Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Election 2021: The four key takeaways in maps and charts

As the dust settles on a bumper crop of elections, what do we know now that we didn't on Thursday?

Majority for independence in Scottish Parliament

In Scotland, the SNP held on to power for an historic fourth term, but fell just one seat short of an overall majority.

That means, together with the Scottish Greens, there is now a majority of 15 in favour of independence in the Scottish Parliament.

But analysis by Professor Sir John Curtice suggests this is not the whole story.

In Scotland, people have two votes - one for a constituency MSP, and another for a regional ballot, where additional MSPs are allocated from party lists depending on how many votes the parties get.

In the constituency vote 49.0% backed pro-independence parties, and in the list vote it was 50.1%.

The SNP fell one seat short of a majority. They made three key gains but were unable to secure the extra win they needed for overall control of the Scottish Parliament

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said her focus in government would be on leading the country through the pandemic and keeping people safe from Covid.

But she added that "when the crisis has passed, it is to give people in Scotland the right to choose their future" in a referendum.

But the UK government is fighting this, with Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove saying the SNP could not expect one to be approved as the party did not secure a majority in the Scottish Parliament.

Governments have performed well

Traditionally, voters use Westminster by-elections, and other polls between general elections, to give the sitting government a kicking.

But the performance of the Conservatives in England means we might need to re-think that idea.

A modern browser with JavaScript and a stable internet connection is required to view this interactive. More information about these elections

Note: This lookup covers national elections in Scotland and Wales, the Hartlepool by-election, as well as council and mayoral elections in England and Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections in England and Wales. There may be parish council elections or council by-elections where you are. Check your local council website for full details. Last updated: May 7, 2021, 14:22 GMT

One of the first results to come in was the by-election to select the new Hartlepool MP.

Conservative Jill Mortimer won a seat that had been in Labour hands since its creation in 1974, and by a significant margin as well - 23.2%, or nearly 7,000 votes.

This was only the second by-election gain for a governing party since Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives won amid the backdrop of the Falklands War in 1982.

The Conservatives have a majority of 23.2% in Hartlepool. In 1997 Labour were 39.4 points ahead

And things didn't get much better for Labour in the council elections.

The Conservatives took Harlow council in Essex - sometimes seen as indicator of the national mood - and continued to make gains in both councils and council seats across the rest of England throughout the weekend.

Which councils changed hands?

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They now control 12 more councils than they did before and there are more than 240 extra Tory councillors, with some results still coming in.

In contrast, Labour lost control of seven councils and more than 300 seats. One of the councils the party lost, County Durham, had been under Labour control for more than 100 years, since 1919. It was the first council the Labour Party ever ran.

The Conservatives did particularly well in the Midlands, and in Cornwall and County Durham. Durham had been under Labour control for more than 100 years

Parties who have been in government for a long time often struggle at election time, but the Conservative government at Westminster bucked that trend.

The SNP also performed well in Scotland, and Labour in Wales equalled their record of securing 30 out of the 60 Senedd seats.

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, whose profile has been prominent as part of the Welsh Covid response, increased his personal majority by more than 10,000 votes, from 3.7 percentage points to 30.7.

Labour also gained the seat of former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood in Rhondda, but they lost Vale of Clwyd to the Conservatives, by fewer than 500 votes.

This left them just short of an outright majority - a feat no party has yet achieved in Wales.

Labour secured 30 seats in Wales after gaining one constituency seat from Plaid and losing another to the Conservatives. The Conservatives also took the Lib Dems only constituency seat

More on Wales in maps and charts

Labour still strong in England's big city areas

Another area Labour supporters can look to for positives are the mayoral elections in some of England's biggest city regions.

Labour's success here gives an idea where their new heartlands might be, as the political map is still being redrawn following the Brexit vote of 2016.

Sadiq Khan won again in London, from second preference votes after a first round that was closer than expected challenge from Tory candidate Shaun Bailey.

Khan vs Bailey for London mayor - Khan received 55.2% of first and second preference votes

Andy Burnham won easily in Manchester with an increased majority, and Labour took control of the West of England and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough from the Conservatives.

They also held on to the combined authority mayoralties in Liverpool, the West of England and won all five single authority mayors that were up for grabs.

The only Conservatives to win mayoral elections were Andy Street in the West Midlands and Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley, with a whopping 73% of the vote, and they have won 17 of the 21 Police and Crime Commissioner elections declared so far, including eight gains.

Good night for the Greens

As well as the Scottish Greens gaining two seats, the Greens in England increased their presence in every region.

In total they won more than 80 seats - but were unable to control any individual council.

The Greens gained in every single English region while Labour lost everywhere. The Conservatives made gains everywhere apart from the South East, including big wins in the West Midlands. It was more of a mixed bag for the Lib Dems

They also finished ahead of the Lib Dems in London as the third party. Professor Curtice says they are now the fourth party in the UK.

For the Lib Dems on the whole it was more of a muted success. They took control of St Albans Council and held on to the six they were defending.

They lost a seat in Scotland but won one in the London Assembly. And in terms of councillors, their gains and losses in different areas more or less balanced each other out, with a handful of councils still to declare.

Data journalism by Daniel Dunford, John Walton, Will Dahlgreen, Ed Lowther, Christine Jeavans ,Becky Dale, Maryam Ahmed, Wesley Stephenson and Alison Benjamin. Design by Debie Loizou, Prina Shah and Gerry Fletcher. Development by Marcos Gurgel, Scott Jarvis, Catriona Morrison, Becky Rush, Steven Connor, Toby Cox, Shilpa Saraf, Adam Allen and Sally Morales