Keir Starmer Refuses To Walk Away After Reform UK’s Nigel Farage Surges in England Local Elections

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted he would not “walk away” and said “the right thing to do is to rebuild” after Labour’s local election defeat, as pressure mounted from MPs blaming losses in England and a “major humiliation in Wales.”

“Glasgow, United Kingdom – Voters in England’s local council elections have delivered a damning verdict of Labour, in what is seen as another major blow for Prime Minister Keir Starmer”

Al Jazeera

The Independent reported Starmer had turned to Labour veterans Gordon Brown, appointed as a special envoy on global finance, and former party leader Harriet Harman, appointed as an adviser on women and girls, as he sought to reset his premiership.

Al Jazeera

NBC News said Starmer dismissed calls to stand down after Labour “shed hundreds of local councillors across England,” while Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, surged in England’s local elections.

In Scotland, The Independent said Donald Trump congratulated John Swinney after a crushing SNP defeat of Labour, and noted Swinney’s party took 58 seats, falling short of the 65 needed for an overall majority.

Al Jazeera reported that voters in England’s local council elections delivered a “damning verdict of Labour,” with Reform making sweeping gains at the expense of Labour as more than 5,000 English council seats were up for grabs.

Al Jazeera quoted Reform UK leader Nigel Farage saying he was seeing “Labour … being wiped out” by his party in “many of their most traditional areas,” as Labour lost control of 35 councils and more than 1,300 seats in England.

The Independent reported that Unison general secretary Andrea Egan warned Labour faced “oblivion” unless Starmer stepped down, while Unite boss Sharon Graham said he faced a choice to “change or die.”

Al-Jazeera Net

In Wales, NBC News said Labour lost power for the first time, with Plaid Cymru coming first and Reform second, and it quoted First Minister Eluned Morgan saying, “The people of Wales rejected Welsh Labour.”

CNN reported Farage told reporters that “Labour are being wiped out by Reform in many of their most traditional areas,” and said Starmer told the Labour faithful it was important not to “sugarcoat” the early results.

The Guardian quoted John Curtice saying “electoral politics in Britain has become highly fragmented,” as Labour’s losses were mapped across England, Scotland and Wales and Reform supplanted the Conservatives as the biggest rightwing force in Wales and Scotland.

The Independent said Labour haemorrhaged support in former strongholds while Reform UK made huge gains and Plaid Cymru became the largest party in the Senedd election, leaving Starmer under mounting pressure after losing control of both the Senedd in Wales and 37 councils across England.

“Starmer is asked about appointing former prime minister Gordon Brown and former deputy leader Harriet Harman into new roles points towards a sense of the future”

BBC

The National reported that almost 25,000 candidates were fighting to be elected to more than 5,000 seats on the councils across England, and said Reform’s gains exceeded 1,275 seats and control of one council when results were announced from 129 of the 136 councils in England by Saturday morning.

In England’s local elections, Al Jazeera said Reform secured more than 1,350 seats and 13 councils, while Labour had lost control of 35 councils and more than 1,300 seats in England, as the contest was described as another major blow for Starmer.

The Guardian said Labour’s collapse in the Senedd was “existential,” with its vote share falling by more than half, enough to push it into third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform, and it added that Labour lost power for the first time since the Welsh parliament was created in 1999.

NBC News said the results would “heap pressure on Starmer,” with speculation that colleagues may move against him, while it described the vote as a break with the longstanding dominance of Britain’s two establishment parties ahead of a general election expected to be held by 2029.