Tories expecting heavy defeats, including in Blackpool South, with Mark Harper saying evening will be difficult

• Local elections 2024: full council results for England
• Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting photo ID
• Local and mayoral elections: results to look out for and when

The results of the London mayoral contest and London assembly elections are due on Saturday. Labour’s Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term and polls have put him comfortably ahead of Tory Susan Hall, despite jitters in Khan’s campaign team.

Following the closure of the polls tonight, Khan said his campaign and Labour activists “sent out a message of fairness, of equality and of hope”.

Results from more than 100 English councils, as well as for several mayors, are announced as polls predict heavy Conservative losses. Find out what happened in your area

• Local elections: latest updates

Conservatives predicted to lose 500 council seats in England – about half the number they are defending

• Local elections: latest updates
• Local elections 2024: full council results for England

Voting has closed in local elections – , a moment of potential peril for Rishi Sunak, with the Conservatives braced for heavy losses that could destabilise his premiership.

The elections, in more than 2,600 seats across 107 English councils, are seen as a key test of whether the Conservative party is as unpopular with voters as the polls suggest.

Former PM made the requirement to bring photo ID a stipulation of the Elections Act in 2022

• Local elections: latest updates

Boris Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to cast his vote in Thursday’s elections after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.

The former prime minister was initially told by polling station staff he would not be allowed to vote in the police and crime commissioner election in South Oxfordshire without proving his identity.

Results across 107 councils and in 10 mayoral votes will start coming in from the early hours of Friday

• Local election results – live
• Local elections 2024: full council results for England

Voters across England have the opportunity to give their verdict on Rishi Sunak’s government on Thursday in the last set of local elections before the general election.

Many of the seats up for grabs were last contested in May 2021, when the Conservatives under Boris Johnson were enjoying a Covid “vaccine bounce”. Fast-forward three years and the Tories are trailing 20 points behind Labour in national polls.

Exclusive: decision to grant licences condemned by critics as a stunt that shows Tories are ‘playing politics with climate’

Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 companies to look for hydrocarbons on sites earmarked for future offshore windfarms.

Boyband cites ‘technical issues’ at new Manchester site where Olivia Rodrigo, Keane and Peter Kay had also been due to perform

Take That have announced they will not be performing at the new Co-op Live Arena due to “ongoing technical issues” with the venue in Manchester.

The boyband had been due to perform from Tuesday but will instead switch their shows to the rival AO Arena.

Karen Bass vowed to continue working with law enforcement after at least 200 pro-Palestine demonstrators early on Thursday morning

• More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested across US campuses
• US students: share your experience of the campus protests

NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Kaz Daughtry, has confirmed that Fordham University was among a number of educational institutions which requested police assistance on campus to disperse protests.

He said that individuals who refused to disperse has been arrested without incident.

Your @NYPDnews officers continue to protect the right to peacefully protest, but lawlessness will not be tolerated. I commend the professionalism consistently displayed by our officers.

In light of the activities that are currently happening, we further request that you retain a presence on campus through at least May 22, 2024 (when commencement and diploma ceremonies are completed) to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished.”

Voxelotor, which can help reduce need for blood transfusions, is administered as a daily tablet

A new treatment for sickle cell disease has been recommended by the health watchdog in a move described as life-changing for people living with the condition in England.

The drug, Voxelotor, has been recommended for use on the NHS in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) in people with the disease who are aged 12 and over.

Post featured compromising image of the broadcaster Narinder Kaur, who said she was left ‘incredibly upset’

Police are investigating a social media post by Laurence Fox in relation to an “upskirting offence”.

The tweet, posted on Tuesday, featured a compromising image of Narinder Kaur, a broadcaster on Good Morning Britain and GB News. The post remained on Fox’s account until it was deleted on Thursday.