Spread of Tory losses leads former minister to say there’s ‘no such thing as a safe seat any more’

The Conservatives are facing one of their worst local election results in 40 years, with striking Labour gains across England and Wales in key battlegrounds they need to secure victory at the general election.

The spread of the Conservative losses led one former minister to claim there was “no such thing really as a safe Tory seat any more”, but the prime minister appeared committed to clinging on until polling day, with rebels in his own party lacking the support to oust him.

Party source describes region as ‘beating heart of general election battleground’ as prime minister says Labour threw ‘lot of mud’

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The results of the London mayoral contest and London assembly elections are due on Saturday. Labour’s Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term and polls have put him comfortably ahead of Tory Susan Hall, despite jitters in Khan’s campaign team.

Following the closure of the polls tonight, Khan said his campaign and Labour activists “sent out a message of fairness, of equality and of hope”.

Party did better in places it had lost since 2016 but one commentator called it ‘progress at a price’

Labour was celebrating a string of election successes on Friday in a set of results that party officials said showed it heading for victory in the upcoming general election.

Beneath the euphoria of wins in places such as Blackpool, Hartlepool and Thurrock, however, lay a nervousness about the party’s performance in urban areas, with campaigners warning it had lost ground in both London and Birmingham.

Wins in East Midlands, North East, and York and North Yorkshire suggest Labour on course for general election success

The Conservatives held on to their high-profile Tees Valley mayoralty with a reduced majority for Ben Houchen in the mayoral elections, but Labour won three other contests, in the East Midlands, North East and Rishi Sunak’s own patch of North Yorkshire.

Houchen was re-elected with a 16.5 percentage point swing to Labour. He won 81,930 votes (53.6%) against 63,141 (41.3%) for Labour and 7,679 (5%) for the Liberal Democrats. At the last election he won 73% of the votes.

With an estimated 25% vote share, Tory performance matches 1995 nadir reached under John Major

• Local and mayoral election results – live updates

Results from local elections held across England on Thursday appear to confirm that Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are on their way out of power after 14 years.

The party, which brought the world Brexit, has been consistently trailing its main rival, Labour, led by Keir Starmer, by about 20 points in opinion polls.

The leader and his chancellor look like incumbents. That will make voters even more impatient for solutions to Britain’s ills

It was not an opinion poll. These were local elections about local issues. The results tell you only about where we are now, not where we might be come the autumn, or whenever it is that Rishi Sunak finally submits himself to the judgment of the country.

You know all the caveats, to which we can add one more: some of the biggest results, namely the mayoral contests in London, Manchester and the West Midlands, won’t come until Saturday. And yet, taken together, the votes cast on Thursday form an increasingly clear picture. It is a bleak one for the Conservatives – while for Labour it contains both cheer and a perhaps unexpected warning.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Glossy promotional leaflet handed out to asylum seekers detained under Rishi Sunak’s deportation policy

Asylum seekers who have been detained under Rishi Sunak’s deportation policy are being handed a colourful promotional document entitled: “I’m being relocated to Rwanda. What does it mean to me?”

The news came as the government faced a second legal challenge over the prime minister’s £500m policy and it emerged that dozens of asylum seekers were being forcibly taken to detention centres.

Exclusive: Ceilings in two units in Stepping Hill hospital collapse days apart including in critical care unit

Parts of ceilings have fallen in at two key units of a decrepit NHS hospital, forcing it to evacuate patients and cancel X-rays and scans, the Guardian can reveal.

The problems at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, which is plagued by leaks and major structural defects, have prompted claims it is “dangerous for both patients and staff”.

It had to close its Outpatient B unit last November after inspectors reported a “significant deterioration of the structure of the building”.

It is providing only 51% of the outpatient appointments it should because some of the services that were provided in that now-mothballed unit are now operating at less than the previous capacity.

Staff in some areas have to form “bucket squads” when it rains to stop water causing flooding and affecting vital equipment.

It has had to reschedule 99 operating theatre sessions – involving orthopaedics, general surgery and gynaecology – while it builds a new emergency and urgent care campus.

Donald Trump’s former communications director testifies that he worried about Wall Street Journal article about purchase of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal stories

• Trump trial continues with judge dismissing claims that ex-president can’t testify

Judge Juan Merchan was referring to a claim Donald Trump made while addressing the media yesterday outside of court.

Speaking to reporters after court adjourned for the day on Thursday, the former president said:

I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order. I guess, right?

I’m not allowed to testify, because this judge, who’s totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order.

I want to stress Mr Trump that you have an absolute right to testify at trial.

That is a constitutional right that will not be denied or abnegated in any way ... It is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed upon ... the order prohibiting extra-judicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way.

New York police say about 29% of those detained ‘not affiliated’ with university as more are arrested at NYU and New School

New York’s police department has declared that approximately 29% of the people it arrested at pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University were “not affiliated” with the institution, as the city’s mayor continues to face scrutiny over his claims that the hardline police response was due to the actions of “outside agitators”.

The NYPD also said 60% of arrestees at City College of New York (CCNY) on Tuesday night were unaffiliated with the college, though a CCNY spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that these arrest figures applied to protesters both on and off the college’s grounds.