English voters frustrated with the deadlock over Brexit have punished Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party in local elections, early results show.
The results of Thursday's elections are another display of how Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union has split voters beyond traditional party lines and are a first indication of the damage Brexit has done to the two big parties.
With just over half of English local council vote results declared, the Conservative Party had lost 551 councillors and Labour had lost 73 councillors, according to a BBC tally.
The main beneficiary of the swing against the two main parties - which are in talks to try to break the impasse in the British parliament over Brexit - was the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, who had won 354 councillors so far, and said they hoped to make further gains in European Parliament elections on May 23.
Smaller parties also gained in the local elections, which are often used as a protest vote against the incumbent party.
The Greens, who also back a second Brexit referendum, gained 68 council seats, the partial results showed, and independent candidates won 251 seats.
May told her party in Wales: "There was a simple message from yesterday's elections, to both us and the Labour Party: just get on and deliver Brexit."
While offering only a partial and imperfect picture of Britain's voting intentions, the elections for more than 8000 seats on councils - administrative bodies responsible for day-to-day decisions - also showed a frustration with local issues.
But for May and many in Labour, the message was clear.
"So far (the) message from local elections - 'Brexit - sort it'," said John McDonnell, Labour's finance policy chief. "Message received."
Nearly three years since the United Kingdom voted 52 per cent to 48 to leave the EU, there is still no agreement among British politicians about when, how or even if the divorce should take place.
Britain was due to have left the EU on March 29, but May has been unable to get her deal approved by parliament and is now seeking the support of Labour, led by socialist Jeremy Corbyn.
Talks next week are not expected to reach a breakthrough.
It is still unclear how the deadlock might be broken, though some say May might call a general election.
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