London Offers Snapshot of an Increasingly Ungovernable UK

Nigel Farage outside Havering Town Hall following the local election in Romford, May 8.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

The map of English councils lit up in a murky gray on Friday, as more and more town halls returned a divided composition that spells budget paralysis in future.

Of the 123 councils already declared, almost half had no overall control — up 19 on the last time these areas were fought.