And LAB is getting hammered in the locals

All the signs are that Hartlepool is going blue by some margin and the latest news is that turnout is 42.8%.

Elsewhere LAB has been seeing a huge number of council seat losses to the Tories but its performance is better in the results we have seen so far from the big cities.

The main trend is that the UKIP vote from last time is almost all going to the Tories so there is almost a unification of the right while the left seems split.

Counting looks set to continue for maybe three days.