The extent of Labour's eventual losses will not be explained away by simply asserting all governments experience setbacks at the parliamentary mid-term. Labour's argument that many of its supporters stayed at home sits uneasily with the fact that turnout has increased. The big gainers are Reform, once again. Follow our live election coverage here Having devastated the Conservatives last year, Reform UK has marched into Labour's heartland areas and inflicted heavy losses. In quick succession, Labour lost control of Hartlepool, Redditch, and Tamworth, but it was its defeat in Tameside that underlined the extent of the electoral upheaval taking place. With only a third of seats up for reselection, Labour lost 16 of the 17 seats the party was defending in the borough. The council had been under Labour control for 47 years. In Staffordshire, a county it gained last year, Reform UK added to its council tally by taking control of Newcastle-under-Lyme by gaining seats from both Labour and the Conservatives. May elections - results as they happen It is instructive to examine the size of majorities in seats the Labour Party is defending but losing. Percentage majorities ranging between 5-10% are being lost to other parties at the rate of four in five. Majorities of 30% or higher are being lost at a rate of one in two. The definition of a "safe" Labour seat requires considerable revision. A key part of Sky News' local election results coverage is to provide an estimate of the National Equivalent Vote (NEV). Using the actual votes cast in thousands of wards in multiple local authorities, the NEV addresses the question of how the country as a whole would have voted had the elections taken place throughout Britain. With approximately 1,200 seats declaring overnight, we can provide a provisional figure for the 2026 NEV. A word of caution: this figure is likely to change as more results are declared throughout Friday. For example, although Reform UK currently has a healthy lead on 31% to the Conservatives in second place on 19% and Labour on 15%, one point ahead of the Lib Dems, that could change as more results are declared from London where Reform UK is not expected to poll as well as it is doing in the north of England. Comparing a party's losses or gains from one year to the next is difficult because the number of seats at stake varies widely across years, dependent upon which local authorities are voting. In May 2025, for example, only 1,641 seats were at stake; this year, there are more than 5,000. One way of controlling for these large differences in seat numbers is to focus on the seats lost as a percentage of those being defended. In 2025, the Conservatives were defending 996 seats and lost 675, a loss rate of 68%. At the same time, Labour was defending 287 but lost 189 - a loss rate of 66%. Historically, these were amongst the worst results ever recorded in local elections. Where do we stand with more than 1,000 seats declared? The truth is the percentage is changing, depending on which council is announcing its results. Labour's loss rate was running at around 70%. Projecting that loss rate forward to take account of all the seats at stake suggests that Labour are in danger of losing more than 1,500 seats, but falling below the doomsday figure of 2,000 losses. As more results have been entered, the situation has improved with Labour on track to make around 1,300 losses. The Conservatives, too, are taking losses, but the rate shows an improvement on their position from last year. That would mean an eventual loss of about 500-600 seats for the final tally, but only if the party succeeds in avoiding heavy losses in the counties that declare later on Friday. Both the Greens and Liberal Democrats are making seat gains, but nowhere near the scale of Reform. The Green vote is up, but the increase has thus far been largely ineffective in terms of gaining seats. Again, the results from London boroughs may see that dynamic change. In some place the Liberal Democrat vote is being squeezed by both Reform and the Greens, but in areas being targeted, such as Portsmouth and Stockport, where the party took control, and Sutton, where its slim majority has been transformed by a gain of 22 seats, the party is making steady progress. However, it did fail to deprive Labour of control in Merton, but nevertheless managed to turn Richmond upon Thames into a one-party state.

