Jamie Riley
BBC CWR

After 27 seats split between Reform and Labour in the first half of the Coventry count, Conservatives have held all three seats in Wainbody.

These are their first wins of the day here, for John Blundell, Martha Heaven and Pratibah Chimmula.

Phil Upton
BBC CWR

BBC CWR has been catching up with one of the members of its election panel, to find out what she makes of today's results so far.

Malkit lives in Coundon. The 71-year-old moved to the city from Nairobi in Kenya in 1970.

She said she had voted for Reform UK, because she was struck by their pledges to increase police on the street and improve education and transport.

She said she and others had become disillusioned with the traditional parties not delivering on promises.

“Let’s give a new party a chance and let’s see what they can do," she said.

If they were to win control in Coventry, she said she wanted them to "stand by their policies".

“We also need to know, if the changes are going to be made, when are they going to implement them?”

This is how it finished at Rugby Borough Council earlier (changes shown against last election for these seats)

We're now halfway through Coventry's results.

The new ward of Tile Hill and Canley has been announced - and it's a clean sweep for Reform. It takes the numbers at the halfway stage to Reform 15, Labour 12.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire

Foleshill has been declared and it's an important win for Labour who have held on to all three seats.

Deputy Council Leader Abdul Khan is among the winners, topping the votes.

All three winning candidates had a comfortable margin over the Greens in fourth, fifth and sixth.

Foleshill was the only ward in the city where turnout was down on 2024.

Reform UK has taken all three seats in Wyken from Labour.

Frank Beechey, Andrew Bullock and Dawn McCann celebrate as they are surrounded by colleagues.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire

We are one third of the way through the result in Coventry.

As it stands:

Reform has 12 councillors.

Labour has six.

Jennifer Wells and Lisa Boyle celebrate taking Bablake ward for Reform UK, where turnout was 42%.

Jamie Fearn was also elected in the ward for Reform.

Hannah Griffiths
BBC CWR

"Nationally, it's clearly a disappointing day," said Rugby's Labour MP John Slinger when he popped into the count at Benn Hall.

"This is what happens with incumbent governments.

"You have to reflect, dust yourselves down and then get on with the really important job of delivering for people and that's on a national level and also at the local level."

He said he was sad for councillors who had lost their seats, but the party would "get on with the job of rebuilding the country".

Hannah Griffiths
BBC CWR

Labour have lost three seats to Reform but held two - and that means they may well hold on to a Labour-Lib Dem coalition here.

The Lib Dems have held four seats and gained two from the Conservatives.

But the Conservatives remain the largest party on the council with now 15 seats - having held on to four seats and lost none to Reform.

The Labour group here will now go away and hold their AGM tonight and pick a new leader, after their previous one stepped down at these elections.

When they do. They'll have to pick up the phone to the Lib Dems and see if there is a new "supply and confidence" deal to be done.

The Lib Dem leader in Rugby, Jerry Roodhouse, tells me he will be speaking to both of the main parties - the Lib Dems hold the key to who is in power here now.

How that plays out may take some days to become clear.

Overall, one commentator tells me, this feels like the dull one-all draw with both managers taking a point.

St Michaels, based in Coventry city centre, is to be recounted.

There are differences of just four and five votes between some of the candidates.

Some of these contests look set be on a knife edge.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire

Labour holds all three seats in Lower Stoke.

Then Reform wins all three seats in Sherbourne.

This really is a back and forth contest so far.

Both clean sweeping the wards that have been declared and beating the other party into effective second place.

Fourteen wards to go!

The Liberal Democrats have won the last two seats on Rugby Borough Council, with all 15 seats on offer now declared.

The party now has 12 of the local authority's 42 seats - the same number as Labour, with which they have been in coalition since 2024.

Reform now also has a place at the local authority's table, having gained three seats from Labour.

But the Conservatives are the largest party with 15 seats in total following the results, having lost three.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire

Labour have held on in Radford. All three seats have been defended by Labour.

It looks like we could be in for an afternoon of yo-yoing!

A big boost for Labour with Pat Hetherton holding on, the cabinet member for City Services.

Mal Mutton received the fewest votes of all three winners - hanging on by just 99 votes from Reform.

Reform's candidates finished in fourth, fifth and sixth.

Hannah Griffiths
BBC CWR

A Reform UK councillor who narrowly lost in Rugby said she felt positive about the result. Belinda Garcia held the Revel and Binley Woods seat for the Conservatives by 89 votes, with Pat Ruck a close second.

Ruck, who has been a leading voice for Reform UK in the borough, said: "We are actually really pleased because Reform is virtually new to this area.

"It's very much a conservative with a small C in the rural areas, we’re getting that message across where we've campaigned on local issues, underpinned by Reform national issues.

"But where we've campaigned, we've been on the ground, we've gone into areas which have been solidly Conservative, and have completely changed them.“

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire

Binley and Willenhall's new ward councillors celebrate their wins - the first for Reform UK in Coventry today.

Jennifer Odje, Marcus Fogden and Paul Cowley have all dethroned sitting Labour opponents.

What do we know about how many people have been turning out to vote across Coventry and Warwickshire?

In Coventry the official turnout across the city is recorded as 38.4%.

That's almost exactly 10% up on the 28.5% recorded in 2024.

In Nuneaton the figure is slightly lower, at 37%.

Meanwhile, 42.24% of voters put their X in the box in Rugby.

It's all above average - when you consider between 2015 and 2025 the average turnout in local elections in England hovered between 30% and 35%.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire

The three Reform candidates in Binley & Willenhall have won - dethroning Labour. Ram Lahka is among those to lose his seat. He has been a councillor since 1989.

We're waiting for the first results from Coventry City Council - and we're told they should be with us shortly.

Stick with us!

Hannah Griffiths
BBC CWR

There’s a slight sense of relief for the Labour party in Rugby with councillor Maggie O’Rourke telling me the borough is bucking the trend here.

But all things are relative. Labour has lost three of its five seats up for election to Reform UK.

However, with Reform having no previous seats on the council, it still give them just three seats overall, out of 42 on the local authority. Labour has held two seats giving them 12. The Lib Dems have held their four seats which were up for election, so they will have 10 seats in total.

That will probably be enough for the Labour-Lib Dem coalition to hold on to power. That pact has been in place since 2024.

The Conservatives also holding on to four seats means they’ll have 14 seats.

There are two seats left to declare, external here.