livingstone, by a margin of 53% to 47%
By Tim Shipman and Jill Reilly
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David Cameron and Nick Clegg have suffered a bitter voter backlash as Labour racked up big gains in the local elections results announced so far overnight.
Early indications suggest David Miliband's party could gain more than 700 seats, with the BBC projecting a 39 per cent vote share ahead of the Tories 31 per cent and Lib Dems 16 per cent.
Tory Cabinet ministers admitted they were braced for a 'bad night' of bitter defeats - they are now pinning their hopes on the re-election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London.
Scroll down for live results
Testing times: Candidates watch as votes are counted for the Swindon Borough Council elections - Conservative held on to the votes
Working through the night: The polls closed at 10pm last night amid speculation that a drizzly day across much of the country could result in a low turnout - the Tories admitted they were bracing themselves for a 'bad night'
The polls closed at 10pm last night amid speculation that a drizzly day across much of the country could result in a low turnout - an estimated 32 per cent of people voted, which was the lowest turnout for 12 years.
Key councils such as Thurrock, Harlow, Southampton, Birmingham, Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Chorley fell to Ed Miliband's party.
The Prime Minister was also embarrassed by losses in his Oxfordshire constituency - with Labour taking the seats of Witney Central, Witney East and Chipping Norton.
In a further blow, Manchester, Nottingham and Coventry ignored Mr Cameron's pleas and rejected proposals for elected mayors. Birmingham and other cities are expected to follow suit.
The Liberal Democrats were not spared pain, being left without a representative on several powerful councils as voters seemingly punished the Government for austerity measures.
Testing times: David Cameron, at the Conservative campaign HQ discussing results as they came in last night
Positive predictions: Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine at a London polling station yesterday. Insiders predict Ed Miliband's party will garner around 38 per cent of the vote, compensation for the expected loss of the London mayoral election
Under pressure: The leader facing the toughest night is Nick Clegg, left, who is on course to lose up to 350 seats - while David Cameron's party, pictured right with his wife Samantha, admitted it was a 'bad night'
However, Mr Miliband did suffer a setback in Bradford, where his party lost seats to Respect.
The results followed George Galloway's shock success in last month's parliamentary by-election.
Tories pointed to a low turnout, estimated at little over 30%, suggesting that 'apathy' had played a significant part in the results.
But there were also calls for a change in direction from the leadership. Senior backbencher Bernard Jenkin insisted the party had to focus on the economy rather than allowing their Lib Dem coalition partners to dictate the agenda.
'The coalition is going to look completely stupid if it follow through on Lords reform,' he told the BBC.
LIVE BREAK-DOWN: HOW THE PARTIES PERFORMED IN ENGLAND
A senior Labour source hailed victory in Harlow as a 'significant breakthrough', saying that the party had to win the constituency at the general election 2015 to gain a majority.
The result 'shows people who used to vote Labour returning', according to the source.
Conservative Transport Secretary Justine Greening claimed the election was 'always going to be a difficult one' for her party - and was unsurprised by Labour's success.
'Realistically there was only one way they could go and that was up,' she said.
'We've had a tough couple of months and we were expecting this to be a difficult evening.'
Local Government Secretary and former Tory chairman Eric Pickles told Sky News Labour's gains were to be expected - and predicted the party should claim another 700 seats.
POLICE CALLED AS POLITICAL PRESSURE LEADS TO LATE-NIGHT ELECTION FRACAS
Police were forced to break up a late-night election count fracas.
A row broke out as Liberal Democrats in Labour-controlled St Helen's suffered a series of setbacks, leading to disappointment for the party's leader on the council, Brian Spencer who lost his seat.
According to witnesses at St Helen's Town Hall there was a confrontation between Mr Spencer and Labour candidate Mark Johnson, who fell across a table and landed on his mother.
Labour councillor Andy Bowden said: 'As the results were coming in it was becoming clear the Lib Dems had lost quite a few seats.'
He added: 'There were quite a lot of police i n the room and at least two interjected and separated everyone.'
Mr Bowden said Mr Johnson may have twisted his ankle and was giving a statement to police.
It is understood police officers intervened, but no arrests were made.