The White House's Rapid Response account on X called Hamill "one sick individual" for the Bluesky post, which featured an AI-generated image showing the US president lying with his eyes closed, surrounded by daisies. The image was captioned "If Only" and had a gravestone that read: "Donald J. Trump 1946-2024." Mr Hamill, famous for starring as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films and an outspoken critic of the Republican president, had posted the image on his official account. He wrote: "He should live long enough to witness his inevitable devastating loss in the midterms, be held accountable for his unprecedented corruption, impeached, convicted & humiliated for his countless crimes. "Long enough to realise he'll be disgraced in the history books, forevermore." In response, the White House's Rapid Response account posted: "This kind of rhetoric is exactly what has inspired three assassination attempts in two years against our President." Mr Hamill then deleted the post and apologised, adding in a separate message: "Actually, I was wishing him the opposite of dead, but apologise if you found the image inappropriate." It comes after a man was charged with the attempted assassination of Mr Trump in a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington DC last month. In the days after the shooting, the president, Melania Trump and other US officials demanded TV comedian Jimmy Kimmel be fired from his ABC show. He joked that the first lady had a "glow like an expectant widow" in a sketch parodying the dinner before the event took place. Despite being filmed before the shooting, Mrs Trump said Kimmel's "hateful and violent rhetoric" intends to divide the US, and added: "It is time for ABC to take a stand. "How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community?" Kimmel responded to criticism of his joke by saying it was merely a reference to the couple's age difference, before saying on air: "I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something ⁠we should reject. "I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it." Read more from Sky News:Teen spared jail after £100,000 shoplifting spreeSuperdry co-founder jailed for raping womanPurported suicide note left by Epstein released The Federal Communications Commission has since opened an early licence review of Disney's eight ABC television stations. The FCC's chairman Brendan Carr has denied the review was because of pressure from the White House.

The extent of Labour's eventual losses will not be explained away by simply asserting all governments experience setbacks at the parliamentary mid-term. Labour's argument that many of its supporters stayed at home sits uneasily with the fact that turnout has increased. The big gainers are Reform, once again. Follow our live election coverage here Having devastated the Conservatives last year, Reform UK has marched into Labour's heartland areas and inflicted heavy losses. In quick succession, Labour lost control of Hartlepool, Redditch, and Tamworth, but it was its defeat in Tameside that underlined the extent of the electoral upheaval taking place. With only a third of seats up for reselection, Labour lost 16 of the 17 seats the party was defending in the borough. The council had been under Labour control for 47 years. In Staffordshire, a county it gained last year, Reform UK added to its council tally by taking control of Newcastle-under-Lyme by gaining seats from both Labour and the Conservatives. May elections - results as they happen It is instructive to examine the size of majorities in seats the Labour Party is defending but losing. Percentage majorities ranging between 5-10% are being lost to other parties at the rate of four in five. Majorities of 30% or higher are being lost at a rate of one in two. The definition of a "safe" Labour seat requires considerable revision. A key part of Sky News' local election results coverage is to provide an estimate of the National Equivalent Vote (NEV). Using the actual votes cast in thousands of wards in multiple local authorities, the NEV addresses the question of how the country as a whole would have voted had the elections taken place throughout Britain. With approximately 1,200 seats declaring overnight, we can provide a provisional figure for the 2026 NEV. A word of caution: this figure is likely to change as more results are declared throughout Friday. For example, although Reform UK currently has a healthy lead on 31% to the Conservatives in second place on 19% and Labour on 15%, one point ahead of the Lib Dems, that could change as more results are declared from London where Reform UK is not expected to poll as well as it is doing in the north of England. Comparing a party's losses or gains from one year to the next is difficult because the number of seats at stake varies widely across years, dependent upon which local authorities are voting. In May 2025, for example, only 1,641 seats were at stake; this year, there are more than 5,000. One way of controlling for these large differences in seat numbers is to focus on the seats lost as a percentage of those being defended. In 2025, the Conservatives were defending 996 seats and lost 675, a loss rate of 68%. At the same time, Labour was defending 287 but lost 189 - a loss rate of 66%. Historically, these were amongst the worst results ever recorded in local elections. Where do we stand with more than 1,000 seats declared? The truth is the percentage is changing, depending on which council is announcing its results. Labour's loss rate was running at around 70%. Projecting that loss rate forward to take account of all the seats at stake suggests that Labour are in danger of losing more than 1,500 seats, but falling below the doomsday figure of 2,000 losses. As more results have been entered, the situation has improved with Labour on track to make around 1,300 losses. The Conservatives, too, are taking losses, but the rate shows an improvement on their position from last year. That would mean an eventual loss of about 500-600 seats for the final tally, but only if the party succeeds in avoiding heavy losses in the counties that declare later on Friday. Both the Greens and Liberal Democrats are making seat gains, but nowhere near the scale of Reform. The Green vote is up, but the increase has thus far been largely ineffective in terms of gaining seats. Again, the results from London boroughs may see that dynamic change. In some place the Liberal Democrat vote is being squeezed by both Reform and the Greens, but in areas being targeted, such as Portsmouth and Stockport, where the party took control, and Sutton, where its slim majority has been transformed by a gain of 22 seats, the party is making steady progress. However, it did fail to deprive Labour of control in Merton, but nevertheless managed to turn Richmond upon Thames into a one-party state.

