The Tories have suffered a major meltdown in local elections, losing hundreds of seats as furious Brexit supporters turned against Theresa May over her handling of Britain’s departure from the European Union. The Conservatives had already been braced for a tough night amid frustration at the Prime Minister’s failure to take Britain out of the EU on March 29 as planned. But in a clear message to politicians to get their act together over Brexit the party had lost more than 400 seats before even half of councils had declared results today. Before the vote Tory sources had suggested they could lose 800 seats across England, with a loss of 600 considered a ‘good night’. There was little to cheer for Labour either, with the party – totally divided over whether to support a second referendum – looking set to lose more than 100 seats, with the Liberal Democrats the main beneficiaries. With results on 162 of 248 councils returned by 1pm today, the Conservatives had lost 676 councillors, Labour had lost 91 and Ukip had lost 71 – but the Liberal Democrats had gained 410. The hit for Jeremy Corbyn’s party came at a point in the electoral cycle when they could…