Friday briefing: What the local election results tell us so far

In today’s newsletter: gains for Reform and losses for Labour in early results, but experts say overall picture underlines ‘the fracturing of British politics’ Good morning. If yesterday had been a general election, then by now, thanks to thousands of people beavering through the night counting votes, we’d have a very clear picture of where the country was headed. But it wasn’t, and so despite millions of people casting their ballots in Scotland, Wales, and many parts of England, we aren’t that much the wiser. Counting will start in earnest in most places today, and what we do know you can see on our results interactive guide. The early indications, from a smattering of councils dotted around England, show a surge for Reform and heavy losses for Labour, but there is still a lot to play for. For today’s newsletter I worked with Jacqui Housden, who has recently joined our Sydney office as an assistant editor on the newsletter team, and will be making regular contributions to First Edition in the future. After the headlines, what we know about the election results so far. Iran conflict | The United States and Iran exchanged fire in the strait of Hormuz, in the most serious test yet of