Villa booked their place in their first major European final since the club won the European Cup in 1982, 44 years ago, with an emphatic 4-0 victory at Villa Park on Thursday to beat Nottingham Forest 4-1 on aggregate. McGinn scored twice on the evening after goals from Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia wiped Forest's advantage from the first encounter at the City Ground. Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (Agg: 4-1) - Match report & reactionAs it happened | Teams | StatsLatest news: Nottingham Forest | Aston VillaEuropa League fixtures & resultsDownload the Sky Sports app Now, Villa face Bundesliga side Freiburg in Istanbul on May 20 in a bid to lift their first major trophy since the 1996 League Cup. "It's a demanding club to play for, but when it's like this, Villa Park is electric. There's no better place to play your football every second week or European football," McGinn told TNT Sports. "What we have done in the last few weeks has been exceptional. The margins are so slim - if we lose tonight, then we are the nearly men. When we go to Istanbul in 10 days, we need to make sure that we are not the nearly men. "It's about embracing it [pressure] and trying to become legends. You see the guys from 1982, you see the cup winners in the 90s. It's a historic club, and it's been a long time without success. "There have been massive lows, like relegation, and it has built itself back up. It's such a proud football club, it deserves success, and hopefully we can be the group to do it." Villa respond to 'intense' pressure and deliver Villa came into the fixture, their biggest game since Unai Emery's appointment in 2022, short on form. Three consecutive defeats to Fulham, Forest and Tottenham led to widespread criticism for both the players and manager. Despite that pressure being ramped up on the team, Villa delivered when it mattered most and now get the chance to write a fresh chapter at a club steeped in tales of previous success. "I am normally quite calm before games, but the pressure today was intense," McGinn added. "This group of players deserves to go one step further to get to a final after a few semi-final disappointments. "You can kid on that it doesn't affect you, but today I was nervous. Tonight was up there with one of the best performances I have seen from a Villa team in a long time. We started with intent. We were pretty fortunate with Forest's injuries, and we needed to capitalise. "I wasn't nervous in terms of the team turning up. We have done this before in big games, maybe not in semi-finals, but to get promoted and on the last day against Brighton to get into Europe. "Then to stay up, which is the most pressure you can have. It was more in case we had a man sent off or something like that, also because we didn't handle that first leg too well. I didn't want to leave these two games with any regrets, and tonight we have done ourselves massive justice." Watkins: We need to go there and win now Villa forward Watkins paid tribute to manager Emery after guiding his side into the Europa League final. "There is no better manager to get us prepared for this game and obviously take us into the final as well. His track record speaks for itself," Watkins said on TNT Sports. "We are in a great position, but we need to go there and win now." Watkins praised the collective effort of the Villa team, who had come up short in their last Premier League match. "After the performance against Tottenham, everyone's mind was on this game," the England forward said. "Everyone worked so hard. It is hard to pick a man of the match - we were all amazing."

