The results

Gb local elections, Labour halved and Reform first party. Starmer: government goes ahead

Reform UK is picking up a third of the vote and winning hundreds of seats, while Labour is losing support and has so far lost 60 per cent of the seats it had in the 2022 local elections

by Nicol Degli Innocenti

8 May 2026

FOTO D'ARCHIVIO: Il primo ministro britannico Keir Starmer lascia il numero 10 di Downing Street a Londra, Gran Bretagna, l'11 febbraio 2026. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Foto d'archivio REUTERS

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

LONDON - Everything as expected: the still partial results of yesterday's local elections in England on 7 May confirm what the polls indicated on the eve of the election. Reform UK, the populist and anti-immigration party founded by Nigel Farage, is garnering a third of the vote and winning hundreds of seats, while Labour, the ruling party, is losing support and has so far lost the 60% of seats it had won in the last local elections in 2022.

Reform has taken votes away from the Conservative Party, the official opposition, which is recording losses throughout England and has also lost control of the city of Newcastle. The Liberal Democrats are also gaining seats, mainly at the expense of the Tories, who did, however, have the satisfaction of regaining the district of Westminster that had gone to Labour last time round.

The Greens, very popular among young people since the charismatic Zack Polanski was elected leader, are gaining support and could win several seats in London, if Labour, as expected, also loses ground in the capital.

The final results will not be announced until this afternoon, but Farage this morning already spoke of a "historic result" and said that "the right and the left no longer exist", because Reform is also winning votes in traditionally Labour constituencies.

Gran Bretagna al voto, test elettorale per il premier Keir Starmer

The twilight of bipolarism

The vote certainly confirms the fragmentation of British politics, until recently dominated by the two big parties, Labour and the Tories. The vote is now split between five different parties, and Reform, founded only five years ago from the ashes of the Brexit Party, is registering the greatest success especially in the areas that voted to leave the European Union ten years ago.

Labour's collapse, however much the polls predict, will surely lead to an internal crisis in an already split party: some, as vice-premier David Lammy said this morning commenting on the results, argue that the government's strategy will not change and that 'you don't change the pilot while you're flying'.

Others instead would like to replace Keir Starmer, who has the dubious honour of being the most unpopular premier in British history. Starmer has stated that he does not want to leave and that he wants to "finish the job he started", and will probably remain in the saddle, if only because there is no clear successor who has the support of the entire party. The international situation, moreover, and in particular the war in Iran and its effects on the economy and inflation, could discourage any pretenders to the Downing Street throne.

Starmer: "furioso" per assenza comunicazione su Mandelson

The Prime Minister: very heavy result in the vote but the government goes ahead

British Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged as "very tough" the defeat suffered by his party in the local elections, which became clear from the first partial count of the results and with the count still ongoing. A result that 'hurts', he said, praising the commitment of Labour's militants and taking 'responsibility' for the defeat upon himself, without 'looking for scapegoats'. This defeat,' he added, 'does not weaken my determination to deliver the change promised' by the government.

Politics in Wales and Scotland

Yesterday also marked the political elections in the two autonomous nations, Wales and Scotland, but the results will be known by evening. The expectation is that the Scottish National Party, in power in Edinburgh for almost twenty years, will get enough votes to form a government, while in Wales it is expected to be a head-to-head between the nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, and Reform.

Labour pays for poor economic performance

The key message of these elections, both local and parliamentary, thus seems to be a protest against the Labour government, which has failed to give the necessary turnaround to an eeconomy that has long been asphyxiated. This election round, however, will be remembered above all for the success of Reform, which thanks to the popularity of its leader and its anti-immigration message managed to establish itself as a political force at a national level and not only in England.