Britain's ruling Labour Party has suffered one of its worst electoral setbacks in recent memory, losing control of dozens of English councils, collapsing in Wales and retreating in Scotland, as the populist right-wing Reform UK party swept to historic gains across the country. The results, from elections held on Thursday, 7 May, are widely viewed as a damning public verdict on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose party has struggled to build momentum since winning a landslide general election victory in July 2024.

In England's local council elections — where more than 5,000 seats were contested — Labour lost more than 1,300 seats and control of 35 councils, while Reform UK gained over 1,400 seats and took charge of 13 councils. The rout was felt most sharply in Labour's traditional working-class heartlands. In Oldham, a post-industrial town on the outskirts of Manchester, Reform won 13 of the 20 contested seats, stripping Labour of its hold on the council entirely. Essex County Council, which had been under Conservative control since 1974, fell to Reform, which went from near-zero representation to 42 councillors in just a few years. Reform leader Nigel Farage declared his party was "wiping out" Labour "in many of their most traditional areas." Political analysts noted that Reform has demonstrated a rare ability to draw voters away from both Labour and the Conservatives, positioning it as the dominant force on the British right. "Reform is currently leader of the pack in an increasingly multiparty system," said Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London.

The damage extended well beyond England. In Wales — a nation where Labour had been the dominant political force for more than a century — the party suffered what commentators are calling a historic collapse. Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, ended Labour's unbroken hold on the Senedd, Wales's devolved parliament, with First Minister Eluned Morgan among those who lost their seats. Analysts point to a combination of short-term factors — including Labour's decision to align closely with an unpopular Westminster government — and longer-term decay, as decades of Labour governance failed to translate progressive rhetoric into tangible improvements in health, education and living standards. In Scotland, the Scottish National Party secured a historic fifth consecutive victory, though without an overall majority, while Labour and the Conservatives saw further erosion of their support. The Green Party also made notable gains, winning its first mayoral seats in the London boroughs of Hackney and Lewisham, and its first constituency seat in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood.

The scale of the losses has intensified pressure on Starmer's leadership. A poll of Labour members, conducted just before the elections, found that 51% do not believe he can turn around the party's fortunes, and 45% want him to step down. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester — a city-region covering towns including Oldham — emerged as the preferred successor among members, with a net favourability rating of 72%. At least ten Labour MPs have publicly called on Starmer to set a timetable for departure. Academics warn, however, that Starmer's difficulties reflect broader structural challenges that will not be resolved simply by changing leaders. "Recovery becomes ever less likely for the prime minister with each defeat and setback," said James Mitchell, a professor at the University of Edinburgh.

These results matter because they signal a fundamental reshaping of British politics, which has historically been dominated by a Conservative-Labour duopoly. Reform's breakthrough at local level gives it a platform from which to mount a serious challenge at the next general election, expected by 2029 — but analysts caution that governing is a different test from campaigning. "Voters will soon expect delivery," noted Alia Middleton, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Surrey. For Labour, the path back is complicated by simultaneous challenges on its left flank from the Greens and on its right from Reform, leaving the party squeezed from multiple directions with limited room to manoeuvre.