Ed Davey hails English local election results and hits out at ‘Tory brand’

Rishi Sunak can't revive his party, says leader of Lib Dems, after series of council gains from Conservatives

• England local elections - latest updates

Rishi Sunak has shown he is unable to revive the Conservative brand, Ed Davey has argued after the Liberal Democrats won a series of councils from the Tories, making significant gains in areas represented by senior government MPs.

In results Conservative MPs privately admitted had spooked them, by Friday night the Lib Dems had 400 net gains, well above the ceiling of what the party had predicted for the entire election given they won 700-plus seats the last time they were contested in 2019.