Local elections in Gb, Reform first party. Labour also loses Wales

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.

The Labour defeat is also clear in Wales. This is indicated by the figures which, with the count in progress, even decree the non-re-election of Cardiff's first minister (head of local government), Eluned Morgan. Labour has already acknowledged that it has lost power, while estimates guarantee it just 10 seats out of the total 96 in the Senedd, the Welsh legislative assembly. In the face of Labour's decimation, surrendering electoral supremacy for the first time in a century in Wales, both the Plaid Cymru independents and the far-right Reform Uk are advancing. In the run-up to the day, the results for the Scottish Parliament will also come in.