Lib Dem councillor Michael Haw said Mr Spencer, the council's ex-opposition leader, was upset at losing his seat.
TORY CLAIMS SEAT AFTER LOTS DRAWN
Lots had to be drawn to separate Conservative and Independent candidates in a Tory stronghold council after they polled the same number of votes.
There were three recounts in the Chertsey South and Rowtown ward of Runnymede Borough Council in Surrey but the candidates could not be separated.
John Edwards of the Conservatives, and Independent candidate Gillian Ellis both received 503 votes, so they agreed to draw lots.
Their names were placed in a drum, and returning officer Paul Turrell, the council's chief exec utive, picked out Mr Edwards's name.
The Conservatives won 12 of the 14 seats contested, with Independent Residents winning two.
He said: 'When a party is rock bottom there's only one way to go. But I'm not seeking to rain on Labour's parade.'
Labour's shadow justice minister Sadiq Khan told Sky: 'It has been a good night for Labour because people who have been concerned about some of the decisions of this coalition Government are punishing them by voting for Labour candidates all around the country.
'But we mustn't be complacent or smug about this.'
The Tories lost several seats in West Oxfordshire to Labour, including Chipping Norton, Witney Central and Witney East - in the Prime Minister's own constituency. However, they retained control of the council.
Recent opinion polls have shown a clear national lead for Labour - often in double digits - as the Government has wrestled with a month-long string of difficulties.
Most of the contested seats were last up for grabs in 2008 - when the Conservatives made significant gains and Labour and the Lib Dems were hit hard.
Labour has tried to downplay expectations, suggesting its hope was for between 300 to 350 gains in England and 100 in Wales with continued losses to the SNP in Scotland when counting begins at 9:00am.
However, sources were sounding increasingly bullish, describing victory in Great Yarmouth as 'at the outer edge of expectations.'
Results from Basildon and Sunderland showed large swings to Labour, and substantial declines in Conservative and Lib Dem support.
The UK Independence Party was picking up support in parts of the country, such as Bury.
Polling experts have said that on the basis of recent polls and the chaos gripping the coalition, Labour ought to make gains of at least 700 seats.
Labour have taken Birmingham, winning 20 seats from the ruling Conservative/Lib Dem administration and giving it 77 councillors on the 120-member city council.
But Tories stressed low turnouts in areas such as Dudley, suggesting it could have dropped to 28 per cent from nearly 37 per cent in 2007.
In Kingston-upon-Hull, turnout was reported to be just 18.7 per cent and Lincoln turnout was the lowest ever, at 26 per cent.
Party figures also hit out at 'apathy' in mayoral referendums, saying turnout in one Nottingham ward was just 8.4 per cent.
Three of the cities that held referendums on the introduction of elected mayors have so far rejected the idea - Nottingham, Manchester and Coventry opposed the proposal.
I'm voting for daddy: Boris and Marina at the polling station with his daughter Lara Johnson, who voted for the first time after turning 18
Family: Ken Livingstone (right) walks wife Emma Beal (second left), son Thomas (centre) and daughter Mia (left) as well as some of his campaign team as he arrives to cast his vote in the local elections
ROW AS BARONESS WARSI LINKS RISE OF UKIP TO DECLINE OF BNP
A row broke out today after Conservative Party co-chairwoman Baroness Sayeeda Warsi linked the rise of the UK Independence Party (Ukip) with the decline of the far-right British National Party.
UKIP are tipped to do well as the results pour in this morning, with the BNP falling further behind.
But Lady Warsi appeared to suggest the number of candidates fielded by the eurosceptics had risen in line with a fall in the number standing for the BNP - a link with provoked Ukip's spokesman to brand her 'a bitch'.
Speaking on the BBC's election night coverage, Lady Warsi said: 'Where Ukip is fielding candidates this time that the BNP did last time but they're not this time, I think that will have an impact.'
She added: 'There are members of Ukip who are from all sorts of political parties, but it is an interesting mix there in terms of the number of candidates.'
UKIP spokesman Gawain Towler vented his anger at Lady Warsi's comments on Twitter, calling her a 'bitch' to his 1,700 followers, some of whom criticised his 'unparliamentary language'.
