Election results as it happened: It's official, Sadiq Khan is the new Mayor of London

The votes have been counted and it's official, Labour candidate Sadiq Khan is the new Mayor of London. Khan succeeds Boris Johnson, who spent eight years in City Hall.

Zac Goldsmith: "I congratulate Sadiq Khan - I wish him well as he builds on Boris Johnson's successes."

Sadiq Khan: "This election was not without controversy. I am so proud that London has chosen hope and unity over division. I will ensure that you will get the opportunities that our incredible city gave to me."

Sadiq Khan: "I have a burning ambition for London. I want every single Londoner to get the opportunities the city gave to me and my family. Not just the opportunity to survive but to thrive."

Sadiq Khan: "Thank you London. London is the greatest city in the world.
I am deeply humbled by the hope and trust placed in me by the city of London.
I want to say thank you to every single Londoner for making the impossible possible today."

Sadiq Khan receives 1, 310,143 votes

Zac Goldsmith receives 994, 614 votes

The official declaration of results are now being announced by the returning officer who apologises for the delay.

Mayor of London election declaration is now expected at 12.30am, as candidates are being briefed in chambers at City Hall.

UKip leader Nigel Farage hails 'breakthrough' for party after winning two seats.

Green grandee Jenny Jones tweets a farewell message as she leaves the London Assembly.

The 11 people who will make up the London-wide Assembly have been announced as:

Labour (Fiona Twycross, Tom Copley, Nicky Gavron)
Conservatives (Sean Bailey, Andrew Boff, Kemi Badenoch)
Ukip (Peter Whittle, David Kurten)
Green (Sian Berry, Caroline Russell)
Liberal Democrats (Caroline Pidgeon)

It's a breakthrough for Ukip who get their first seats in the London Assembly, including the party's Mayor of London election candidate Peter Whittle. The result beats Ukip's expectations, with a Ukip source predicting to IBTimes UK before the declaration that they would get one seat.

London Assembly list results by party:

Labour win 3

Conservatives win 3

Ukip win 2

Green win 2

Liberal Democrats win 1

Assembled media make the most of the spectacular views of London from City Hall, as the waiting game continues.

Declaration for London assembly list is expected soon, as members of the press are moved into the chamber at City Hall in anticipation of an imminent announcement, IBTimesUK's senior political reporter Ian Silvera confirms.

There is speculation among the press gathered at City Hall, that the earlier reported "discrepancies", which have resulted in the mayoral election results being delayed, might be more problematic than originally thought following a mix-up in the count.

As the count continues, Sadiq Khan is taking his election as London Mayor in his stride - he's reportedly taking a nap on the 7th floor of City Hall ahead of his victory party. Meanwhile, the hashtag #YesWeKhan is trending on Twitter, as the public react to the election of Sadiq Khan, London's first Muslim mayor.

As the wait continues for the results of the London mayoral contest, Women's Equality Party founder Sandi Toksvig kept everyone amused with an impromptu stand-up routine.

A London Elects spokeswoman has issued a statement confirming that the declaration of the official mayoral election result will be delayed. She said: "The returning officer is currently updating candidates and agents. There were some small discrepancies with regard to the mayoral figures and we have to take the time to check them. We're doing the checking in conjunction with the Electoral Commission. We have to take the time to resolve these issues. We are working towards a declaration at midnight. I apologise."

A midnight declaration is expected following reports of a "counting error". London Elects says officers are working through 'small discrepancies' with the vote.

Conservative Business Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted Sadiq Khan a touching message paying tribute to their humble origins.

Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan, and Dan Jarvis MP, show their support for Sadiq Khan as the London Mayoral candidate roars towards certain victory.

As Sadiq Khan pledges to freeze travel costs for four years and introduce a one-hour bus "hopper" ticket, Finn Brennan of the train drivers' union Aslef, said he hopes that the election of a new Mayor will lead to improved relations with trade unions on the Underground.

"The election of a new mayor offers the opportunity for a fresh start in industrial relations on London Underground. I hope that Transport for London management will take it," he said.

French Prime minister Manuel Valls added his voice to those congratulating Sadiq Khan.

While Sadiq Khan is on course to become the first Labour Mayor in eight years in a landslide victory, Zac Goldsmith is in City Hall awaiting the official result and anticipating certain defeat. His spokesman said: "We have not issued a comment. We will do so after the result is declared."

Turnout for the Mayoral elections is reported to be the highest ever at 45.6 per cent.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband posted a tweet in praise of the new Mayor of London, while criticising Zac Goldsmith's divisive campaign.

Messages of congratulations are pouring in on social media for Sadiq Khan, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hailing his historic victory, while Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said Khan has "done the party proud".

