THE NEW YORK TIMES: Results from municipal and regional elections signaled major gains for the right-wing populist Reform U.K. and steep losses for Labour.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday faced his biggest electoral test since coming to power in 2024. Millions of Britons voted in elections to Parliaments in Scotland and Wales, and to municipalities in England. And they delivered a damning verdict on Mr. Starmer’s governing Labour Party.
Mr. Starmer took responsibility for Labour’s losses, saying that he would “not sugarcoat” voters’ scathing verdict on his 22 months in office. But he said he would not step down.
The main victor on Thursday was the right-wing populist Reform U.K. party, which gained more than 1,400 seats on municipal councils across England. The party took seats from the Conservative Party and from Labour and consolidated its status as the dominant party of Britain’s political right. But the left-wing Green Party also made gains at the expense of Labour.
The results shattered the grip on power long held by Labour and the Conservatives, and signaled a new political landscape in which at least seven parties are vying for votes across Britain. » | Stephen Castle | Reporting from London | Friday, May 8, 2026
Showing posts with label local elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label local elections. Show all posts
Saturday, May 09, 2026
Friday, May 08, 2026
Keir Starmer Under Pressure to Agree Exit Plan after Election Mauling
THE GUARDIAN: Senior Labour MPs urge prime minister to step down within year as party loses control of 25 English councils and humbled in Wales
Keir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.
In a disastrous set of results, Labour had lost control of more than 25 councils and almost 1,000 council seats in England by Friday evening, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made large gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the south.
After more than a century of domination, Labour has faced near-wipeout in Wales, where the party’s first minister, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat. Labour could slump to third place in Scotland behind the SNP and Reform. In London, a Green surge meant Labour lost control of councils it had dominated, including Hackney and Waltham Forest. » | Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot | Friday, April 8, 2026
Keir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.
In a disastrous set of results, Labour had lost control of more than 25 councils and almost 1,000 council seats in England by Friday evening, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made large gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the south.
After more than a century of domination, Labour has faced near-wipeout in Wales, where the party’s first minister, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat. Labour could slump to third place in Scotland behind the SNP and Reform. In London, a Green surge meant Labour lost control of councils it had dominated, including Hackney and Waltham Forest. » | Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot | Friday, April 8, 2026
Election Results: Have Polanski and Farage Finished Starmer Off?
May 8, 2026 | Labour is reeling after bruising local election results - losing ground to the Greens on the left and Reform UK on the right - and questions are now swirling around Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Is this just a difficult moment for Labour, or the start of something much bigger?
In this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, former Keir Starmer Chief of Staff Sam White, and political strategist Scarlett Maguire to unpack what the results really mean.
Is Labour facing a voter backlash, a messaging problem, or a full-blown leadership crisis? And if pressure on Starmer continues to grow, what happens next? Could Labour really replace its leader - and who would even take over?
Is this just a difficult moment for Labour, or the start of something much bigger?
In this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, former Keir Starmer Chief of Staff Sam White, and political strategist Scarlett Maguire to unpack what the results really mean.
Is Labour facing a voter backlash, a messaging problem, or a full-blown leadership crisis? And if pressure on Starmer continues to grow, what happens next? Could Labour really replace its leader - and who would even take over?
Sunday, May 03, 2026
Brexit Failed. Farage Did It. Now You're Voting FOR Him?
Saturday, May 02, 2026
Farage: The MAGA Grifter Who Will Win Thursday's Elections
May 2, 2026 | On Thursday 7th May, Britain votes — and I'm giving you my full prediction, party by party, from worst to best.
The Liberal Democrats, despite their integrity and 72 MPs, will come last — because being decent isn't enough when you're invisible.
The Conservatives aren't far ahead, still paying the price for 14 years of economic mismanagement.
Labour's Keir Starmer faces a reckoning that could force him out of Downing Street sooner than anyone expects.
The Greens are surging — popular, photogenic leadership [really???] — but try naming a single Green policy.
And then there's Reform UK. I devote the majority of this video to Reform UK — because what's happening isn't just another British political story. It's the MAGA franchise arriving in Britain. Farage's movement, Trump's playbook, same energy — and it's working.
