From a press release from the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom:

David Cameron hailed a “remarkable” set of Local Election results after the Conservatives gained control of councils across the country – and some for the first time in nearly three decades.

We won Lancashire and Derbyshire County Councils, both of which had been Labour for 28 years; and we gained control of Staffordshire for the first time since 1977.

In the South West, we won Somerset and Devon County Councils from the Liberal Democrats, and we could be the largest party in Cornwall. It is the first time we’ve held Devon since 1989.

We gained control of Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire County Councils, and won the new unitary authority of Central Bedfordshire Council.

The Conservative candidate, Linda Arkley, won the North Tyneside mayoral election by nearly 4,500 votes.

David Cameron stressed, “The Conservative Party have won all over the country – from Lancashire to Devon and Somerset to Derbyshire” – and he hailed the efforts of Conservative supporters across the country.

By the latest numbers, Conservatives have gained 233 seats in local councils and gained a total of 7 councils over all. Labour lost a total of 273 seats and 4 councils. Conservatives now hold a total of 1476 of 2289 seats, or about 64% of the total number of seats accounted for at this point. Suffolk County has yet to report its results.

Total numbers (at the time of this posting) include:

1. Conservative Party – 1476
2. Liberal Democrats – 473
3. Labour Party – 176
4. Other Parties – 164

While the results are still coming in, the Conservatives have made dramatic gains over Labour in Thursday’s local elections, turning a total of three counties from solidly red (Labour) to decidedly blue (Conservative). Victories in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Lancashire by Conservatives over Labour have given the Conservatives the momentum they need to move forward in a pending general election, being encouraged by legislation introduced by Conservative Party leader David Cameron. Results are still unavailable in Nottinghamshire, a county previously held by Labour. Its fate is uncertain.

Conservatives have gained a total of 191 seats in total county council elections across the country, while Labour has lost 210 seats total. Conservatives have won control of a total of 6 county councils, while Labour have let slip control of 4 county councils.

Follow county-by-county updates here. And overall updates here. This election likely marks the beginning of the end for “New Labour.”

In broader view, European Parliamentary elections resulted in a 2nd place win by the Duth far-Right (Freedom) party, falling behind the Christian Democrats, who secured 20% of the vote. From the article:

The European Parliament elections had been widely expected to punish governments struggling to cope with the global economic crisis, and polls released by the ANP news agency and broadcaster NOS put the Right-wing Freedom Party on course to win four of the 25 Dutch seats in the parliament, after having none in the previous assembly. This put Mr Wilders’ party second only to the ruling Christian Democrats, which got nearly 20 per cent of votes, according to the poll.

Mr Wilders, who was banned from Britain by the Home Office because of his controversial views on Islam, won support from Protestant and Catholic voters disenchanted with what has been perceived as the growing influence of the nation’s 800,000 Muslims, many of them immigrants from Morocco and Turkey.

Mr Wilders, whose party was contesting European elections for the first time, campaigned on an anti-EU platform and criticised Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

For more election results, check out my Tweets – as I will be following British local elections closely.

In the wake of the public finance scandal that has rocked Parliament and 10 Downing Street, yet another member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Cabinet has resigned his post. Defence Secretary John Hutton stepped down barely 12 hours after Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell vacated his position.

The Telegraph reports:

While the timing of his announcement comes at an intensely difficult time for the PM, Mr Hutton insisted he remained supportive of Mr Brown. He said he wished to leave Government and parliament for personal reasons.

“I’m standing down from the Cabinet because I am leaving frontline politics, I’m not going to be contesting my seat at the next general election and I think it is absolutely right that Gordon, whom I’m supporting as Prime Minister and party leader, should have a Cabinet that is going to be with him and take him through the general election and hopefully beyond,” he said.

“I can’t be part of that team because of my decision which I have been talking to Gordon Brown about for some time.”

“I believe very strongly that it is the responsibility of all Labour MPs to show unity and support for our leader and our Prime Minister at this time and that is certainly what I’ll be doing when I go back to the back benches.”

Mr Purnell quit last night and called on Mr Brown to step down for the good of the Labour Party. On Wednesday, Hazel Blears quit, saying Labour needs to “reconnect” with the electorate.

Despite Mr Hutton’s tributes to Mr Brown, the Blairite is is known to harbour deep private doubts about the Prime Minister’s leadership.

David Cameron’s Conservative Party appears to be making great gains in the local elections, held yesterday. Check out this map for up-to-date results. According to results available at the time of this post, Conservatives have gained 48 seats, while Brown’s Labour Party has lost 41. Results are still being tallied.

David Cameron, the charismatic leader of the British Conservative Party, called for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to dissolve Parliament and hold a general election during the local and European elections, to be held on June 4th. Cameron’s call comes just days after polling reveals Conservatives hold a two-to-one lead over Brown’s Labour Party – in the wake of a recent scandal over campaign finance.

From the release:

[Cameron] said the scale of the problems facing Britain – the recession, the debt crisis and the political crisis caused by the recent expenses revelations – “all point in one direction”.

And he stressed, “There is now only one way of sorting out the mess, and that is for Parliament to be dissolved and for a General Election to be held right away.”

David said it was “abundantly clear” that the people of Britain do not want to wait another year for a General Election.

The Parliamentary system in the United Kingdom requires mandatory general elections every five years, but the Prime Minister has the prerogative to call an election at his convenience.