Professor Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics, told IBTimes UK: "I think it is clearly significant to have a city as large as London to have a Muslim mayor. It will be seen as significant outside Britain, it will be seen as evidence of London's vast broadly tolerant nature and it will be a correct assumption.
"Sadiq Khan, intriguingly, probably had more businesses supporting him than Zac Goldsmith did, particularly because of his stance on Europe, which many of the bigger businesses in the city were not enthusiastic about. In that sense, on balance, business probably preferred the Labour candidate, which is in a very Alice and Wonderland way the sign of the times."

Zac Goldsmith's sister Jemima has just congratulated Sadiq Khan, but in a second tweet also appeared to question the "integrity" of her brother' s campaign.

London Labour MP David Lammy, who ran against Sadiq Khan for the party's Mayoral nomination, described Khan's expected victory as "extraordinary".

Speaking to IBTimes UK, Lammy said: "He's run a very effective campaign, it's been on the issues and the big issue that Londoners are talking about is housing and he has consistently come back to that time and time again.

"It's an extraordinary moment also because of course he has got a mandate from millions of Londoners.

"He's reminded people time and time again that he's a son of immgrants, his dad was a bus driver, he grew up on a council estate. It has really resonated. When you look at the results across London, he's outperforming Ken Livingstone in terms of personal vote when Ken was at his best.

"It's a huge personal mandate for Sadiq Khan and Labour members. This is a profound moment for Londoners."

Is it time for Labour to rally around party leader Jeremy Corbyn?

The Communication Workers Union certainly seems to think so. General Secretary Dave Ward said: "Imagine what Labour could achieve if united? It's time for talk of coups and challenges to end. From today, the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) must join the membership and fight against the real enemy - the Tories.

"Labour must unite around flagship policies that stand up for workers with a return to decent employment standards, an alternative economic approach that grows our infrastructure and radical solutions to end the housing crisis."

Sian Berry, the Green Party's candidate for Mayor of London has been speaking to IBTimes UK. Berry hit out at the Tories' "divisive" mayoral campaign and declared: "It's a good day for London."

"The polls have underestimated our vote, partly that's because they won't include us in their questions. But also we fought back in the last few days of the campaign. We gained momentum - if we had another couple of weeks we would have done even better," said Berry.

She added: "Overall, I'm really encouraged by the way London has rejected the very divisive campaigns that were fought. It likes both us and the Liberal Democrats have beaten Ukip in the race for Mayor. It does look like it's going to be Sadiq Khan rather than Zac Goldsmith, and we've rejected the Conservatives' campaign that was quite divisive. It's a good day for London – we've proven ourselves to be a better city than that."

Probe set to look into Barnet blunder

An investigation is set to be launched after hundreds of voters were turned away from polling stations in Barnet yesterday. All 155 polling stations were affected.

Lib Dem update

Kirsty Williams resigns as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, the party has announced.

A reminder that Sadiq Khan has not been confirmed as Mayor of London, but the congratulations have already begun pouring in. Here's one from Rome:

London Assembly Tory leader Andrew Boff has ripped into Zac Goldsmith over his mayoral campaign. Over the course of the controversial campaign, Goldsmith's camp repeatedly tried to draw links between extremists and Sadiq Khan. Here's what Boff had to say:

I hope we don't do this stupid thing again by trying to bring Sadiq [Khan] down by saying he is an extremist. He is not an extremist. He went out and engaged with people with orthodox religious views. Dialogue is not assisted by shutting people out.

Reflection on yesterday's voting, Unison's general secretary Dave Prentis said: "This has been a tough night for Labour – especially in Scotland, but the results are at least better than many had predicted.

"Labour now has to get back to focusing on the issues that matter to working people, and on getting rid of this government at the next general election.

"Public sector workers aren't interested in Labour politicians bickering in TV studios or in those who think that politics is a game. The baying hounds from across the Party must now back off.

"The election results will have a direct impact on the work and home lives of teaching assistants, ambulance staff, hospital cleaners and other public servants. It's their jobs that are now at risk of even more privatisation, while the services they provide are likely to face yet more cuts.

"Labour must now unite behind a vision that can win in four years' time and, in so doing, change this country for the better.

"There are millions of people across the country who need that to happen. And that's what everyone in the Labour Party should be now be concentrating upon."

