The Latest Breaking News from the Lib Dems

Party has gained 768 seats, Labour 545 and the Greens 480, while the Conservatives have lost 1,783

Rob Ford was part of the BBC team analysing the local election results as they poured in over the past 48 hours. Here he tells how a dramatic set of results for the government unfolded

Letters: Doubts about the role and direction of the Liberal Democrats are voiced by Michael Meadowcroft, Paul Lally, Gordon Vassell and Peter Loschi

The late elder statesman understood the need for a progressive realignment of British politics. That prize shouldn’t be lost, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

Siobhan Benita spent 18 months campaigning against Sadiq Khan in the last mayoral race - but now urges voters to back him

Reform UK is making the headlines but tactical voting can power Ed Davey’s party in seats where they are the Tories’ main challengers

Speaking ahead of the party’s spring conference, the Liberal Democrat leader challenges the Tories and Labour to find consensus on financial package for the NHS

No one wants Jeremy Hunt to be Chancellor. Labour doesn’t, obviously — the party has its own candidate, albeit with largely the same spending plans and fiscal rules. Rishi Sunak doesn’t — he wants to be his own finance minister. The Tory Right still pines for Truss-onomics, the SNP doesn’t…

The duopoly at the centre of our electoral system promises stability, yet delivers anything but. Labour must be ready for that, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr