GENEVA
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made major gains in local elections across England, while Labour suffered setbacks in London and Birmingham and Reform secured its first seats in Scotland, according to BBC News.
About 5,000 seats across 136 local councils are being contested across England. Six mayoral races are also taking place in Watford and five London boroughs: Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets.
Voters in Scotland and Wales also cast ballots in parliamentary elections.
With 4,219 of 5,036 council seats declared in England, Reform UK had won 1,364 councillor seats, followed by Labour with 874, the Liberal Democrats with 717, the Conservatives with 674, and the Greens with 429, according to BBC figures released Friday.
Independent and other candidates secured 134 seats, while residents’ associations won 27.
Reform UK took control of several councils, including former Labour strongholds and traditionally Conservative areas. Farage described the results as a “truly historic shift in British politics.”
“We have been so used to thinking about politics in terms of left and right, and yet what Reform is able to do is win in areas that have always been Conservative,” he said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged Labour’s poor performance but rejected suggestions he could resign.
“I’m not going to walk away … and plunge the country into chaos,” Starmer told reporters Friday, adding that voters had given him “a five-year mandate to change the country.”
He acknowledged the results had been difficult for Labour and said the party needed to “reflect” and “respond.”
Labour also lost control of Hackney Council in London to the Green Party and failed to retain overall control in Southwark, Enfield, and Brent. Outside the capital, the party also lost control of Coventry, the BBC reported.
The party additionally lost control of Birmingham City Council, the UK’s largest local authority, which shifted to no overall control following partial results, according to the broadcaster.
After 79 of 101 seats were declared in Birmingham, Reform UK held 17 councillors, ahead of Labour with 16, the Conservatives with 15, the Liberal Democrats with 12, and the Greens with 11. Independent and other candidates secured eight seats.
Meanwhile, Green Party co-leader Zack Polanski said Britain’s traditional political system was collapsing.
“Two party politics is not just dying, it is dead and it is buried,” Polanski said, arguing that the Greens were increasingly replacing Labour in several constituencies.
SNP remains largest party in Scotland as counting continues
In Scotland, all 129 members of the Scottish Parliament — the Holyrood — are up for reelection, including 73 constituency lawmakers and 56 regional members.
Three constituency results remained outstanding Friday evening: Uddingston and Bellshill, Inverness and Nairn, and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, all previously held by the Scottish National Party (SNP), according to the BBC.
Regional results also began to emerge, with Reform UK winning its first seats in the Scottish Parliament.
In the first three regional declarations, Reform UK secured five seats, alongside five each for the Conservatives, Labour, and the Scottish Greens, while the Liberal Democrats won one seat. Thirty-five regional seats remained undeclared.***
Plaid Cymru emerges as largest party in Wales in historic shift
In Wales, voters are choosing the next Welsh government and members of the Senedd in what has been described as the biggest change to the parliament since powers began being transferred to Wales in 1999.
In Wales, Plaid Cymru emerged as the largest party with 43 seats in the expanded 96-seat Senedd, while Reform UK secured 34 seats.
Labour followed with nine seats, ahead of the Conservatives with seven. The Greens won two seats and the Liberal Democrats one.
No party secured an outright majority in the Welsh parliament, as it requires 49 seats for majority.