PCC update

Cleveland: Barry Coppinger (re-elected)
Dorset: Martyn Underhill (re-elected)
Durham: Ron Hogg (re-elected)
Gloucestershire: Martin Surl (re-elected)
Hertfordshire: David Lloyd (re-elected)
Kent: Matthew Scott
Lincolnshire: Marc Jones
Northumbria: Vera Baird (re-elected)
Nottinghamshire: Paddy Tipping (re-elected)
South Yorkshire: Alan Billings
Suffolk: Tim Passmore (re-elected)
Warwickshire: Philip Seccombe
West Mercia: John-Paul Campion
Wiltshire: Angus Macpherson (re-elected)

London assembly update

Labour gains Merton & Wandsworth from the Conservatives. The party also held Lambeth & Southwark while the Tories held West Central.

Zac Goldsmith's mayoral campaign has left a "negative legacy"

The outgoing Conservative deputy mayor has accused Zac Goldsmith's campaign of leaving a "negative legacy" in the capital. "I'm concerned that the campaign we've run is going to leave a negative legacy which we in London are going to have to clear up long after the the people who ran Zac Goldsmith's campaign have gone on their way," Roger Evans told Buzzfeed News.

"I've been the deputy mayor for the last year and it's been my job to go and talk to communities in London," he added. "I've always been very pleased with the courtesy with which I was received and the hearing all communities were willing to give to a Conservative politician.

"We're going to have to do quite a lot of work to re-establish trust with a lot of communities in London, that's a shame and an opportunity missed."

Khan poised to become the next Mayor of London

Reports suggest Labour candidate Sadiq Khan has won the race for City Hall. Khan is yet to be confirmed as Mayor of London.

Labour's Paul Dennett elected as Salford mayor by a majority of 13,848.

London Assembly update

Leonie Cooper takes Merton and Wandsworth for Labour

This might take the gloss off the Conservative party's results: seven police forces are investigating the party over alleged election fraud.

West Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester Police, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and Staffordshire police forces are taking action after a Channel 4 report relating to the party's "Battle Bus" campaign. It is claimed these expenses were not properly filed.

London's Met Police, and forces in Kent, Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire could also soon launch investigations pending further information.

Here's the full story on Nicola Sturgeon ruling out any coalition after the SNP failed to secure a majority in the Scottish parliament elections.

London Assembly update

Gareth Bacon holds Bexley and Bromley for the Conservatives.

PCC update

Cleveland: Barry Coppinger (re-elected)
Dorset: Martyn Underhill (re-elected)
Durham: Ron Hogg (re-elected)
Lincolnshire: Marc Jones
Northumbria: Vera Baird (re-elected)
Suffolk: Tim Passmore (re-elected)
Wiltshire: Angus Macpherson (re-elected)

It also looks like Katy Bourne will be re-elected in Sussex.

Meanwhile in Ireland...Edna Kenny has made history after just about managing to secure a second term as Taoiseach. It may have taken 70 days after the general election but Kenny has cobbled together a minority Fine Gael government after the party won the most seats. He is the first Fine Gael Taoiseach to win a second term.

Nicola Sturgeon has ruled out forming a coalition government after the SNP failed to secure an overall majority in the Scottish parliament. The party won 63 seats in Holyrood, two shy of the threshold. But speaking in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said she had been given a "personal mandate" to govern.

"The result of the election was emphatic - the people of Scotland once again placed their trust in the SNP to govern our country. We won a clear and unequivocal mandate.

"And I secured the personal mandate I sought to implement the bold and ambitious programme for government that I asked the country to vote on.

"So I can confirm that when it reconvenes in the coming days, I will ask the Scottish Parliament to formally re-elect me as First Minister. It will then be my intention to form and to lead an SNP government.

"With such a large number of MSPs elected I do not intend to seek any formal arrangement with any other party."

Khan backed by East London

Voters in Labour strongholds in East London have come out to support their man in the London mayor elections. Sadiq Khan is romping home in the City and East constituency, which comprises areas including Barking, Bethnal Green and Bow (George Galloway's old seat) and East Ham.

Barnet

Voters were turned away from voting booths in Barnet on Super Thursday after the wrong electoral registers were used to check voters' details. This is how voting between the top two is looking:

IBTimes UK politics reporter Ian Silvera is amongst the world's media at City Hall awaiting the result of the London mayoral election. Press officers have told him the winner will be announced any time between 6pm and midnight. Follow him on Twitter for updates from the Mayor's office...or for serene photos of London:

After eight years, Boris bids London farewell

Khan on course for London mayoral victory with more than 70% of votes counted

Cameron and Sturgeon exchange pleasantries

The SNP secured a record third term in power at Holyrood but lost its overall majority. The Scottish Conservatives made big gains, propelling them to become the main opposition party.

Cameron called Sturgeon to offer his congratulations and a very pleasant exchange appears to have ensued.

