Local election results starting to come in

I am sad to see so many good and effective Lib Dem councillors losing their seats because of the dash for power of their parliamentary representatives although the authority in which I served has almost bucked that trend with a net loss of one Lib Dem seat and that's the leader of the Council who was targeted by Labour in - I'm sorry to say - my own old ward. In Manchester the Lib Dems lost every seat they were defending. Doesn't say much for the quality of their campaigning.
Oh, I'm disgusted that the party I helped to create and for which I proudly served as a councillor and constituency Chair has just managed to throw away all those years of hard work.

Liverpool seems to be the only city so far, other than London, that has elected a mayor. David Cameron really is out of touch with the mood of the country.

Why do people vote for Boris? Are they really taken in by his boyish buffoon act?

For only the second time in my life, someone I voted for has been elected! Actually three of them! The first time was when I first exercised my vote in the 1974 general election in Dundee.

No results here yet. Don't really know why the count starts so late in Scotland - presumably the new-fangled barcoded system. Last time round we ended up with an SNP majority on the city council but LibDems hooked up with Tories to outnumber them. Roll on the results!

whenim, I think I'm right in saying that Liverpool didn't bother having a referendum on having a mayor but just went ahead and imposed the mayoralty. I wonder what would have happened in a referendum.

Its a shame that the LibDems are losing out having spent years building a solid approach to local government. I fear they will have a heavier price to pay yet for their willingness to be seen to ditch principles for power

I was in London for last couple of days and got the impression from my family and friends that Boris has done more and has more to offer than Ken ever did and they all want him to stay.
Doesn't this always happen in the mid term local elections, the opposition make big gains to show displeasure, but where does it go from here? Everyone has the answer but will it work?
I am in a non voting area this time.

i'm in Scotland, em! Maybe it's just your bit of it that's slow.

The libdems are unpopular around here because they do not support their rural communities in ways the local communities want support – such as keeping small schools open. So much for libdem pro-education "principles".

Annobel it's not much on an election, is it? I'm surprised at Liverpool - seems they were determined to get a Labour leader of some sort, but hardly democratic.

As Maggie says - mid-term elections are predictable - everyone fed up because the gov hasn't delivered. It does not matter which party it is, this always happens.

Parties in opposition always have all the answers, then when they get into power they find that things aren't quite so simple. It makes the braying of opposition (of whichever colour) seem very hollow - but at least the system we have means that there is usually a ready-made party to take over when the gov gets voted out.

As for Boris - oh dear!

whenim, I don't think either Labour or Lib Dems have ever consistently toed the party line. Why change the habit of a lifetime?

Have checked teletext for Scotland's election results and the display shows 'election results will follow'. Any suggestions on finding results elsewhere?

Local press web sites, em? I got Greater Manchester results on the Manchester Evening News web site. How about the Courier?

I just Google'd live election results and a page came up with the latest figures, being refreshed every time another result comes in.

I think I read that Scotland don't start counting till this morning em so my guess is its going to be much later on..

It was all very predictable, even the low turnout although that was, perhaps, lower than anticipated. I wish all the pundits would stop referring to it (low turnout) as apathy and realise that many people feel disenfranchised by the similarity between the two main parties and that it's not worth voting for any of the others (Scotland excepted because of the SNP).

Annobel you have my sympathy and respect, in spite of being a Labour supporter. I agree that the LibDems have/had some excellent councillors nationally and it's a pity that the likes of Clegg and Cable have been so disloyal to them.

em, try this one:

www.scottishelections.org.uk/scotland/l12/

I'm not surprised that the idea of an elected mayor has been rejected; people have seen what has happened in London. Does anyone want a celebrity or someone like Boris running their city?

If Ken Livingstone was right in his speech about Boris, you could be replacing one member of the Bullingdon Club with another. What a prospect!