Reform UK is set to take control of Lancashire County Council after winning more than the 43 seats it needed to form a majority in the local elections. The party - which went into the poll with just two councillors - currently has over 50 of the 84 seats on the new authority as counting continues.

Two of Reform UK’s victorious candidates in the Lancashire County Council elections have admitted to being shocked to find themselves as part of the group that will now take charge of the authority.

While no council elections are taking place in Greater Manchester, people in one Rochdale ward did go to the polls for a by-election. Reform UK gained the Balderstone and Kirkholt council seat from Labour with 32.5 per cent of the vote.