Voters are going to the polls in today's council and European Parliament elections but for most areas, there will be a long wait for results. Final declarations will come overnight for just Bristol City, new unitary authority Central Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire CC and Hartlepool Council's mayoral contest. The full picture will only emerge late tomorrow with outcomes from the remaining authorities involved, expected between noon and 8pm. European election results cannot be declared until after 9pm on Sunday, when voting has finished throughout the EU. Final figures are not expected for Scotland until Monday morning, and those for Northern Ireland, late that evening – four days after polls closed. Labour faces the possible loss of its three remaining shire bases, Derbyshire CC, Nottinghamshire CC and Staffordshire CC. It has already lost its majority at Lancashire CC, after the expulsion of a councillor from its group. Tories are hoping to take outright control of North Tyneside MBC by winning the mayoral battle. Claims by a senior figure involved in the Conservative Party's campaign that efficiency savings were a factor in the late results were played down. It was claimed that bank tellers were not being used to count ballot papers as they cost more. This was rejected by local government election organisers. ‘We are using the usual people we've always used. There has been no change,' they said.