The White House's Rapid Response account on X called Hamill "one sick individual" for the Bluesky post, which featured an AI-generated image showing the US president lying with his eyes closed, surrounded by daisies. The image was captioned "If Only" and had a gravestone that read: "Donald J. Trump 1946-2024." Mr Hamill, famous for starring as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films and an outspoken critic of the Republican president, had posted the image on his official account. He wrote: "He should live long enough to witness his inevitable devastating loss in the midterms, be held accountable for his unprecedented corruption, impeached, convicted & humiliated for his countless crimes. "Long enough to realise he'll be disgraced in the history books, forevermore." In response, the White House's Rapid Response account posted: "This kind of rhetoric is exactly what has inspired three assassination attempts in two years against our President." Mr Hamill then deleted the post and apologised, adding in a separate message: "Actually, I was wishing him the opposite of dead, but apologise if you found the image inappropriate." It comes after a man was charged with the attempted assassination of Mr Trump in a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington DC last month. In the days after the shooting, the president, Melania Trump and other US officials demanded TV comedian Jimmy Kimmel be fired from his ABC show. He joked that the first lady had a "glow like an expectant widow" in a sketch parodying the dinner before the event took place. Despite being filmed before the shooting, Mrs Trump said Kimmel's "hateful and violent rhetoric" intends to divide the US, and added: "It is time for ABC to take a stand. "How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community?" Kimmel responded to criticism of his joke by saying it was merely a reference to the couple's age difference, before saying on air: "I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something ⁠we should reject. "I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it." Read more from Sky News:Teen spared jail after £100,000 shoplifting spreeSuperdry co-founder jailed for raping womanPurported suicide note left by Epstein released The Federal Communications Commission has since opened an early licence review of Disney's eight ABC television stations. The FCC's chairman Brendan Carr has denied the review was because of pressure from the White House.

The Haitian-American musician, whose real name is Bill Kapri, was booked into the Orange County Jail on Wednesday on a felony charge of trafficking MDMA, also known as ecstasy. The 28-year-old star entered a written plea of not guilty and asked for a jury trial on Thursday. He also waived appearing in person at a future arraignment hearing in state court, with his bond set at $75,000 (£55,000). Kapri's arrest comes after police were called in November by residents in Orlando who reported hearing gunfire. Officers saw a group hanging out around parked luxury SUVs, including Kapri, a police report said. An officer spotted a white substance on a $100 bill inside a Lamborghini, which smelt of cannabis, giving the officer probable cause to search the car. During the search, the officer found a pink bag containing a plastic bag of MDMA, $37,000 and several documents with Kapri's name on them, according to the police report. The pink bag matched a bag seen in a photo of Kapri on his Instagram account. The bag also contained a distinct lighter that appeared in the photo, investigators said. According to the police report, everyone at the scene denied owning the bag, including Kapri, who said the money belonged to his business, and asked for it to be returned. Kapri has faced previous legal issues. In 2023, officers in Plantation, Florida, arrested Kapri after finding him asleep at the wheel with white powder around his mouth, officials said. Although police said the powder initially tested positive for cocaine, a lab test revealed it was oxycodone, which Kapri had obtained on prescription. The arrest was a violation of his probation from an unrelated case, which led to him being jailed in Miami for two months. Read more from Sky News:Hundreds of homes damaged by storms in MississippiAll restrictions on Belarusian athletes lifted by Olympic bosses The rapper was also arrested in 2022 on charges of trafficking in oxycodone and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was freed on bond, with regular drug testing as a condition of his release. Kodak Black's hits include Super Gremlin, which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022.

