The Labour Party believes it has won Hartlepool council, describing the impending victory as a "groundbreaking moment".
Votes are still being counted in the council, which was previously under no overall control.
But a party spokesperson said this evening: "Winning back Hartlepool council is a groundbreaking moment after the disappointing results we saw here in 2021.
"Keir Starmer pledged to change the Labour Party after that result, and today’s win shows that this changed Labour Party is ready to deliver the change that communities like Hartlepool are crying out for.
"Making gains here shows that the Party is on track to win a general election and is firmly back in the service of working people.”
The Tories are braced for a bruising night tonight, with the party trailing more than 20 points behind Labour in the polls.
They could lose up to half of the 1,000 council seats they are defending.
Sir Keir Starmer said he considered quitting as Labour leader after the party lost both the Hartlepool by-election and council seats in 2021.
The Labour Party recorded a net loss of eight councils, as well as a constituency which had been held by Labour since the 1970s.
As well as local council elections, a total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place tonight.
In London, Labour's Sadiq Khan is polling at least ten points ahead of the Conservative Party's Susan Hall. But just hours before polls closed, Khan admitted that the Tories' chances of winning had "skyrocketed".
The incumbent Mayor of London, who is battling for a historic third term, warned supporters that turnout for the elections appeared to be low.
He claimed this means that the chances of the Conservative candidate, Susan Hall, winning the election had increased significant.
Urging his supporters to go out and vote, he warned they could wake up to a "Tory nightmare".
The London Mayor, who won the election by less than five per cent in 2020, warned that the election could be "extremely close".
A poll by Savanta published yesterday put him 10 points ahead of Hall.
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The polloing said Khan would win 42 per cent of the vote, while the Conservative candidate was expected to win 32 per cent.
Londoners will have to wait until Saturday for the result of the election, which is expected to come in after midday.
Speaking to the Evening Standard earlier this week, Khan said he would happily take a narrow victory.
He said: "I’m quite clear, as someone who used to captain our cricket team: a win is a win."
