The first results in England are expected between midnight and 2am BST; Scottish and Welsh parliament results are due from midday

• 2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votes

Keir Starmer has thanked party activists after polls closed.

In a post on X, the prime minister said:

To all the Labour members and volunteers who have supported local campaigns across the country: thank you.Together we will build a stronger and fairer Britain.

Senator Roger Wicker and representative Mike Rogers say move risks undermining deterrence and sending wrong signal to Putin

• Full report: Nato seeks to ‘understand the details’ after US decision to withdraw troops from Germany

• ‘We love our Americans’: the German town rocked by Trump’s plan to withdraw US troops

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said suspicious activity had been reported 84 nautical miles southwest of the port of Mukalla in Yemen.

A bulk carrier reported that a small boat and a fishing vessel came within 500m of it, according to UKMTO.

This blog is now closed

We have some images coming through the newswires of Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, speaking with Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, and other officials in Islamabad this morning.

Araghchi arrived in Pakistan last night. He wrote on social media that his trip would focus on “bilateral matters and regional developments”.

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

Downing Street has hit back at reports suggesting the US could reconsider its position over the UK’s claim to the Falkland Islands because the UK did not do enough to assist the American bombing of Iran was leaked.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “The UK position is clear and isn’t going to change … It’s a longstanding one. It’s an unchanged one, and it will remain the case.”

This blog is now closed. Our latest main story on the Middle East crisis is here.

Separate to the Pakistani army chief’s trip to Iran (see post at 07:53), the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and foreign minister Ishaq Dar also concluded a trip to the Middle East after visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey for talks.

“We have just concluded the last leg of our engagements following productive and fruitful visits … where we held meaningful bilateral discussions aimed at strengthening cooperation across key areas,” Dar said on X.