I spent the afternoon with the Tory leader during her last campaign visit outside London. We talked about the local election results and its challenges, her views on Nigel Farage and his £5m "gift", and the role of charm in politics. She was honest about the scale of the job ahead, blaming "multiparty politics" as the reason for likely losses on Thursday. But she urged people to measure her against last year's results rather than pointing out she'd gone backwards since the general election. I also wanted to interrogate her instincts on what she says is the number one priority for Britain - growth - and ask her about some of the stories about growth, blockages, and the role of local councils in saying no and raising taxes. I was surprised by the answers. Given the clarity of the national message on the need for growth, I was curious how she responded to findings of a Sky News investigation that seven of the top 10 councils with the highest number of "unreasonable decisions" on planning on appeal were Tory. Rather than promise to clear red tape and side with business, she instead defended the right of Tory councils to say no to infrastructure projects. Indeed, the Tory leader went further, adding that people outside London were justified in feeling resentful at developments in their area because the capital did not have to shoulder its fair share of development. I put to her that 181 cases of "unreasonable" planning decisions were made by the seven top Tory councils alone, and asked if the reality was that "Tory councils are NIMBY councils". She started by saying she had not seen the research, but would probably dispute it. But then she suggested she understood where blockers were coming from, saying: "Most people are now very resentful of a lot of infrastructure because they think that things are imposed on their communities while other people are getting away with not doing that. "You look at London. London building has fallen by about 80%, this is one of the things that's going wrong, and then lots of other areas are having to pick up the burden. So I do understand sometimes why some councillors feel that they're having to pick up an unfair share of the burden while Labour allows its councils to get away with it." Asked again if the Tories locally were blocking growth unreasonably, again Ms Badenoch sided against the builders, citing approvingly an example of blocking in her own constituency. "Every local council has its own unique issues. In my area, for instance, we have a problem with pylons that are being driven by Ed Miliband's net zero agenda. It's not actually going to help deliver cheaper, cleaner energy for the people who are there. I think we're right to oppose that. It all depends on the specifics." Then there is tax. She often asserts that Tory councils have a better track record on council tax than those led by other parties. But this year, some 30 of the 35 Tory-led councils have put up council tax near or at the maximum permitted without a referendum - a pattern broadly similar to those councils run by other parties. Again, her answer was to defend the councils, rather than acknowledge there might be a challenge with the party's low-tax rhetoric or need to work harder to bring down council tax. She said: "One of the things that we need to recognise is that many councils get their money from the government. You look at the rural payments grants. Labour has changed this to favour urban areas. That's one of reasons why Conservative councils, which are quite often in rural areas, are having to do things differently. "But you look at the services they provide. They're still delivering more compared to other councils… I'm not saying Conservative councils are perfect. I'm not saying they don't do anything wrong, but across the board, you can rely on them." Kemi Badenoch is the least unpopular party leader in some polls (-6 in one survey this week) and more popular than the Tory brand because she is seen as able to speak honestly about the situation. But in the heat of battle, this close to an election, the tug of politics on the ground remains curiously at odds with the national message. This close to an election, her priority turns out to be telling people what they want to hear. Let's see how that fares on Thursday. This interview is part of a series that Sky News will be conducting with party leaders ahead of the May elections.

Here, Sky Sports News chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol answers the key questions as the frustration appears to growing in Madrid... Tensions rising at Real Madrid as Mbappe saga reaches 'flashpoint'Petition calling for Real Madrid to sell Mbappe reaches 30m signaturesWhy are Real Madrid fans unhappy with Mbappe? Mbappe has become a scapegoat. Real Madrid are not going to win a trophy again this season but the fans are particularly unhappy about the fact that he flew off in a private jet to Sardinia for a romantic break with his actress girlfriend Ester Exposito last week when he was recovering from a hamstring injury. He returned to Madrid on Sunday evening just minutes before Real Madrid kicked off away at Espanyol and it hasn't gone down well with Real Madrid 11 points behind Barcelona. There is an El Clasico on Sunday and it is likely Barcelona will be crowned LaLiga champions again. Meanwhile, Real's star player has been off on holiday. His