End of day briefing. How the local government landscape has changed

The last 36 hours at the LGiU have been dominated by coverage of the local elections and mayoral elections. There are only a few more councils left to declare results. As things stand at 16:30, the scene across the country looks like this:

Key highlights from today include:

• Bristol has voted for an elected mayor by a 53% majority
• All other cities – except Leeds who are still counting – have said “No” to having an elected mayor.
• In Doncaster people have voted to keep their mayor – meaning Peter Davies will keep his job. 
• In Salford, Labour’s Ian Stewart has become their first elected mayor. This means Labour have taken both mayoralties outside of London. 
• Labour have broken through the +700 mark that many media pundits were expecting them to achieve. In doing so, they have taken some key battles grounds – such as Harlow, Southampton, Thurrock and Reading.
• In London the mayoral race is ever tightening with Boris now on 44% and Ken on 40%. Meanwhile a fascinating three way tie is developing between Siobhan Benita, Jenny Jones and Brian Paddick. Much may depend on second preferences but most commentators still calling a Boris victory.
• Voter turnout across the board has been low