As the votes were counted into the early hours of Friday morning it looked clear that Rishi Sunak’s Tories were on course for heavy losses in the local elections. In the Prime Minister’s first electoral test Labour and the Liberal Democrats both made gains in elections across England.
In Greater Manchester, at time of writing, only one full result was in, Salford - as expected it remained comfortably in Labour control. Some 21 of the council's 60 seats were up for grabs, but with Labour holding an unassailable majority the party was never in danger of losing its hold on the city.
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