91Èȱ¬

Some ballot boxes are still sealed.

Many counts won't begin for hours.

But contours have emerged overnight around England that point to the eventual outcome of the choices made on Thursday by millions of voters.

There's been a rebuff for Boris Johnson from some parts, notably London, with some warnings from the grassroots that economic pressures and the conduct of government combined to make life difficult for Tories trying to keep voters onside.

The signs are not, however, of a Conservative rout, even after more than a decade in government, even after the prime minister was fined for lockdown rule-breaking.

So far, this is not a set of results likely to push privately disgruntled Tory MPs to air their grievances in public, or try to move against Mr Johnson.

Yet it is an important staging post for Labour, on course to take the biggest national share of the vote in an election since 2016.

The party has been able to take steps forward with some gains in important pockets of the country, not just piling up votes in London.

But the margin is likely to be narrow, not convincing enough for the opposition to be confident they are set for No 10.

There were happy surprises instead for the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.

But there's neither a sense of disaster for the Tories nor jubilation for Labour. One successful Labour council leader told us of his victory: "It's not us being wonderful; it's the Tories being disappointed."

That could prove to be an astute description.

There are, however, many results yet to come. Can the SNP retain its dominance when Scottish voters are counted? What will happen in Wales, where the Labour first minster was praised for his handling of the pandemic?

And don't forget the crucial counts in Northern Ireland which could usher in a real era of uncertainty there, and for the UK.

Watch this space!