Thanks for joining us today - it's been a historic moment in Essex politics, with Reform UK sweeping to victory at Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, taking out long-serving stalwarts of local politics and toppling two leaders.

Essex County Council's been under Conservative control for 25 years, until today. Now, a new set of councillors - 53 of them from Reform - will be heading to County Hall in the coming weeks.

Kevin Bentley, a councillor for almost two decades and leader for the last five years, says Reform's popularity could be a "temporary blip" - but underlined how important it was for democracy to be upheld.

Nigel Farage's party has enjoyed victory across the country - candidates here in Essex have put it down to voters choosing change and being "fed up" with the Labour government.

For a full picture of how election day unfolded, scroll back through our posts and catch up with how it all happened.

Genevieve Mullen

Throughout the day, the atmosphere inside the count swung between nervous tension and loud celebrations. Cheers erupted from Reform supporters as result after result went their way. By early afternoon, Reform UK's success became impossible to ignore.

Loud cheers and applause rang out from jubilant supporters. Winning candidates celebrated gains with hugs, handshakes and victory photos.

For Labour and the Conservatives, it was a different picture; some campaigners stood silent, while others quietly removed their rosettes before leaving the venue.

Some losing candidates broke down in tears, while others promised to come back stronger.

In Epping, 18 seats were up for grabs in this election.

Of those, Reform got 11, the Conservatives got four, and independents got three.

This means the Tories are still the largest party, though the council remains in no overall control.

It's not just the county council elections we've had the results for today. Six districts have also been to the polls, and we've had the results back for those this afternoon:

• Basildon - no overall control
• Brentwood - no overall control
• Colchester - no overall control
• Epping Forest - no overall control
• Harlow - Conservatives retain control
• Rochford - no overall control

Of the two unitary authorities, Southend-on-Sea City Council is also under no overall control, and as we've been hearing, Thurrock has gone from Labour to Reform.

Elliot Deady
BBC Essex news

I've been having a look at some of the other areas of Essex and what's been happening there.

The story in Harlow is interesting - It's been run by the Conservatives for a few years now, and this time around the Tories defended all their seats and actually picked up five from Labour.

Unlike other parts of the country, they have bucked the general trend, so to speak, and held off major advances from Reform UK.

The new political make-up in Harlow is as follows:

• Conservatives 22
• Labour 10
• Reform 1

Six of the councillors are newly elected, and five were re-elected.

Candidates and campaigners across the country have told the BBC that voters seemed to be selecting candidates based on national issues.

However, Harlow Conservatives say there was a lot of chat about local issues in their campaigning, which really cut through with voters there.

Genevieve Mullen
BBC Essex news

Reform UK councillors and supporters are celebrating this afternoon following their success in Thurrock.

All of the council's 49 seats were up for grabs - Reform took 45 of them, with Labour and the Conservatives each taking two further seats.

Alex Anderson, the successful candidate for Stanford-le-Hope South, says Reform's leadership was one of the keys to its popularity:

"I think ultimately Nigel's leadership has been fantastic, we've had brilliant door knockers, real graft, going out having those conversations with people," he's told me.

"As I say, people want change - they were offered it at the last general election by the Labour Party, and we've had no change at all.

"We do offer that, and people want to buy it."

Genevieve Mullen
BBC Essex news

In Thurrock, counting is still under way in the elections for the local authority.

Labour's Sue Shinnick, who's also the borough's mayor, held on to her Chafford Hundred West seat, and puts her success down to her hard work locally.

"I've basically been over Chafford Hundred for the last four years," she's been telling me. "I've been working hard with the community groups doing litter picks and things, and sorting out all the parking and bins and things. I've generally been involved with the public over there."

Shinnick added the results had been "very disappointing for my party" overall.

Genevieve Mullen
BBC Essex news

We've just heard Thurrock Council has been taken by Reform UK. The party has won 27 seats so far, with six still to declare.

Labour has two seats, as do the Conservatives.

Council leader Lynn Worrall has lost her seat - more on that as we have it.

Simon Dedman
BBC Essex political reporter

Mark Cory, a Liberal Democrat county councillor who retained his seat in Wivenhoe, says election results across Essex reflect "a sort of national feeling where people feel let down with the main two parties".

"But in areas like mine where Liberal Democrats work hard, my colleague Andrea got elected last night, I've been re-elected, it's where people see community and positive constructive stuff rather than negative division where we can win through," he added.

Cory's also been telling me he could see how his party "could be moving forward" with a new leader instead of Ed Davey.

He would like to see "bold policies that would actually give an open-minded liberal approach to dealing with problems, but being honest about the issues that are broken in this country and trying to fix them".

Simon Dedman
Political reporter, Essex

The state of the roads and potholes came up repeatedly across the county when voters were asked what their biggest local issue was in these elections.

As of March, there were 31,000 road defects according to a BBC FOI in the Essex county area.

Opinion polling by More In Common has shown that potholes and council tax are the two biggest local issues for people in these May elections.

The Conservatives, who had been running Essex County Council before it was taken by Reform UK, have said that the party did not increase council tax rates by the maximum this year.