"The Prime Minister telephoned Nicola Sturgeon today, following the election results confirmed in Scotland overnight," a Downing Street spokesman said. "The Prime Minister congratulated Ms Sturgeon on her party having the largest representation in the Scottish Parliament and, in return, Ms Sturgeon congratulated the Prime Minister on the gains made in Scotland by his party.

"The Prime Minister and Ms Sturgeon agreed that the UK and Scottish Governments must continue to work together constructively, most crucially in the short term on the future of the steel industry. It was noted that the two governments sharing information and experience could be of benefit to the steel industry across the UK, and they agreed to keep in touch on this issue."

With more than half the votes counted, Sadiq Khan has a clear lead over Tory rival Zac Goldsmith. Khan has 45% of the vote so far compared to Goldsmith's 35.8%.

Bookies are already calling the race in favour of Khan and former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone declared: "He [Khan] will win and will be a very good mayor."

The Tories will be left contemplating Goldsmith's tactics in his bid for City Hall, with Shadow Justice Secretary Lord Falconer calling it a "revolting campaign" which the "Conservatives should be absolutely ashamed of".

Arise Sir Lynton

Away from the elections...as David Cameron spoke in Peterborough, Conservative party strategist Lynton Crosby was awarded his investiture by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. The Australian masterminded the Tory's surprise majority at last year's election and successfully ran Boris Johnson's 2008 London mayoral campaign. His CTF Comms is also behind Zac Goldsmith's bid to succeed Johnson.

Cameron: "Stunning" results in Scotland

The prime minister has hailed the "remarkable" achievements of Ruth Davidson and Conservatives in Scotland after the party became the official opposition. Speaking in Peterborough, where the Tories gained control of the city council, David Cameron praised the "remarkable results north of the border in Scotland" calling the outcome "stunning".

He said the vote represented a "realignment" of Scottish politics and if someone had told him two years ago that the Conservatives would become the official opposition to the SNP, he would have told them "go away, lie down and to stop taking whatever they were taking."

RESULT - Welsh Assembly

Labour 29
Plaid Cymru 12
Conservatives 11
Ukip 7
Liberal Democrats 1

So Labour remains the largest party in Wales but were unable to claim the majority threshold of 31 seats. The Ukip vote surged 13% and the party was rewarded with seven assembly seats. Plaid Cymru also enjoyed a rise in support.

Police and Crime Commissioner results

The first results from the PCC elections have been announced. Labour candidate Ronald Hogg has been re-elected in Durham while down in Wiltshire, the Conservatives' Angus MacPherson will also return to his post.

Results aren't expected in Northern Ireland until later this afternoon but this is how things went back in 2011:

DUP 38
Sinn Fein 29
SDLP 14
Ulster Unionists 16
Alliance 8

Corbyn: we hung on

Jeremy Corbyn has reacted to the election results and Labour's bruising defeat in Scotland. Speaking in Sheffield Brightside, where Gill Furniss won an emotional by-election triggered when her husband Harry Harpham died, Corbyn vowed to re-build Labour support in Scotland.

"We will be with you, we will be walking hand-in-hand with the party in Scotland to re-build that support," he said.

Admitting his party clung onto power by their fingertips in England, the Labour leader added: "All across England we were getting predictions that Labour would lose councils - we didn't - and we hung on and we grew support in a lot of places, and there's a lot more results to come today."

London votes

The graph below provides a representation of the first choice votes counted so far across London for each Mayoral candidate. None of the 14 constituencies have verified their counts yet but this is how things look:

Labour is on the right track despite running out of steam in Scotland and clinging on to almost all of its councils in England, according to Dianne Abbott. The shadow international development minister and Jeremy Corbyn ally admitted slipping behind the Tories in Scotland was "very sad" but said there had been a "slow long collapsing vote in Scotland" with the added issue of nationalism.

She pointed to the party holding on to towns like Exeter, Southampton, Crawley as a sign of where the party was going and said "our direction of travel is the right one."

On camparisons the the 2012 elections, Abbott said these ones were a "very different situation to the last election. This is a much more fragmented election. You can't justifiably compare theeese local election to the ones under Ed Miliband."

Farron "incredibly proud"

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has praised the performance of candidates as the party made gains north and south of the border. He said the results came after "hard work and determination". In a letter to members he said:

12 months ago we suffered the worst defeat in our party's history, yet in this election we have shown that when we get knocked down, we refuse to get knocked out.

I'm incredibly proud of all our candidates and grateful for their hard work and the commitment.

We are starting to see the result of our hard work and determination, and recognition of an unwavering commitment to the communities we wish to represent. These elections are starting to show that Liberal Democrats are in a position to grow.

In Scotland, Willie Rennie and Alex Cole-Hamilton gained seats - against the odds - from the SNP. And despite the full onslaught of the SNP machine we increased our share of the vote in both Orkney and Shetland.

