Local elections 2019: Voters set to deal Theresa May blow in polls over Brexit turmoil

Theresa May faced the hefty blow today of losing hundreds of council seats amid the Brexit turmoil which has plunged her Government into crisis.

Voters were going to the polls from early this morning for 248 town halls across England, and 11 local authority areas in Northern Ireland.

Results will start coming in overnight amid predictions the Tories could lose between 500 and 1,000 seats. The Liberal Democrats could gain some 500 seats and Labour around 300.

Labour could gain overall control in Dudley, Trafford and Derby, while in Swindon, Great Yarmouth, Redditch and St Albans, control could slip out of Tory hands. The Lib Dems are hoping to seize Winchester.

There are no borough elections in London.

The scale of the Conservative setback is expected to be mitigated by the fact that Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is not standing in the local elections, as it was just set up recently, and Ukip is contesting far fewer seats than when they were last contested in 2015.

Council elections are also often decided on local issues rather than national ones. Nearly 60 per cent of the 8,425 seats up for grabs in England are currently Conservative, with a quarter held by Labour.

Given the Government’s failure to ensure the UK quit the EU on the long-planned March 29 date, the Tories may struggle to get out some of their traditional supporters.

But Labour risks losing votes from Remain backers, who make up a majority of its supporters, having failed to decisively back a second referendum.

Brexit, though, is expected to be a far bigger issue in the European elections at the end of May.