A sign supporting the Reform UK political party is displayed in a residential street on the eve of local and mayoral elections in England and devolved parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland in London
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Friday (May 8, 2026) morning in the U.K. was looking grim for Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Labour, as the party was set to lose 249 seats in elections across 136 councils to elect 5,000 councilors. It was a very different picture for nativist Reform U.K. party, which gained 352 seats as of 0730 a.m. local time. The Greens and Liberal Democrats also made gains of 25 and 35 seats respectively. The Conservatives also suffered, losing some 137 seats.
The results declared so far are only for a minor portion of English seats. Crucially, assembly elections for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd have not been declared. However, Labour was projected to come in third in both legislative elections, behind Reform UK . The nationalist parties of both countries – Plaid Cymru (Wales) and the Scottish National Party (SNP) were projected to win in Wales and Scotland, respectively. If the results are in line with the projections, it would spell particularly bad news for Labour , which has held the Senedd since it was constituted in 1999 and been winning a majority of U.K. parliamentary seats from Wales for more than a century.
The results could strengthen calls for Mr. Starmer to step down from within his party. The Prime Minister, who led Labour in a landslide victory in the July 2024 general elections has been under the scanner for his handling of the appointment of former British envoy to Washington, Peter Mandelson, who had links with Jeffrey Epstein, the paedophile and financier.
Labour has also seen splits between its centrist and left wing factions over immigration and welfare policy. This has also reflected in voter preferences with Labour losing voters to Reform on the right and the Greens on the left, accelerating calls for Mr Starmer to step down.
Polling suggests that the party has lost more voters to the left than to the right, according to Tim Bale, a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London.
“….It [Labour] stands more chance of winning back those voters it has lost to the Greens, to the Lib Dems and to the SNP and Plaid Cymru than it does tempting those it has lost to Reform to return to the fold,” Mr. Bale told The Hindu on the eve of Thursday’s (May 7, 2026) vote.
Nearly all electoral results will be known by Friday (May 8, 2026) evening, with some constituencies declaring results on Saturday (May 9, 2026).
Published – May 08, 2026 11:08 am IST