In Wales, Kirsty Williams successfully defended her seat and increased her majority. This was a seat that was lost to the Tories last year by more than 5,000 votes.

In English council elections we have gained seats from both Labour and the Tories, and have won in areas which were previously no-go areas for the Lib Dems. We have made gains in Cambridge, Rugby, Hull, Sefton, Lincolnshire, Bury, and Sunderland.

"Good results for Lib Dems"

The Liberal Democrats made gains in England and Scotland after suffering near wipe-out at the general election last year. Westminster MP Tim Brake believes the results gives the party something to build on.

"I think we've recovered. Not in a huge way if you think in the last seven years we've been losing seats, this time around we have gained seats," he told Sky News.

The cheif whip admitted "no one in the Liberal Democrats expected good results" as the "Coalition was still in people's minds."

But he sounded optimistic when he added: "There are good signs in Scotland and the English councils...overall these are good results for the Liberal Democrats and something to build on in months to come."

He said the party aimed to win back voters from Ukip after the EU referendum was out the way in June when the "purpose of Ukip becomes less clear".

Gill Furniss may have romped to victory in the Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election but despite increasing Labour's majority by 6% there were some who preferred Elmo...

Ballot boxes across London have been opened and the count is underway in the London mayoral election. Both Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith went on last minute canvassing bids on Super Thursday to shore up support in the race to City Hall. Khan is the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson and a result is expected later this afternoon.

RESULT - Scottish parliament

The SNP has failed to secure an overall majority in the Scottish parliament. The party won 63 of the available 129 seats, two short of the threshold. The Conservatives have become the nation's second biggest party after winning 31 seats at Holyrood while Labour have taken 24.

Nicola Sturgeon's first duty as first minister will be to find out why the party shed six seats in the wake of last year's Westminster success. Her task is nowhere near the size of Labour's, who must re-build their support north of the border after sinking below the Conservatives.

Labour's vote in Scotland may have collapsed but the party has fared better than expected in England. With more than 40 councils still counting, Labour has claimed 779 council seats - down 24 on 2012 when Ed Miliband was leader. It has also won control of 41 councils, which is one fewer than last time but better than was predicted in the run up to Super Thursday.

Scotland update (122 of 129 seats counted)

SNP 63
Conservatives 27
Labour 22
Green 6
Liberal Democrats 4

"We're fighting hard into the old Labour vote"

More of Nigel Farage from his earlier interview on Sky News:

"We've come second in the English council elections virtually everywhere we've stood. So the story is Ukip support is still growing, it's growing predominantly at the expense of the Labour party. We're fighting hard into the old Labour vote and things are going well for us.

"I think many traditional Labour voters look at Mr Corbyn, look at a Labour party that has gone way, way, way to the left, a Labour party that is very metropolitan and a Labour party that under Mr Corbyn does not look very patriotic and completely refuses to engage with issues like immigration, which is the number one issue in their lives because of the effect on wages, school places, hospitals and everything else.

"And frankly, unless the Labour party want to change course I think Ukip will go on growing at the expense of Labour. The Labour party has been taken over by a hard-left caucus. Is the antisemitism within the Labour party, clearly there is.

Has that had a big influence on this vote? I'm not to sure frankly it has. I just think a lot of people are deserting Labour, they don't see it as standing up for Labour values.

Ukip has made history by winning its first seats in the Welsh Assembly. Nathan Gill and Michelle Brown were elected to North Wales regional seats while Mark Reckless and David Rowlands took seats in South East Wales.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has told Sky News the party is "growing at the expense of Labour" after claiming 20 more seats than in 2012.

With more than 40 councils yet to declare, Ukip have claimed 28 seats but not yet converted that into control over an authority. Farage said the party was "very good at coming second".

On stealing votes from Labour supporters, the Ukip leader said Jeremy Corbyn's party was dominated by the "hard-left caucus". He added "clearly there is antisemitismin the Labour party" but he doubted the recent suspensions of Ken Livingstone and Naz Shah played a part on Super Thursday.

This is the state of affairs in In Wales, where Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has toppled Labour's Leighton Andrews in one of the night's biggest shocks.

Welsh Assembly results (43 of 60 seats counted)

Labour 26
Conservatives 7
Plaid Cymru 7
Ukip 2
Liberal Democrats 1

The SNP will be the largest party in Holyrood but it has not been quite the success the party would have hoped for. Theyare still short of the 65 seats it needs for a majority while the Conservatives are on course to usurp Labour as the second largest party north of the border.

