Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he will not quit and plunge the country into chaos as Nigel Farage's Reform UK made stunning gains at the ballot box. The Prime Minister said he was hurting from 'tough' results which saw Labour lose hundreds of councillors in England.
Reform piled on councillors across the country as Mr Farage claimed there had been a 'truly historic shift in British politics'. Labour also suffered from voters switching to the Green Party as Zack Polanski declared the era of two-party politics 'is not just dying, it is dead and it is buried'.
Sir Keir, whose position was already under pressure over Labour's plummeting poll ratings, said: 'The results are tough, they are very tough, and there's no sugar-coating it. We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party. And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.' He acknowledged his Government had made 'unnecessary mistakes' in office but added: 'I'm not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.'
Energy Secretary and former Labour leader Ed Miliband had urged the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure, the Times reported. But Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy urged his party not to play 'pass the parcel' with the leadership in response to the election results. Defence Secretary John Healey said Sir Keir should be given more time, saying 'he can still turn it round'.
However, Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash, who watched his wife lose her council seat overnight as Reform UK surged in the authority, said: 'It's clear to me that the Prime Minister should take this opportunity to set out a timetable for his own departure, and then allow for the widest possible leadership election that includes all the talents of our party.'
Reform's successes included wins in Havering, its first London borough, and taking both Essex County Council – Tory leader Kemi Badenoch's local authority – and Suffolk from the Conservatives. Mr Farage said: 'It's a big, big day, not just for our party, but for a complete reshaping of British politics in every way.'
Sir Keir faces further heavy losses as vote counting continues throughout Friday in both English local elections and contests for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd. In Wales, Labour is expected to lose the national vote for the first time in more than a century, with sources indicating the party could be reduced to a rump of just 10 members in the newly-enlarged Senedd. In Scotland the SNP appears likely to remain the largest party after 19 years in power.
Key developments include: after 52 of 136 English councils had declared full results, Labour had a net loss of 242 seats and nine authorities. Labour's losses included Wandsworth and Westminster in London, Blackburn and Darwen, and Tameside, which includes Angela Rayner's Greater Manchester constituency. Reform had gained control of two councils and added 392 seats. The Conservatives gained control in Westminster but suffered losses elsewhere, losing 117 councillors. The Liberal Democrats won control in Portsmouth and gained a net 27 seats across the country. The Green Party's Zoe Garbett was elected mayor of Hackney in a defeat for Labour, with the Greens hoping to make further gains in the capital.
Sir Keir's defiance in the face of the electoral mauling helped ease market jitters over Government borrowing. Yields on long-dated government bonds, also known as gilts, dropped back to two-week lows, with 30-year gilt yields down 11 basis points to 5.54% and 10-year gilts seeing an eight basis point fall to 4.88%. Gilt yields move counter to the value of the bonds, meaning their prices rise when yields fall. The pound also held firm, lifting 0.5% to 1.36 US dollars and 0.1% higher at 1.16 euros.
