LAST UPDATE: 2.30pm

Labour has suffered heavy losses in the London elections, losing 10 councils - four to the Conservatives.

By 7am the capital had turned blue with 14 of the 32 boroughs going to the Conservatives, including Labour's former strongholds in Bexley, Ealing, Croydon and Hammersmith and Fulham - where it had been in opposition for 20 years.

Conservative leader David Cameron said the result in London was "far beyond what we were expecting".

Prime Minister Tony Blair this morning announced a cabinet reshuffle after weeks of turmoil and seeing his party lose more than 250 councillors across England.

Charles Clarke has been replaced as Home Secretary by John Reid. John Prescott will remain as Deputy Prime Minister, but will no longer have his own office and Margaret Beckett replaces Jack Straw as Foreign Secretary.

The Liberal Democrats gained Richmond from the Conservatives and successfully defended Kingston and Sutton. But the party lost Islington, where there will be no overall control.

Predictions of a dire performance by Labour have rung true. It clung onto Haringey and Barking and Dagenham and Greenwich, but gained only Lambeth in a close battle with the Liberal Democrats.

The British National Party has made inroads in Barking and Dagenham, with 11 of its 13 candidates winning seats, making it the opposition in the East End borough.

The BNP also gained a councillor in Redbridge and doubled it's success in Epping Forest, with six seats.

Crucial indicator

While most local authorities only had a third of their seats up for grabs, all 1,861 seats in London's 32 boroughs were at stake. It is one of the most important indicators of party support outside a general election.

The Conservatives retained control in Barnet, Bromley, Enfield, Kensington and Chelsea, Redbridge, Wandsworth and Westminster. Further to the four councils it won from Labour, it also gained the upper hand in Havering, Harrow and Hillingdon.

Labour's majorities shrunk in Lewisham, Hounslow and Merton, where it will now have to share power.

The party also lost control in Camden for the first time in 30 years.

As before, no party could win Southwark and Waltham Forest.

The Liberal Democrats gained 16 seats in Brent - most at the expense of Labour - and power will be shared in the north west borough.

Sunshine and temperatures of up to 26 degrees is thought to have caused a higher voter turnout yesterday than previous years.

Only about a third of the capital's five million eligible voters usually take part in local elections.

Tory leader Cameron told The Daily Mirror: "There's plenty more to do, and plenty more change to be made and work to be done, but I think this is a very important step forward.

"I think that we have shown right across the board that where Labour are collapsing, we are building."

In Lewisham, Labour's Steve Bullock was re-elected as mayor at the second count, while the Liberal Democrat's Dorothy Thornhill was re-elected as Mayor of Watford.

Mayoral elections also took place in Hackney and Newham.