The Tories have now gained 126 council seats, with Labour down 125 and the Lib Dems up 12. This translates into a gain of four councils for the Conservatives, with Labour having lost 11 so far, and the Lib Dems gaining two.
But things may not be as bad as they seem for the government, according to a BBC poll of 1,000 sample council wards. With results in from 345 of those wards, it appears the Tories are seeing their biggest gains in their traditional heartland in middle class wards. Could Polly Toynbe's nose pegs have saved Mr Blair's skin for a second time? But the worst could be yet to come for Labour with most results in London yet to be called.
Tessa Jowell has now joined David Dimbleby in the BBC's studio. Rattled by questions over her mortgages, she suggested that "bad headlines" were hindering the government's efforts to connect with voters. Her rather baffling interpretation of Labour's troubles suggests Nick Brown was right to warn his party colleagues that they were increasingly seen as "a complacent elite that has lost touch with the people".