Scottish parliament results (100/129 seats counted)

SNP 59
Conservatives 19
Labour 13
Green 5
Liberal Demorcrats 4
Independent 0

Good morning and welcome to live coverage of Election 2016 results as they happen. Here is how things currently look in England:

English councils (80 of 124 councils counted)
Conservatives 20
Labour 41
Liberal Democrats 2
Ukip 0
Independent 0
Green 0

English council seats
Conservatives 470
Labour 779
Liberal Democrats 173
Ukip 28
Independent 37
Green 12

SNP has secured 58 seats so far but it is still short of the 65 seats it requires to have a majority in the 129-seat parliament. Judging by the numbers that have been coming in, it is starting to look like the Conservatives are set to unseat Labour as the main opposition party at Holyrood.

With the regional lists starting to be released, SNP has secured 58 seats, the Tories 15 seats, Labour has 11 and the Liberal Democrats four seats. The Scottish Greens has four seats as well.

SNP, led by its leader Nicola Sturgeon made a clean sweep of all the eight seats in Glasgow up for grab. It wrenched four of the seats from Labour.

The Lib Dems won Fife North East and the Edinburgh Western constituencies from SNP and retained both Orkney and Shetland.

England council elections: The results of the England's councils have remained "stubbornly unchanged", the BBC said. So far two-thirds of the 124 contested council areas have come in.

The BBC said that the Labour party was "bruised" but still managed to retain key councils, adding that contrary to predictions, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, is not so far "facing losses on the scale some had predicted."

Labour has lost overall control of Dudley, giving way to Conservative and Ukip gains. The Tories on the other hand lost Worcester with no party emerging with overall control. The Conservatives however gained a majority in Peterborough.

And the Tories may actually be forced to work with Ukip in Thurrock in Essex after both parties gained an equal number of seats.

Welsh election: Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood who staged one of the biggest upsets so far, said: "Wales will only progress when we have a change of government." On the formation of the next government, she said: "Everything is on the table."

Speaking to BBC Wales, she said: "I'm not a tribal politician and I certainly don't take much notice of personalities in politics. We don't know how much of a role Plaid Cymru will be able to have in the next government. "

Welsh election: Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has wrest the Rhondda constituency from Labour's Leighton Andrews. Wood polled 11,891 votes to Andrews' 8,432 votes. Andrews is the Public Services Minister in the Welsh government.

Speaking after the results announcement, she said: "People have voted for change. People have voted for hope, to end the decline in the valleys."

Former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain said the loss of Rhondda was "a terrible shock for us in Welsh Labour." He said Andrews' defeat was a huge loss for Welsh politics" and that it would solidify Wood's position as Plaid leader.

He however said that the Welsh Labour vote was "holding strong overall". Conservative cabinet minister Chris Grayling however said: "We are seeing Labour lose its foundations because it has become utterly out of touch with the public as a whole."

Grayling told the BBC that the Labour party "has been almost decimated in Scotland" and is "now losing core areas of Wales."

Holyrood election: First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon wins Glasgow Southside with a thumping majority. "It is a vote of confidence in the record in the government of the SNP and a vote of trust in the SNP to lead our country forward," she said.

"What is now beyond doubt is the SNP has won a third consecutive Scottish Parliament election", which she noted has never been been achieved before in Holyrood's history.

Speaking to the BBC after her win, she said that the SNP had performed "spectacularly well," She said that her party had made a clean sweep in the city of Glasgow, adding that the results is a mandate for the SNP to take forward its manifesto.

Holyrood election: Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has failed in her bid to wrest control of the Edinburgh Eastern seat from the SNP. Her loss was widely tweeted on the social media, with one person noting that she may be the only leader among the big four parties to fail to win a seat.

STV news said the Scottish Labour party is facing its worst electoral performance ever at Holyrood. "It now faces the prospect of a third-place finish", just coming after last year's election when Labour only managed to secure one seat.

She was defeated by 5,087 votes Edinburgh Eastern. But she will return to Holyrood via the regional list. When asked if her party was going to end up third, she said: "No idea yet, it's still very early in the evening. There's a lot to happen. We've got a lot of votes to count yet tonight, we've still got all the Edinburgh results to get yet, so let's see what happens."

Former Labour MP Thomas Docherty described the outcome of the election as a "terrible night for the Labour Party." He said: "The indications we are seeing already is that something like seven out of 10, perhaps three-quarters who have gone to the polls tonight, have voted for a centre or a centre-right party."

He did not mince his words, saying that the manifesto that the Labour had stood on "is self-immolation for dummies."

Holyrood election: SNP continues to clean up the rest of the seats. Kirkcaldy is retained by SNP's David Torrance while the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency remains in the hands of SNP's Jamie Hepburn.

