Political turmoil in the UK
This week, there were local elections in the UK 5,066 English councilors for 136 English local authorities, and six directly elected mayors in England. Most of these seats in England were last up for election in 2022. No local elections were held in the rest of the UK, other than two by-elections in Wales. However, the Scottish Parliament election and 2026 Senedd election in Wales were held too. Traditionally, there have been two major dominating parties, Labour and the Conservatives. In recent years due to corruption, populism, weak leadership, several other parties are gaining ground such as the Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party. This is transforming the political landscape in the UK dramatically. In Wales and Scotland, the dominant parties have been Labour and the nationalist parties SNP in Scotland and Plaid Cymru in Wales.
At this point with most votes counted, Reform UK has taken 1,443 seats, an increase of 1,441 seats, while Labour took 959 seats, a decrease of 1,395 seats. The Conservatives took 773 seats, a decrease of 555 seats, while Liberal Democrats and Green Party gained, with them increasing their seats by 151 and 370 respectively. Independents won 191 seats, up 19 seats from the last election. Labour lost control of 35 councils, Reform UK gained 14 councils, Conservatives lost 6 councils, Liberal Democrats gained 1 council, Green gained 4 councils, and 22 councils switched to being in a state of no overall control by a political party.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has retained its status as the biggest party in Holyrood, but fell short of an overall majority. The final result gave the SNP 58 seats, with Labour and Reform on 17, Greens on 15, Conservatives on 12 and Liberal Democrats with 10. The Scottish National Party (SNP) has retained its status as the biggest party in Holyrood, but fell short of an overall majority. The final result gave the SNP 58 seats, with Labour and Reform on 17, Greens on 15, Conservatives on 12 and Liberal Democrats with 10.
In Wales, Labour has lost control of the Senedd for the first time in a humiliating defeat for the party, with the first minister also losing her seat in Welsh parliament. Labour has only retained nine seats in the Senedd, with Plaid Cymru leading with 43 seats while Reform UK trails them in second place with 34 seats. The Welsh Conservatives hold seven seats, Greens two and one Liberal Democrat. No party has achieved the 49 seats needed to form a majority government, which means Plaid Cymru will have to form an alliance with another party.
British unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer with an approval rate of 18% vowed to stay in office to deliver change after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in English local elections and parliamentary votes in Scotland and Wales, deepening doubts over his ability to govern. Just under two years after winning a landslide national election, Starmer saw voters punish his Labour government, with support evaporating even in its traditional strongholds in London, former industrial regions in central and northern England, and in Wales.
The main beneficiary was the populist Reform UK party of Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, which gained more than 1,000 council seats in England, and will likely form the main opposition in Scotland and Wales to the pro-independence Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru. Results underscored the fracturing of Britain’s traditional two-party system, with the once-dominant Labour and Conservative parties losing votes not only to Reform, but to the left-wing Green Party at the other end of the political spectrum, and to nationalists in Scotland and Wales.
Despite the losses, Starmer’s allies signaled their support for a man whose popularity ratings have sunk to among the worst for any British leader. But even for a delusional Starmer, there was no denying the scale of the terrible losses for Labour in elections for 136 local councils in England, and the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, the most significant test of public opinion before the next general election due in 2029.
The party lost power in Tameside in Greater Manchester in northern England for the first time in almost 50 years and in nearby Wigan, which it has controlled for more than 50 years, Labour lost all of its 20 seats to Reform. Reform also took control of a London borough for the first time, winning in Havering in the east of Britain’s capital, while the Greens won the mayoralty of traditionally Labour-supporting Hackney in east London.
The results showed how far the British political system had changed since as recently as 2017, when the two traditionally dominant parties, Labour and the Conservatives, gained a combined 82% of the vote in a general election.
They also showed how quickly voters have turned against Starmer. Since 2024, his time in office has been marked by several attempts to reset his agenda, policy U-turns, a rotating cast of advisers and scandal over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the U.S. There are several other factors that makes Labour unpopular and Starmer even more unpopular. Many voters see him as technocratic and cautious rather than inspiring. Critics often describe him as managerial, lawyerly, or emotionally flat. Even sympathetic commentators say people struggle to identify what he really stands for. Labour supporters on the left feel betrayed by policy shifts. Starmer moved Labour toward the political center to win the 2024 election, but that alienated parts of the party base who expected more transformative policies on inequality, public services, Gaza, climate, or welfare. Voters still don’t trust him on issues like immigration, crime, and national identity. That has allowed Nigel Farage and Reform UK to gain support among disaffected working-class voters, traditional Labour voters. Internationally, Starmer has managed to alienate the U.S. and show that the UK is a mediocre and increasingly weak nation geopolitically and economically. It will likely continue getting worse and the UK is an increasingly sad story.