After the polls close in the local council elections at 10pm this evening, the Nub News team will be on hand to bring readers the results as they happen.

The 167 candidates across the 18 wards in Richmond borough have been working hard for residents' votes in recent weeks on the doorsteps, public hustings and social media.

The council is currently a stronghold for the Liberal-Democrats, who hold 39 of the seats with the Conservatives on 11, 3 for the Green Party and 1 Independent Liberal.

Based on the last time the local council elections were fought, some seats appear to be on a knife-edge.

At the 2018 elections, a number of councillors were elected with a majority of fewer than 100 votes and in one case just a single vote made the difference.

Each of the wards elects three candidates, which means that a total of 54 councillors will be elected to run the Council for the next four years.

Some 195 Council staff will be working through into the early hours of Friday to complete the count, which is taking place at St Mary's University, Twickenham.

There are hopes that the first ward result will be announced before 2am and – barring the need for any recounts – the final results should be in by around 4am.

We will be offering updates from the count as news of the future shape of Richmond Council emerges.

Voter turnout has been revealed and it stands at 47.6%, which is slightly down on the 51.38% seen in 2018. Fewer than half of those eligible to vote went to a polling station. Nationally, the figure is expected to be below 40%.

* Twickenham MP, Munira Wilson, has celebrated the success of Lib-Dems around the country.

She said: "We are making gains in the Tory 'blue wall' seats that we are targeting for the next General Election, and we are taking seats off Labour in places like Hull."

Asked to explain the advances, she said: "The national picture played a huge part in terms of people having lost all trust in Boris Johnson and his government….And of course the cost of living crisis where we are putting forward some positive solutions where the government has failed people time and time again."

First results are in and it's a clean sweep for the Lib-Dems in Teddington. Congratulations to Martin Elengorn, Phil Giesler and Charlie Engels. Lib-Dems claim 67% of vote with Conservatives trailing badly.

One ward down, 17 more to come.

The magic number to have a majority of councillors is 28 and run Richmond borough for the next 4 years.

* Richmond Lib-Dem leader, Gareth Roberts, said: "We hope to maintain a majority. We have had the first two results and the majorities are stonking.

"We are confident of making gains in areas in which we have not had Council seats for the last 20 years. We are going to grow the Lib-Dem majority and we are confident of retaining control of the Council for the first time in 24 years.

'We are back in Richmond and we are back across the country."

Asked about the reasons for the success, he said: "The issues differed depending on the ward. In the east, it was very much the question of the future of Hammersmith Bridge. Then we had the issue of Twickenham Riverside and people trusted us to get it done and deliver this development.

"Over in Hampton concerns have centred on green issues and worries about open spaces.

"But really it was all about competence. People recognised that here in Richmond people have got competent local government. By contrast you have the shambles of the national government."

* Lib-Dems have captured over 65% of the vote in the two wards where results have been announced thus far. This compares to just under 23% for the Conservatives and 11.39% for Labour.

* Another clean-sweep for the Lib-Dems in West Twickenham. Large majorities for Piers Allen, Laura O'Brien and Alan Juriansz in a result that mirrors the 2018 election..

* Three more Lib-Dems elected in North Richmond. The new councillors are Nancy Baldwin, Richard Pyne and Richard Warren. Their combined share of the vote topped 64%.

* It's looking like a Lib-Dem landslide. Three more of the party's councillors are elected in Twickenham Riverside – Julia Neden-Watts, James Chard and Stephen O'Shea. A strong performance from Caroline Rayfield, the local leader of the Women's Equality Party, who came in sixth.

* Lib-Dems have captured all three seat in Hampton, while the Green Party have their first success of the night in Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside with the election of Andree Frieze.

The total to date is 17 Lib-Dems and 1 Green.

* Biggest shock of the night. Lib-Dems claim all three seats in Barnes – a ward that previously had three Conservatives, including Aphra Brandreth, who arrived at the polls earlier today supported by her father, the media personality and former Tory MP, Giles Brandreth.

In a separate development, the Lib-Dems have had three councillors elected in Whitton.

The leader of the Green party in the borough, Richard Bennett, has held on to his seat in South Twickenham. Will the Greens end the night replacing the Conservatives as the official opposition?

Lib-Dems have now officially held control of Richmond Council, easily passing the 28 councillors needed.

* Lib-Dems retain all three seats in Kew. Victory went to Alice Bridges-Westcott, Ian Craigie and Claire Vollum.

* Another big win for the Lib-Dems in Hampton Wick and South Teddington. The three winners collectively amassed around 66% of the vote.

* Labour's best result of the night gives them fourth place in Heathfield, however all three Lib-Dems win by a clear margin.

* The Tory stronghold of South Richmond has fallen with two seats going to the Lib-Dems and the third to the Green candidate, Chas Warlow. The Greens have also won a seat in Fulwell and Hampton Hill.

As things stand, there are 41 Lib-Dem councillors and 4 Greens with not a single Conservative.

* First Conservative of the night elected. Geoffrey Samuel places third in Hampton North. Former Lib-Dem, Avril Coelho, who was standing as an independent councillor, placed seventh.

* St Margarets and North Twickenham swept up in Lib-Dem tsunami. Katie Mansfield, Ben Khosa and the Council deputy leader, Alexander Ehmann, are all re-elected.

* Tory leader Paul Hodgins is out. Mr Hodgins was standing in East Sheen where the Lib-Dems snatched all three seats.

Once again, the party's candidates achieved massive majorities over long-standing and well-known Conservatives. Disconsolate Conservatives deserted the count at St Mary's University as the scale of the party's defeat became clear.

* Final result is in. Lib-Dems take two more seats in Mortlake and Barnes Common with the Greens picking up one. This puts the total for the Greens at 5.