Labour takes a hammering in local elections – including loss of Glasgow Council for first time in FORTY years – as Tories head for their best results in a decade

JEREMY CORBYN still had a smile on his face this morning despite losing almost 150 council seats as the Tories remain on track to record their best local results in a decade.

In what could be a taste of things to come in next month's General Election, Labour faced drastic losses and the Conservatives made huge gains across Britain.

And Ukip is facing a total wipeout as the party has held just ONE seat so far in an embarrassing night for leader Paul Nuttall.

So far Ukip has just won a single council seat as voters flock back to the Conservatives. That puts them on the same number as the Rubbish Party - who won a seat in Scotland.

The picture is the same north of the border in Scotland too - as Labour LOST control of Glasgow council - for the first time in 40 years.

The Lib Dem comeback appears to have failed to materialise too - as they too have lost seats.

Some councils in England and Wales counted the ballots overnight but others - including all authorities in Scotland - only started this morning.

But already it's looking positive for the Tories as they take seats in Labour areas such as Fife and Paisley.

As the results come rolling in across Britain today, the Conservatives have made a strong start by gaining control of SEVEN councils and retaining a number of others.

Labour has lost scores of seats including control of three councils, and failed to hold onto heartlands like Bridgend.

The projected national share puts the Tories on 38 per cent, Labour on 27 per cent, the Lib Dems on 18 per cent Ukip on just five per cent.

But Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell insisted this morning that the loss of over 120 seats so far was because of how "the media have covered him".

He told Sky News: "We are picking up support. As Jeremy gets more media time, people are seeing the real character of the man… This decent, honest, strong leader with principles.

"You will see this whole campaign begin to turn the tide," he vowed.

And he told Radio 4: "It hasn't been the wipeout that some people predicted or the polls predicted. It is much better."

However, Labour MPs are already beginning to lash out.

Stephen Kinnock - the son of former leader Neil Kinnock - laid into his party today and said it was "simply not good enough" to not be picking up seats.

He said: "We can’t just put a spin on this - the fact of the matter is that Jeremy’s leadership does come up on the doorstep on a very regular basis. What we have to do is make this election about more than leadership, we’ve got to make it about the future of our country."

But Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said his party had scooped up votes from former Labour supporters who were "clearly dissatisfied with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership".

Despite the "encouraging" wins for the blues, he warned there is "still a lot of work to do" before the General Election - in a sign the Tories don't want to be complacent of a win.

Former leader Iain Duncan Smith told Sky it was a "good, solid night for the Conservatives, but it doesn't bode anything for the General Election."

Just 34 days before the nation goes to the polls in June's snap vote, the Conservatives won control of five councils and retained a number of others they already held.

And the Tories' Tim Bowles won the new Metro Mayor seat of the West of England - which is set to be the first in a string of victories. He beat the Labour candidate by around 5,000 votes.

He said he was "very, very humbled and excited" to have been elected.

There was some good news for Jeremy Corbyn's party as the Doncaster mayor Ros Jones has held onto the position, with her vote share up.

And Corbyn's pal Steve Rotherham won the Liverpool mayoralty. 

Ukip's losses so far include all of their seats in Essex, Hampshire and Lincolnshire.

The results are a huge blow to leader Paul Nuttall, who is bidding to win a Westminster seat on June 8 by contesting Boston and Skegness.

He said this morning that the party were "victims of our own success" - but losing seats was a price he was "willing to pay" for quitting the EU.

Former Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said it was "over" for Ukip and he was "absolutely delighted" by today's gains for the Tories.

Ukip deputy chairwoman Suzanne Evans acknowledged the party faces a "difficult dilemma" but that if it weren't for them, Brexit would never have happened.

She said: "We do have a duty now to reform, because what concerns me is that there is still a desperate need for a sensible third party in British politics.

"It looks like we are heading for a Conservative landslide and ... one-party states are not much fun."

Polls expert Professor John Curtice told the BBC that there was a swing from Labour to the Tories of around seven percentage points, and Ukip were down 16 percentage points.

And MEP Steven Woolfe – who quit Ukip following a bust up with a party colleague that left him in hospital – said he would back the Tories in the General Election.

Asked if he would vote for Mr Nuttall or Mrs May, the MEP told BBC 5 Live: “I’ve got no choice – it would have to be Theresa May.

“The darker forces within Ukip … have managed to rise … and that just won’t work in the United Kingdom.”

"But Jeremy Corbyn isn't coming across well with the public. I think that's fairly well known."

And Brendan Toomey, who was leader of Merthyr Tydfil council, lost his seat in the Labour heartland.

"It's the birthplace of Labour, we are having a very disappointing evening to say the least," he admitted on BBC Radio 4.

Among those to lose their council seats was Labour's Gillian Troughton, who suffered a historic loss in a recent by-election in Copeland to Conservative candidate Trudy Harrison.

Ms Troughton is standing again to be Copeland's MP at next month's general election.

Polls closed at 10pm last night across Great Britain as Labour braced itself for a forecast drubbing in its former northern heartlands.

Votes have been cast in elections to 88 councils in England, Scotland and Wales, plus mayoral contests which include six new devolved super-regions.

The results will be closely studied by Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn in a major potential indicator of how swing seats may fall in the General Election on June 8.

The PM rang voters in Birmingham last night from a Tory phone bank to support Andy Street, the Conservative candidate hoping to win the ‘Metro Mayor’ election in the West Midlands, while Corbyn was snapped awkwardly pushing children in a park swing in Oxford.

In the mayoral contests, former Labour cabinet minister Andy Burnham will hope to begin life after Westminster by becoming Greater Manchester's first elected mayor.

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