Dozens of North East council seats were up for grabs in the 2022 local elections.
It was a tense night for candidates who were waiting to hear if they had done enough to secure the winning vote.
Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside went to the polls this year.
Gateshead's results will not be declared until late on Friday morning but the other local authorities led counts into the early hours of the morning.
Here we have taken a look at the headline stories from each council declaration that you might have missed overnight.
Read more: Local election results in full
Newcastle
Labour celebrated a positive election night in Newcastle, retaining its dominant position in the city after losing just one seat.
While the Lib Dem opposition was able to claim a narrow gain in Ouseburn, the city’s ruling party successfully held off multiple other challenges to maintain a substantial majority.
That made it a happy night for new Newcastle Labour leader Nick Kemp, who is likely to take charge of the council after the long-serving Nick Forbes was ousted earlier this year amid a bitter party split.
Meanwhile, the Tories are still waiting for a first election win in Newcastle in three decades and the Greens’ hopes of getting their first city councillor were dashed too.
Read more: Newcastle councillor suspended over 'Muslim plot' allegations wins re-election in landslide
See Newcastle's results in full by ward here.
Sunderland
In Sunderland, Labour defied Conservative predictions of a shock loss of overall control, maintaining its grip on the authority.
Under council leader Graeme Miller, Labour now holds 41 of the council’s 75 wards, having lost just one, to the Liberal Democrats.
It’s a significant contrast to last year, when the ruling party gave up a total of nine seats. Coun Miller said the result marked “the wheel turning” and predicted an “even better” night for his party next year.
The only gains of the night came from the Liberal Democrats, who took one seat each from Labour and the Conservatives. Although it remains the smallest party on the authority (with 14 seats to the opposition Tories’ 18), its wins have been by significant majorities and it has held onto seats that it has gained.
See Sunderland's results in full by ward here.
South Tyneside
Labour retained majority control on South Tyneside despite the loss of four seats.
The Green Party took a seat in both Beacon & Bents and West Park from Labour - with Sarah McKeown and Andrew Guy winning their battles respectively.
Independents John Robinson and Paul Brenen also took a seat each from Labour, with Robinson winning in Primrose and Brenen taking Westoe.
The most noteworthy moment of the night was David Herbert of the Green Party taking Cleadon and East Boldon, reducing the Tory party to a sole seat within the council.
See South Tyneside's results in full by ward here.
North Tyneside
North Tyneside Council's election count went on well into the early hours of the morning - but the make up of the council remained almost unchanged.
Labour remain by far the largest party, with 51 of the 60 council seats after gaining two seats including that of Conservative leader Coun Sean Brockbank.
However, the Tories hit back when Olly Scargill took the Collingwood Ward from Labour cabinet member for Housing Steve Cox, leaving the party static on nine seats.
It was a poor night for both the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party, who failed to win any seats despite targeting the Weetslade and Whitley Bay wards respectively.
See North Tyneside's results in full by ward here.
Gateshead
There were no seismic changes following the election count in Gateshead on Friday morning.
Despite a lot of optimism and some historical numbers backing them, the Greens failed to send their candidate to the civic centre.
The Green’s candidate for Crawcrook and Greenside Jack Philipson, was confident earlier in the day, buoyed by the gains made by the Greens elsewhere nationally, including South Tyneside.
However, voters returned Labour’s Hugh Kelly with 1241 votes and 42.9% of the vote. Whereas Mr Philipson trailed behind with 913 votes.
The Liberal Democrats gained a seat from Labour in Pelaw and Heworth and reclaimed a further seat in Dunston Hill and Whickham East, which they won in the last election, before the councillor turned independent.
However, despite heavy campaigning by the Liberal Democrats, the residents of Saltwell returned Labour’s John Adams to represent them at the civic centre.
Labour came home with 52 seats and the Lib Dems 15. Overall turnout for the local elections in Gateshead was 35.3%.
See Gateshead's results in full by ward here.
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