This is my honest, unfiltered prediction of how Thursday plays out — and what it means for the future of British politics.
Sadly, a pretty accurate assessment. The thought of Farage preening his feathers like a peacock, which he will, is vomit-inducing! — © Mark Alexander
The Liberal Democrats, despite their integrity and 72 MPs, will come last — because being decent isn't enough when you're invisible.
The Conservatives aren't far ahead, still paying the price for 14 years of economic mismanagement.
Labour's Keir Starmer faces a reckoning that could force him out of Downing Street sooner than anyone expects.
The Greens are surging — popular, photogenic leadership [really???] — but try naming a single Green policy.
And then there's Reform UK. I devote the majority of this video to Reform UK — because what's happening isn't just another British political story. It's the MAGA franchise arriving in Britain. Farage's movement, Trump's playbook, same energy — and it's working.
This is my honest, unfiltered prediction of how Thursday plays out — and what it means for the future of British politics.
Sadly, a pretty accurate assessment. The thought of Farage preening his feathers like a peacock, which he will, is vomit-inducing! — © Mark Alexander
Friday, May 05, 2023
Sunak under Pressure after Dire Tory Losses and Leadership Gripes
THE GUARDIAN: PM calls results ‘disappointing’, while Labour says it’s on track to win power at next general election
One of Rishi Sunak’s Tory MPs described the losses to the Lib Dems and Greens in the south as ‘a bloodbath’. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Rishi Sunak has faced devastating losses of more than 1,000 Tory seats in the local elections, while Labour has said the party is on track to win power at the next general election.
The prime minister conceded on Friday the English council results were “disappointing”, but faced a scathing verdict from some of his MPs and the first rumblings of a threat to his leadership from allies of Boris Johnson.
Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, was buoyed up by winning more than 500 seats, with the party believing its projected vote share puts it on course to take power in 2024 for the first time in 14 years. » | Rowena Mason and Peter Walker | Friday, May 5, 2023
Recent Conservative prime ministers: A succession of duds, one dud after the other! First came Cameron, an unmitigated disaster because of Brexit, then came May, slightly better, but still a disaster, then came Boris Johnson, a total and utter disaster, then Liz Truss, an unspeakable disaster, a cipher, and now Sunak, yet another disaster – a catastrophe, a calamity waiting to happen! (or has it already happened?) – © Mark Alexander
Rishi Sunak has faced devastating losses of more than 1,000 Tory seats in the local elections, while Labour has said the party is on track to win power at the next general election.
The prime minister conceded on Friday the English council results were “disappointing”, but faced a scathing verdict from some of his MPs and the first rumblings of a threat to his leadership from allies of Boris Johnson.
Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, was buoyed up by winning more than 500 seats, with the party believing its projected vote share puts it on course to take power in 2024 for the first time in 14 years. » | Rowena Mason and Peter Walker | Friday, May 5, 2023
Recent Conservative prime ministers: A succession of duds, one dud after the other! First came Cameron, an unmitigated disaster because of Brexit, then came May, slightly better, but still a disaster, then came Boris Johnson, a total and utter disaster, then Liz Truss, an unspeakable disaster, a cipher, and now Sunak, yet another disaster – a catastrophe, a calamity waiting to happen! (or has it already happened?) – © Mark Alexander
Tories Could Lose over 1,000 Seats in Labour’s Local Election Landslide
Sunday, May 08, 2022
Boris Johnson’s Tories Exhibit the Morbid Symptoms of a fin-de-siècle Regime
THE OBSERVER – OPINION: Intellectual exhaustion and rampant sleaze often characterise parties which have been squatting on power for too long
The only guiding principle of this government is to keep a disgraced law-breaker in office.’Photograph: Daniel Leal/PA
At the next general election, the Conservatives will be making a very big ask. They will be seeking a fifth consecutive term in power, a privilege that has never been granted to any party since the Great Reform Act of 1832. Assume the election is held in the spring of 2024. Imagine that the Tories receive the answer that they are looking for. We could then be contemplating 19 uninterrupted years of Conservative prime ministers.