Nigel Farage said Reform would keep council tax as low as possible - but did not promise to cut or freeze the figure.

Inevitably, national issues and how people feel about the main political parties seemed to be motivating factors in how people cast their ballots.

Essex County Council said its voter turnout was 43.6% and the number of people who turned up to the polling stations or casted their vote in the post was "the highest it has been for decades".

A record 428 candidates ran for election the local authority, a spokesperson says, which marks about 20% increase from the 350 who stood in the previous elections in 2021.

The next annual meeting of the council will be held on 28 May, where a leader will be elected in accordance with the authority's constitution.

Simon Dedman
Political reporter, Essex

Labour's Dave Harris is one of the many long-serving councillors to have lost their seat on Essex County Council.

He lost out to Reform UK in his seat of Colchester Maypole, where Max Maxwell was the successful candidate.

"Although we're under different rulers now, with Reform in charge of the council, I will still have my battles with whoever is in charge to get what I want for my residents in my area with my colleagues," he says.

"A lot of city councillors including myself and my colleagues, work very hard for our residents on a local basis campaigning about potholes - all the things that matter to the people on the doorstep, dog poo, street lights, potholes, pavements, etc.

"And of course, this election was more about national issues and the popularity - or not - of a government that's trying to put right the wrongs of yesteryear."

Simon Dedman
BBC Essex political reporter

Lee Scordis, who retained his seat on Essex County Council in the Colchester Abbey division, is now the only Labour councillor in the entire local authority. The party previously had six councillors.

Scordis says it's clear that "populist parties have done really well on the right and the left".

"They're offering simple solutions to really nuanced arguments," he added.

"We obviously have more to do. People are really struggling out there, and we understand that people do want to see change quicker.

"But it's disappointing, this was a local election, and obviously national factors played a big impact here."

Every result has now been declared for the Essex County Council elections.

Seventy-eight seats were up for grabs - although only 77 have seen candidates elected, as voting for one seat was postponed due to the death of a candidate.

Here's the new makeup of political parties across the county council:

• Reform UK - 53 seats
• Conservatives - 13 seats
• Liberal Democrats - 5 seats
• Independents - 2
• Labour - 1
• Greens - 1
• Residents for Uttlesford - 1
• The People's Independent Party - 1

The final election for Springfield will take place on 18 June.

Luke Deal
BBC Radio reporter

Reform UK's Jaymey McIvor, who's been re-elected to his Ongar and Rural seat on Essex County Council, says his party's vision is to "make Essex great again".

"I say that not lightly because I think we have seen years and years of decline. Whether that's the state of our roads, whether that's the quality of social care," he told us.

"We have forgotten that councils are there to provide frontline services, and all you're seeing is this obsession with winning shiny awards about net zero.

"I've sat in that council chamber myself, with my head in my hands sometimes, thinking people out there do not want us talking about the stuff we're talking about in here."

Simon Dedman
BBC Essex political reporter

I've been at the Essex County Council count in Colchester, where the now former Conservative leader of the authority, Kevin Bentley, told me how he's feeling after losing his seat to Reform UK.

"It's democracy, and it's very important democracy is upheld - that's why we fought very hard, and I was very vocal about not cancelling these elections," he says.

"It's important that people have their say. They've had their say.

"I've had 17 very good years representing the area that I did. I'm still a city councillor in Colchester, so I'll continue that for the next two years, and I wish my success at all the very best."

Counting in the local elections in Thurrock has reached the halfway stage, with results from the remaining wards due later this afternoon.

Although the final shape of the new council is not yet confirmed, so far, results from the first half of the count paint a clear picture.

Reform UK have taken 16 wards, including Tilbury Riverside, Tilbury St Chads, Orsett, Horndon and Bulphan, Little Thurrock Blackshots, Little Thurrock Rectory, East Tilbury, Linford and West Tilbury and Chafford Hundred East.

The Conservatives saw two candidates selected for West Thurrock and South Stifford, with Qaisar Abbas and Elena Pelin securing two seats.

Labour has also won two seats.

Further results are expected later today.

It's another momentous development in the story of the 2026 local elections here in Essex - the long-serving Conservative Kevin Bentley, who's been the leader of the county council since 2021, has lost his seat in Stanway and Marks Tey.

He's been a key figure at the authority, heading it up at a time when big decisions have been made about local government reform, and how Essex will be split into five unitary authorities in the years to come.

Bentley received 1,537 votes and came second behind Reform UK's Andrew Harding, who got 2,092 votes.

We'll bring you more reaction as it comes in.

Kevin Bentley, who's served as the Conservative leader of Essex County Council since 2021, has lost his seat on the local authority.

He's been a member of Essex County Council since 2009.

He lost his Stanway and Marks Tey seat to Reform UK's Andrew Harding.

Simon Dedman
BBC Essex political reporter

Labour faces being left with a single seat.

Lee Scordis has been elected for Labour to the Colchester Abbey division. Dave Harris has just lost Colchester Maypole.

It looks highly unlikely that Labour can gain any other seats with the divisions still to declare in Colchester.