Conservatives suffered huge losses in the local elections.
But voters weren’t impressed with Labour either.
Jeremy Corbyn’s party also lost council seats - including Local election results: Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and North Tyneside at a glance
It meant Labour lost overall control of Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool councils.
So what do the local elections tell us about the state of the parties?
A bad result for the big two parties
The 2017 general election saw the two major parties dominate, receiving 82.4% of the vote between them.
It was seen as a return to the days of two-party politics.
But these local election results suggest the smaller parties are back in business.
Local elections: Labour and Conservatives suffer in the polls amid anger over Brexit
The big winners of the night were the Liberal Democrats, who made around 600 gains.
The Green Party also gained around 120 council seats.
And the number of independent councillors across the country rose by more than 500. Examples included two 'Newcastle First' councillors elected in Newcastle.
Conservatives lost more than 1,100 council seats.
They went in to the election with more seats than any other party, so they had more to lose. But this was still a disastrous result
However, Labour wasn't able to capitalise on the unpopularity of the Conservative Party. They lost around 100 council seats themselves.
The two big parties were both punished by voters.
What does it mean?
Local issues affect how people vote. For example, the independent gain in Newcastle’s Callerton and Throckley ward may have been connected to a row over plans for a new opencast mine.
But the trend across the nation was clear.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the results “look at this stage like a slap in the face for both the main parties”.
It appeared voters were responding to the chaos at Westminster, where MPs have failed to deliver Brexit.
And the results added fuel to the debate raging within the Labour Party about whether the party should support a second referendum.
The problem for the Conservatives
Tories lost around a quarter of the seats they were defending.
Despite a few rays of sunshine, such as the gain of four council seats in Sunderland, this was a terrible result for them.
The silver lining is that they know what they need to do, even if it’s easier said than done. That’s to deliver Brexit and then pick a new leader.
While the poor result came as little surprise, it will make Tory MPs even more certain that Theresa May must go.
However, Mrs May's critics may hold their tongues for a while. They won't want to take the blame for a poor showing in the European elections on May 23.
Sunderland Labour leader blames handling of Brexit on 'terrible' local election results
The problem for Labour
A poor result in these local election results doesn’t mean Labour can’t win power nationally.
After all, in the 2017 council elections Labour lost 382 councillors - and just weeks later, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party made gains in a general election.
But the result added fuel to the ongoing row within Labour over its Brexit policy.
Many Labour politicians argued that the party’s ambiguous position is causing it problems.
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said on Twitter: “So far message from local elections - ‘Brexit - sort it.’ Message received.”
Currently, Labour says it respects of the result of the 2016 referendum - which means carrying out Brexit - but could also support a second referendum to stop a “Tory Brexit”.
The leader of Sunderland City Council, Graeme Miller, said Labour had suffered because it was unclear whether it wanted Brexit to take place at all.
He pointed out that local Labour MPs were campaigning for a second referendum, saying: “Sunderland voted as a city to leave in June 2016, and having had a Labour message across the city from MPs saying we need to be having a second referendum, people in Sunderland have said ‘we are just not accepting that’.”
South Shields Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck argued that Labour should simply commit to leaving the EU.
She said: “Having a position that tries to appeal to leavers and remainers is and will continue to hurt us. These results should be a catalyst for Parliament to deliver on the mandate given in 2016 and do so swiftly.”
However other Labour politicians had a different interpretation.
Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell, a supporter of a second referendum, pointed out that Labour had lost seats to parties, such as the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, that unambiguously back a so-called People’s Vote on Brexit.
She said: “Labour in Sunderland and elsewhere, have lost votes to Remain parties, as well as UKIP and even the Tories after nine years of punishing austerity.
“These results are about far more than Brexit, but also show looking both ways on Brexit doesn’t win trust.”
Was this a pro-remain vote?
The Liberal Democrats made major gains - and they support a second referendum.
But the squabbling and lack of progress at Westminster may have left people sick and tired of the two major parties.
It’s possible that some people voted Lib Dem simply because they didn’t want to vote Labour or Conservative, rather than because they supported the Lib Dem’s position.
Some Labour politicians also said privately that Mr Corbyn is unpopular with some voters.
There’s more to come
The European election: See full list of North East candidates and parties standing in EU vote take place on May 23.
And two new parties will be standing in that election. The Brexit Party, led by Nigel Farage, and Change UK, which supports a second Brexit referendum, will be fielding candidates for the first time.
Brexit will be even more of an issue in that election, because local issues don’t come up much when you’re choosing an MEP.
And the only reason the UK is taking part in European elections at all is because politicians at Westminster have failed to take us out of the EU.
The European Elections will be a test for the Lib Dems.
They are portraying themselves as the pro-remain party. But they will now face competition from Change UK, also known as The Independent Group, which was formed by former Labour and Conservative MPs who also back a second referendum.
Meanwhile, Labour and the Tories both fear they will come a poor second and third behind the Brexit Party.
European election: See full list of North East candidates and parties standing in EU vote
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