Reform UK Surges as Keir Starmer’s Labour Loses More Than 208 Councillors

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party faced heavy losses in local elections across the United Kingdom as Reform UK made early gains, with Reform UK poised to make gains across the country, according to early results.

“Partial results from local elections in England show big losses for Prime Minister Keir Starmer's governing Labour Party and gains for the hard-right party Reform UK”

9News

In those early results, Labour was losing more than 208 councillors while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK gained 339 seats by 12:45pm local time (11:45 GMT), and Starmer said, “The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it.”

9News

The BBC described the vote as a key test of Starmer’s leadership, and NBC News said the elections were widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led Labour to power less than two years ago.

NBC News reported that Reform won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north such as Hartlepool that once were solid Labour turf, and it also said Reform made gains from the Conservatives in areas like Havering on the eastern edge of London.

In Scotland and Wales, NBC News said votes would also be counted in contests for semiautonomous parliaments, while Al Jazeera said the elections act “very much as a bellwether.”

Starmer insisted he would not resign after the losses, telling British media, “Tough days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised,” while NBC News quoted him saying he was “not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hailed the preliminary results as an “historic change in British politics,” and NBC News said Farage called it “a truly historic shift in British politics” as Reform made major gains.

Al Jazeera

In London, Al Jazeera reported that Starmer said he would take responsibility for the outcome but indicated that he would not step down, and it quoted him: “Days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised.”

The Times reported that Tony McNulty told Times Radio, “I’m yet to hear a Labour spokesperson understand how to talk properly to people, how to have a bit of humility and a bit of, yes, we understand what’s going on and we need to come back.”

In Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire, The Times said a combination of pro-Gaza independents and Reform UK pushed Labour out of control for the first time in 16 years, with Labour losing 11 of the 13 seats it had won last time the seats were contested.

The elections covered about 5,000 seats up for grabs in 136 English councils, including in 32 boroughs in London, and Al Jazeera said six mayoral elections would also take place in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets in Greater London, as well as nearby Watford.

“Initial results from Britain's local elections show the rise of the United Kingdom Reform Party led by the right-wing Nigel Farage, while the governing Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is suffering heavy losses”

Al-Jazeera Net

Al Jazeera said voters would decide all 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, divided between 73 constituency MSPs and 56 regional MSPs, and it said the party with the most seats will form the next government, with the leader becoming the Scottish first minister.

In Wales, Al Jazeera reported that 96 seats would be decided by proportional representation, with the party with the biggest share leading the government, and it said the results were a key test of Starmer’s leadership.

AP News said a Labour rout could trigger moves by restive party lawmakers to oust a leader who won a landslide victory in July 2024, and it added that even if Starmer survives for now, many analysts doubt he will lead the party into the next national election, which must be held by 2029.

The Times said the leader of the Labour-run Blackburn with Darwen borough council told the Press Association that Starmer “has to go,” and it quoted Councillor Phil Riley saying, “Keir Starmer has a very poor reputation with people out there.”