BIRMINGHAM, England

In his first electoral test since he took office last year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has acknowledged some "disappointing" results in Thursday’s local elections, in which the Tories lost 10 key councils across England.

"It is always disappointing to lose hard working councilors," said Rishi Sunak shortly after initial ballot results came through.

The results are expected to pour in until Friday midnight as parties are excited in the hope of gaining more local seats.

In the depths of the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, the local council elections has shown the main parties’ standing before a UK-wide general election.

Labour has taken control of Plymouth, Stoke-on-Trent and Medway - and party leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Labour is on course to win the next general election.

The Liberal Democrats also made gains as the Conservatives continued to lose seats across a series of councils across England. The Lib Dems have seized control of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Labour took Medway off the Conservatives and will run the Kent council for the first time since 1998. The party has also gained control of Plymouth, where the Tories had run a minority administration.

The latest YouGov voting intention poll shows the Conservatives with 27% of the vote to Labour’s 41%. Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats have 11% of the vote, while the Greens and Reform UK have 7% each.