The spokesman quickly deleted the post and and apologised, tweeting: 'Deleted, out of order on my part'.
He later added: 'Shouln't (sic) have said that, apologise.'
The leader facing the toughest night is Nick Clegg, who was on course to lose up to 350 seats, leaving the Liberal Democrats with the smallest number of councillors nationwide since the mid-1980s.
A performance like that will intensify speculation that the party could be all but wiped out at the next general election and that Mr Clegg could face a leadership challenge before 2015.
‘We always expected elections to be difficult last year and this year,’ one source said. ‘If it’s nearer 250 losses that will be some sign that we have stemmed the bleeding but I would expect it to be nearer 350. If it’s bad next year we will be in serious trouble.’
A Lib Dem meltdown is expected to help the Tories hold on to some seats which is might otherwise have lost to Labour.
The Lib Dems had feared losses on Cambridge City Council, blaming disastisfaction with the party's involvement with the coalition government.
Julian Huppert, the city's Lib Dem MP, said he believed national issues 'played a far greater part in the result than they should' because of aggressive Labour campaigning.'
He added: 'We have tried to stick to local issues and put forward some really strong local policies.
'But Labour have played very strongly on national issues and, other than policies on dog poo and multiple occupancy homes, haven't put forward anything constructive.
'I do get the sense on the street that people are disappointed with the Lib Dems nationally.
'I wouldn't choose to be part of a coalition, I certainly wouldn't choose to be part of a coalition with the Conservatives and I wouldn't choose to be part of a coalition with no money.'
Yesterday's poll was seen as a crucial test of Ed Miliband’s leadership and a measure of whether he can win votes in the South where Labour has been virtually wiped out.
His aides said the vote was an opportunity to ‘regain ground and restore trust’ with the electorate.
Last year Labour made gains by leeching votes from the Liberal Democrats.
This time they are hopeful of grabbing votes directly.
These are all swing seats in a general election and Labour needs to show progress there if the party is to have any chance of rebuilding its grassroots infrastructure that will be necessary if they are to win a majority in 2015. 
Mr Miliband badly needs a good night after Labour’s disastrous loss to George Galloway and Respect at the recent Bradford West by-election.
A Labour official said: ‘We want to show we are regaining ground. We were neck and neck in the council elections a year ago. If we are two or three points ahead this time, that will be a step forward.'
‘Rebuilding trust will take time, as Bradford showed. This is a staging post not a destination.’
The remainder of the 10 cities holding referendums on elected mayors will reveal their results later.
Londoners have also been voting for a new mayor - but they will have to wait until this evening to find out who has won that contest.
Prime Minister David Cameron will be hoping that Boris Johnson can buck the trend by securing re-election as London Mayor.
An eve-of-poll survey for the Evening Standard suggested that Mr Johnson - who gave a confident thumbs-up as he arrived to cast his ballot in north London this morning - is set for victory over Labour's Ken Livingstone, by a margin of 53 per cent to 47 per cent.
HOW DID YOUR AREA PERFORM? CHECK THE LIVE UPDATE OF RESULTS
There are 181 councils in E ngland, Scotland and Wales up for election - 128 English councils, 32 unitary authorities in Scotland and 21 Welsh unitary authorities.
