Millions of voters headed to polling stations on Thursday in the biggest test at the ballot box for political parties since Labour won the general election in July 2024. Almost 25,000 candidates fought to be elected to more than 5,000 seats on 136 councils across England, with Reform UK fielding around 4,800, less than 100 fewer than Labour and some 50 more than the Conservatives. The Greens have almost 4,500 candidates, with the Liberal Democrats on just under 4,000 and there are more than 2,000 other candidates from minor parties or standing as independents or for residents’ groups. Labour is defending some 2,500 of the seats being contested, meaning problems for prime minister Sir Keir Starmer as it appears the party has lost large numbers of councillors. The Conservatives are defending 1,236 seats, the Liberal Democrats 706, the Greens 194 and Reform UK just 83, mostly as a result of by-election victories or defections since the previous times these councils went to the polls.…