representatives have made it clear the player had permission to go away for a few days and he is following the rehabilitation programme which has been put in place for him by Real Madrid's medical team. But despite that, the frustration in Madrid appears to be growing. An online petition for Real Madrid to get rid of Mbappe has grown rapidly and now has more than 30m signatures. If they are all genuine people, that would make it a world record-breaking petition. To keep things in perspective, the population of Spain is about 50m, but Real Madrid claim to have 600m fans worldwide. Many of them appear to have turned on Mbappe because they see him as a symbol of what has gone wrong at the club, despite his 85 goals in two seasons. Is there wider unrest at Real Madrid than just Mbappe? Despite Mbappe's goals, Real Madrid have not won a major trophy since he joined them on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain two summers ago. To make matters worse, PSG won the Champions League for the first time in the season after he left and they are back in the final later this month. PSG basically decided he was more trouble than he was worth. Mbappe is an incredible talent but his lack of work-rate off the ball meant that Luis Enrique, who is arguably the best manager in the world right now, was not that unhappy when he left. For Luis Enrique, the team always come first and if you don't run, you don't play. If you watch Mbappe play, he is the kind of player who, when his side doesn't have the ball, he does very little. He hangs around the centre circle waiting for someone to pass to him and in modern football, that doesn't work. PSG were more than happy when 'the Mbappe circus' left town and relations were so toxic that the player and his former club have been involved in a long-running financial dispute about the terms of his contract and his departure. Also, Real Madrid fans are asking the question again and again, can we have a side with Vincius Jr and Mbappe in it? There's no balance if you have both of those players in the side. That's another reason why we have seen this petition and why some Real fans want to get rid of Mbappe. Transfer Centre LIVE!Got Sky? Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone📱Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want! 🔔Can 'The Mbappe Problem' be resolved? What is interesting is what might happen at Real Madrid this summer. 'The Mbappe Problem' is one of the big issues for the next Real Madrid manager. The club's powerful dressing room have already seen off Xabi Alonso this season, but they are unlikely to have things their own way if Jose Mourinho returns this summer. Mourinho is the leading candidate to take over from Alvaro Arbeloa and the Benfica manager has a 10-day €3m (£25.9m) break clause which can be activated later this month. If Mourinho was to take over, you would imagine all the players would be given a clean slate but no one could ever be more powerful than the manager. Mourinho is not the kind of manager who is going to put up with Mbappe's perceived ego, tantrums on the training ground or flying off on romantic holidays when you are injured. He would also have to decide once and for all whether Mbappe and Vinicius Jnr could play in the same side - as previously mentioned, many Real Madrid fans think it has to be one or the other. Would Real Madrid consider selling Mbappe and where could he go? Mbappe has three years left on his contract and despite the petition, it is unlikely he will be sold any time soon. Any talk of him playing in the Premier League soon is premature. If he were to leave, his transfer fee would be in the region of £200m and in the new era of Squad Cost Ratio rules, who would be able to afford that kind of fee, his sizeable wages and bonus demands? If he does ever leave the Bernabeu, his next destination is likely to be Saudi Arabia. Three years ago, Al Hilal made a £260m offer to sign him from PSG. He was not interested then but they could have more luck if they try again in the latter stages of his career and in the run-up to the World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2034. What's next in the Mbappe saga? The big question is whether Mbappe will be fit to play any part in the Clasico at Barcelona on Sunday night. There is a World Cup firmly on the horizon and Mbappe will be one of the big stars of the tournament this summer and that is something that has not escaped the attention of Real Madrid supporters. Many of them are convinced that he is prioritising country over club as he aims to make up for the disappointment of losing the 2022 final - despite scoring a hat-trick in the final - by going one better this time. In their words, the reason he is having this extended holiday, is because he wants to be 100 per cent to try and win the World Cup again this summer. France are in a group with Senegal, Iraq and Erling Haaland's Norway. Getting away from Madrid for a few months and showing the world what he can on the biggest stage will be the perfect opportunity for him to reset his relationship with the demanding fans in the Bernabeu. France begin their World Cup campaign against Senegal at the MetLife Stadium, which is also the venue for the final. Mbappe will have mixed feelings about playing there again. He was in the starting XI when Real Madrid lost 4-0 to PSG in the Club World Cup semi-final.