Voting has opened in local elections across England that have been billed as crucial progress markers for Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, but are also seen as hard to predict and likely to deliver results mixed enough for all to be able to claim at least some success.
In an attempt to manage expectations, the prime minister declared on Wednesday evening that the results would be “hard for us” and admitted some Conservative councillors would lose their seats as a result of events “over the past year”.
