Some nationals made grim local election predictions for Gordon Brown’s Labour Party as early results came in, but others went for others stories, including how to improve poor teacher standards, while the tabloids continued to raise questions about how a father managed to keep his daughter in a cellar undetected for 24 years.

THE INDEPENDENT: Voters Deliver Ominous Warning to Brown

The paper was predicting voters would give Gordon Brown a “bloody nose” in his first election as Labour leader, blaming the economic gloom and his decision to abolish the 10p lower rate of income tax. Read here

THE TIMES: Row Over Plans to Recycle 24,000 Failing Teachers

Up to 24,000 incompetent teachers should be removed from their classrooms and put to work in neighbouring schools to improve standards under a plan drawn up by the chief executive of the General Teaching Council for England, the paper says. Read here

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Chinese Build Secret Nuclear Sub Base

The paper uses satellite imagery of a harbour to claim China has secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region.

THE GUARDIAN: Brown Faces Election Mauling

Labour admitted early on Friday that Gordon Brown had suffered an electoral mauling across the country in his first electoral test, and predicted its national share of the vote would plummet to a record low, the paper said. Read here

DAILY MIRROR: Try to Escape and I’ll Gas You

More disturbing details about how a father kept his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years in Austria, forcing her to have seven of his children, are revealed in the paper. Read here

THE SUN: How Could Wife Not Know?

The paper asks how the wife of Josef Fritzl failed to detect anything suspicious despite her daughter living under the floor for 24 years.

DAILY MAIL: Brown’s Black Friday

The local elections left Gordon Brown facing a summer of discontent after large areas of Britain delivered Labour its worst election result in 25 years, the paper predicts. Read here

DAILY EXPRESS: Rising Costs Hit Household Bills

Millions of families face a crippling surge in the cost of living following a record rise in manufacturing costs, according to a poll of some 600 companies, the paper said. Read here

FINANCIAL TIMES: Barclays Reformer Quits Amid Rift Claims

One of Barclays’ most senior executives is to step down in a sign of the simmering tensions concerning the overhaul of the culture and management at the top of the UK’s third-largest bank, the paper predicts. Read here