Similarly Rona MacKay from the SNP also retained Strathkelvin and Bearsden and the Edinburgh Northern and Leith seat remains in the hands of SNP's Ben Macpherson.

SNP also holds onto seats in Renfrewshire North and West and Aberdeenshire East. Bill Kidd from SNP also retains the Glasgow Anniesland seat while Gail Elizabeth Ross from SNP also holds onto Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.

Clare Adamson from SNP wrests Motherwell and Wishaw from Labour.

Holyrood election: East Lothian is retained by Labour's Iain Gray. However the party's deputy leader Alex Rowley lost the Cowdenbeath seat to SNP,'s Annabelle Ewing who secured the seat with a majority of 3,041. Rowley had won the seat previously in a by-election.

Meanwhile Scotland's Tory leader Ruth Davidson said she was confident of the Conservative party securing second place, displacing Labour in Scotland. This was seconded by David Mundell who said he is confident the party will achieve its goal of becoming the second largest party in the Scottish Parliament.

Liberal Democrat's Willie Rennie takes the North East Fife constituency from the SNP. Reports say that Rennie took a 9.5% swing from the SNP.

So far, the latest update, SNP has secured 22 seats, gaining two seats while Liberal Democrat has three seats, gaining one seat and the Conservatives have two seats. Labour seems to be suffering the heaviest loss with only one seat, having lost four seats.

Local newspapers in Scotland are already reporting that SNP's Nicola Sturgeon is on course for an "emphatic election victory" that will see her clinch another five years as First Minister. The Scottish Daily Mail also noted that Labour is set for a "catastrophic defeat" saying that Kezia Dugdale "is almost certain to lead her party to its worst result since devolution."

Scotland's Tory leader Ruth Davidson seems to be coming out of the Scotland election well, delivering the party's best results since devolution which the paper credited with her focus on her defence of the Union and her popularity.

The paper also highlighted the fact that voters in Scotland were divided along constitutional lines. Professor John Curtice a polling expert says that the Tories are making quite a noticeable advances in a number of seats, "suggesting something of a revival of liberal conservatism in Scotland."

Former Labour MP Gemma Doyle says the anti-Semitism row within the party has "almost certainly" cost Ken Macintosh his Eastwood constituency. The Telegraph notes that the Eastwood results are significant, given that the seat has a large Jewish population.

The Conservatives won the Eastwood seat, pushing incumbent Ken Macintosh who has held the seat since 1999, into third place. Tory Jackson Carlaw secured 12,932 votes, against SNP's Stewart Maxwell with 11,321 while Macintosh polled 11,081 seats.

Looks like SNP is onto a roll now. It has held on to Clydesdal. SNP candidate Jeane Freeman will be a new face at Holyrood after retaining SNP's seat at Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley.

Another seat, Na h-Eileanan an lar remains in SNP hands. Dundee City East also stays firmly in SNP hands.

So far, SNP has eight seats, gaining two while Liberal Democrat has maintained its two seats and Conservatives have one seat in the Scottish Parliament.

SNP has held on to Clackmannanshire and Dunblane. The Tories secured Eastwood, which according to the BBC was driven by the emerging pattern of Labour decline in Scotland. Scottish Conservative Jackson Carlaw beat incumbent Labour's Ken Macintosh. Macintosh was forced into third place.

SNP also holds East Kilbride and Dundee City West. The party wrest control of Greenock and Inverclyde from Labour. It has also held on to Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley.

Tavish Scott from the Scottish Liberal Democrats retains his seat in Shetland, Scott, who turned 50 today, said in his victory speech that it was about time some in the SNP realised that people do not like being taken for granted.

He told Nicola Sturgeon: "You don't need dodgy opinion polls to predict if you can win a second independence referendum, you just need to listen to people."

Labour wins Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough with a stunning majority. Gill Furniss from Labour wins with 14,087 votes with a majority of 9,590 votes. Furniss retained the seat held by her late husband Harry Harpham. Harpham was elected in May 2015 but died in office nine months later.

UKIP was the closest second with 4,497 votes but their share of the vote was down 2.2%.

Results for 24 councils that have their results declared so far:

Labour secures 19 councils in Birmingham, Bolton, Bury, Chorley, Coventry, Halton, Kingston-upon-Hull, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Oldham, Rochdale, Sandwell, South Tyneside, St Helens, Stevenage, Sunderland, Thamesdie, Wigan and Wolverhampton.

Conservatives hold onto: Brentwood, Broxbourne, Castle Point, Fareham, Havant, Swindon, Tunbridge Wells and West Oxfordshire.

Three councils have no overall control. So far the Liberal Democrats have won 32 council seats while Ukip has cornered eight seats and 13 independent councillors have been elected.

