Jen Williams

I worked through for midnight and then I did try and get to sleep.

Then the doorbell rang after about an hour.

So yeah, I don't know what that was, but it didn't make me very happy and I'm not very awake.

Well, I think one thing that makes a little bit more complicated to hear through the noise of these election results is that so many of these councils are elected on thirds, which means that only a third of councillors are up for election in any given year.

And that then means that although you can see the direction of travel, it doesn't necessarily result immediately in a Labour administration losing its majority because that might take two or three rounds of elections for that to happen.

But you can absolutely see the direction of travel in some of the, particularly the sort of former Red Wall type councils in the North and Midlands.

So in Wigan, for example,

which is significant for a few reasons.

For Labour, it's got kind of deep, long-standing emotional connections to the party and to trade unionism.

Andy Burnham's seat of Lee is in Wigan.

Lisa Nandy's seat is Wigan.

So it's a chunk of the borough.

All of the councillors that Labour...

were fielding this time lost to reform.

And that had not been unanticipated, but it was the worst case scenario.

And I think Labour had hoped that they might be able to defend a few of those seats and they just haven't been able to do so.

Elsewhere in Greater Manchester, again, obviously Andy Burnham's current backyard as mayor.

You saw a similar theme happening in Tameside.

And again, Tameside's significant.

Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds' constituency is there.