The early signs from the local elections

Tonight, there seems to be a general acceptance that Boris has won London. The talk is of a four points plus victory. But it is worth, of course, remembering that no votes have been counted and there’s been no exit poll.

But, sadly, it appears that there will be few other mayoralties created this evening. The opposition of the local political establishment appears to have triumphed in nearly all the cities holding referendums on whether or not to have a mayor. Their loss is Liverpool’s gain which will benefit considerably if it is the largest city outside London with a mayor.

In terms of the council results, the very early indications are that the Liberal Democrats are taking another kicking in the northern seats they’ve taken off Labour in the recent years. Labour also seem set to have a good night including taking Birmingham off the Tory-Lib Dem coalition there. The Tories are also spinning hard to raise the bar for Labour’s performance tonight.

One other early trend worth noting is the exceptionally poor turn-out. This might have been exacerbated by the weather but it is yet more evidence of public disillusionment with the political process.