UKIP can win first ever seats in the Welsh Assembly? Nigel Farage says: "I've been going back and forth to Wales paying those ridiculous tolls, looks like it'll be worth it."

But Labour's Stephen Kinnock explains that the support for UKIP is an "anti-establishment vote, a plague on all your houses type vote." He says polls indicate that Labour will get 27 seats in the Welsh assembly which he said is a "very good result" for his party.

The Liberal Democrats have successfully held Orkney, their candidate Liam McArthur polling 7,096 votes with the Scottish National Party coming in second with 2,562.

However in Rutherglen, the SNP has emerged triumphant by winning it from Labour with an 8.96% swing, according to the Press Association.

Meanwhile south of the border, Labour have held for South Tyneside.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage is confident that his party can make inroads on Labour over the course of the evening.

In lieu of an expensive exit poll, the Sun's Scottish edition has carried a much cheaper but perhaps no less effective online one.

If the results are accurate, there could be further misery for Labour in Scotland.

Unsurprisingly the SNP came out on top with 60% of the vote, but in second was the Conservatives, with Ruth Davidson's party taking 18%, some six points ahead of Labour.

It found that 9% voted for the Lib Dems, Greens, UKIP and other parties.

The Liberal Democrats have managed to win seats, gaining Millfield in Sunderland from Labour while Labour has also held onto Halton.

However, there is one Lib Dem defection it seems, with once councillor apparently going to Labour but only due to local issues rather than national ones.

Before the results start trickling in, Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Neil Coyle, did not exactly give his party leader a vote of confidence on BBC's Newsnight.

He told the programme that he regretted nominating Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership although he did not want a coup, adding that Corbyn needed to expand its inner circle.

He said: "There is a core team that seem unable to get out of a mindset that 'They are out to get us'. This isn't about a coup. I'm here because I want a Labour prime minister and a Labour government and these results look like they are setting us back from that."

In what could be interpreted by critics as getting your excuses out early, the Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has said Jeremy Corbyn should be given more time to build the party back up.

He told Sky News that Corbyn was 14 points behind the Tories when he took over as leader eight months ago, saying: "I think this game of trying to predict whether it is a success or a failure on whether you win 100 seats or lose 100 seats is slightly unnecessary tonight... so we've got a long way to go.

"And I think most people would recognise you can't consolidate your position in only eight months," Watson told Sky.

The first result is in and it is from Sunderland which Labour has held.

Election expert John Curtice from Strathclyde University said that Labour's vote here is marginally down on 2012 but up on 2011.

According to the BBC, Curtice said that this is the first sign that Labour may still be in a better position than when Ed Miliband was leader, even if it is not as popular as it was four years ago.

Labour poised for Welsh losses?

Labour could lose three seats in the Welsh Assembly, an exclusive on-the-day poll for ITV Cymru Wales has revealed. According to the projections, the losses would leave Labour with 27 seats.

The projections are based on 1,322 people who were surveyed.

As counting gets underway, here are some scenes from across the UK

The verdict from the Lib Dems on election day

Here's what the Lib Dems had to say in a note to journalists:

"The task of turning things around after last year is gargantuan, but it's underway and we are hoping to see some progress. We are realistic though, the loss last year was so catastrophic it will be incredibly difficult.

"This is a test for Corbyn regardless of what they brief. Labour have been crowing about the thousands of people flocking to their new movement and this is their first test. If they go backwards, the voters will have seen them for the ineffectual opposition they are

"Regardless of the Conservatives' result tonight, it is a simple prelude to the referendum which is about to tear the Tory Government apart."

Ominous signs for Lib Dems in Wales

Should Burnham choose to run to become the first elected mayor of Greater Manchester, it would be a "real loss to parliament" as well as a loss to the Labour party, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has said.

"I can see why people are approaching him," continued McDonnell. "They want a strong voice ... I can see why people are approaching him and I can see why he's tempted as well."

A spokesman for the Shadow Home Secretary said: "Approaches have been made to Andy Burnham to give consideration to this role.

"It is early days and no decision has been taken. Whatever the decision, he will continue to serve the leader of the party and stay in the shadow cabinet."

Andy Burnham could quit the shadow cabinet

Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham is weighing up whether to stand as the Labour candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester following an approach. Burnham is actively considering the proposition, according to Sky News.

Voting closes as counting begins

Jeremy Corbyn is facing his first major electoral test since becoming Labour leader last September. "Super Thursday" saw voters from across the UK heading to the polls to choose councillors, assembly members, mayors, MPs and police and crime commissioners (PCCs).

Early signs do not look good for the Opposition leader.