For those who shudder at this future, the consoling news is that the Tories are working extremely hard to ensure that this does not happen. It is not entirely their fault that they are presiding over the most severe squeeze on living standards since the 1950s. They are to blame for deciding that this is the appropriate time to be cutting welfare support and hiking taxes. Voters can be willing to make sacrifices when persuaded that it is in service of a noble cause, but the only guiding principle of this government is to keep a disgraced law-breaker in office. There is no sense of a strategy to address the many economic and social challenges confronting Britain. Nor any expectation, even among Tory MPs, that the government will suddenly reveal an invigorating mission in this week’s Queen’s speech.
Levelling up has not graduated from slogan to substance. Promises of a huge house-building programme have collapsed on contact with resistance to planning reform. The energy security plan blinked at the big questions. The failure of Brexit to deliver the opportunities claimed for it is now so evident that Jacob Rees-Mogg has been told to go looking for them. Don’t hold your breath. There is no discernible ambition to tackle the chronically poor economic growth that has been a feature of this era of Tory rule. » | Andrew Rawnsley | Sunday, May 8, 2022
At the next general election, the Conservatives will be making a very big ask. They will be seeking a fifth consecutive term in power, a privilege that has never been granted to any party since the Great Reform Act of 1832. Assume the election is held in the spring of 2024. Imagine that the Tories receive the answer that they are looking for. We could then be contemplating 19 uninterrupted years of Conservative prime ministers.
For those who shudder at this future, the consoling news is that the Tories are working extremely hard to ensure that this does not happen. It is not entirely their fault that they are presiding over the most severe squeeze on living standards since the 1950s. They are to blame for deciding that this is the appropriate time to be cutting welfare support and hiking taxes. Voters can be willing to make sacrifices when persuaded that it is in service of a noble cause, but the only guiding principle of this government is to keep a disgraced law-breaker in office. There is no sense of a strategy to address the many economic and social challenges confronting Britain. Nor any expectation, even among Tory MPs, that the government will suddenly reveal an invigorating mission in this week’s Queen’s speech.
Levelling up has not graduated from slogan to substance. Promises of a huge house-building programme have collapsed on contact with resistance to planning reform. The energy security plan blinked at the big questions. The failure of Brexit to deliver the opportunities claimed for it is now so evident that Jacob Rees-Mogg has been told to go looking for them. Don’t hold your breath. There is no discernible ambition to tackle the chronically poor economic growth that has been a feature of this era of Tory rule. » | Andrew Rawnsley | Sunday, May 8, 2022
Friday, May 06, 2022
Tories Lose Wandsworth and Westminster in Symbolic Local Election Defeats
May 6, 2022 • The Conservative Party has lost control of Wandsworth and Westminster, its two flagship London councils, in a symbolic defeat for Boris Johnson in the local elections. Wandsworth, which has been held by the Conservatives since 1978 and was reportedly Margaret Thatcher’s favourite council, fell to the Labour Party early on Friday morning. Its outgoing Tory leader said voters had concerns about the Prime Minister.
The Conservative Party has lost control of Wandsworth and Westminster, its two flagship London councils, in a symbolic defeat for Boris Johnson in the local elections.
Wandsworth, which has been held by the Conservatives since 1978 and was reportedly Margaret Thatcher’s favourite council, fell to the Labour Party early on Friday morning. Its outgoing Tory leader said voters had concerns about the Prime Minister.
The Conservative Party has lost control of Wandsworth and Westminster, its two flagship London councils, in a symbolic defeat for Boris Johnson in the local elections.
Wandsworth, which has been held by the Conservatives since 1978 and was reportedly Margaret Thatcher’s favourite council, fell to the Labour Party early on Friday morning. Its outgoing Tory leader said voters had concerns about the Prime Minister.
Friday, May 03, 2013
BBC: Nigel Farage says Thursday's local elections in England and Wales signal "a real sea change" in British politics, after UKIP made early gains.
The party is averaging 26% of the vote in the wards where it is standing, something Mr Farage says puts them in a strong position for 2015.
In a jubilant mood, he told the BBC, "send in the clowns", referring to jibes from senior Tories in the war of words before Thursday's vote. Watch BBC video » | Friday, May 03, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)