The live results are:
   Aberdeen
   Aberdeenshire
   Adur
   Amber Valley CON No Change
   Angus
   Argyll Bute
   Barnsley LAB No Change
   Basildon CON No Change
   Basingstoke Deane CON No Change
   Bassetlaw LAB No Change
   Birmingham LAB gain from NOC
   Blackburn with Darwen
   Blaenau Gwent LAB gain from IND
   Bolton LAB No Change
   Bradford
   Brentwood CON No Change
   Bridgend LAB gain from NOC
   Broxbourne CON No Change
   Burnley
   Bury LAB No Change
   Caerphilly
   Calderdale
   Cambridge LD lose to NOC
   Cannock Chase LAB gain from NOC
   Cardiff
   Carlisle LA B gain from NOC
   Carmarthenshire
   Castle Point CON No Change
   Ceredigion NOC No Change
   Cheltenham LD No Change
   Cherwell CON No Change
   Chorley LAB gain from NOC
   Clackmannanshire
   Colchester NOC No Change
   Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
   Conwy
   Coventry LAB No Change
   Craven
   Crawley
   Daventry
   Denbighshire
   Derby LAB gain from NOC
   Doncaster
   Dudley LAB gain from CON
   Dumfries Galloway
   Dundee
   East Ayrshire
   East Dunbartonshire
   East Lothian
   East Renfrewshire
   Eastleigh LD No Change
   Edinburgh
   Elmbridge CON No Change
   Epping Forest
   Exeter LAB gain from NOC
   Falkirk
   Fareham CON No Change
   Fife
   Flintshire NOC No Cha nge
   Gateshead
   Glasgow
   Gloucester CON lose to NOC
   Gosport CON No Change
   Great Yarmouth LAB gain from CON
   Gwynedd
   Halton LAB No Change
   Harlow LAB gain from CON
   Harrogate
   Hart CON lose to NOC
   Hartlepool LAB No Change
   Hastings LAB No Change
   Havant CON No Change
   Hertsmere CON No Change
   Highland
   Huntingdonshire
   Hyndburn
   Inverclyde
   Ipswich LAB No Change
   Kingston upon Hull LAB No Change
   Kirklees
   Knowsley LAB No Change
   Leeds
   Lincoln LAB No Change
   Liverpool
   Maidstone CON No Change
   Manchester LAB No Change
   Merthyr Tydfil LAB gain from IND
   Midlothian
   Milton Keynes
   Mole Valley NOC No Change
   Monmouthshire
   Moray
   Neath Port Talbot LAB No Change
   Newcastle under Lyme
   Newcastle upon Tyne
   Newport
   North Ayrshire
   North East Lincolnshire LAB gain from NOC
   North Hertfordshire
   North Lanarkshire
   North Tyneside
   Norwich LAB gain from NOC
   Nuneaton Bedworth LAB gain from NOC
   Oldham LAB No Change
   Orkney
   Oxford LAB No Change
   Pembrokeshire
   Pendle
   Perth Kinross
   Peterborough CON No Change
   Plymouth LAB gain from CON
   Portsmouth LD No Change
   Powys
   Preston LAB No Change
   Purbeck NOC No Change
   Reading LAB gain from NOC
   Redditch
   Reigate Banstead
   Renfrewshire
   Rhondda Cynon Taff
   Rochdale LAB No Change
   Rochford CON No Change
   Rossend ale
   Rotherham LAB No Change
   Rugby
   Runnymede CON No Change
   Rushmoor CON No Change
   Salford LAB No Change
   Sandwell LAB No Change
   Scottish Borders
   Sefton LAB gain from NOC
   Sheffield
   Shetland
   Slough LAB No Change
   Solihull
   South Ayrshire
   South Cambridgeshire
   South Lakeland
   South Lanarkshire
   South Tyneside LAB No Change
   Southampton LAB gain from CON
   Southend on Sea CON lose to NOC
   St Albans NOC No Change
   St Helens LAB No Change
   Stevenage LAB No Change
   Stirling
   Stockport NOC No Change
   Stratford on Avon CON No Change
   Stroud
   Sunderland LAB No Change
   Swansea
   Swindon CON No Change
   Tameside LAB No Change
   Tamworth CON No Ch ange
   Tandridge CON No Change
   Three Rivers
   Thurrock LAB gain from NOC
   Torfaen
   Trafford CON No Change
   Tunbridge Wells
   Vale of Glamorgan
   Wakefield
   Walsall NOC No Change
   Warrington
   Watford
   Welwyn Hatfield CON No Change
   West Dunbartonshire
   West Lancashire CON No Change
   West Lothian
   West Oxfordshire CON No Change
   Weymouth Portland NOC No Change
   Wigan LAB No Change
   Winchester CON gain from NOC
   Wirral LAB gain from NOC
   Woking
   Wokingham
   Wolverhampton
   Worcester CON lose to NOC
   Worthing
   Wrexham NOC No Change
   Wyre Forest CON lose to NOCÂ
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