Defiant Starmer digs in after UK Labour’s local election drubbing
Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK gained more seats, said the results so far represented a ‘truly historic shift in British politics’
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Friday to stay in office to “deliver change” after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in the English local election 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, dealing it a blow in some of its traditional strongholds in former industrial regions in central and northern England.
The main beneficiary was the populist Reform UK party of Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, which gained more than 700 council seats in England, and could form the main opposition in Scotland and Wales to the pro-independence Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru.
Early 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 signalled their support for a man whose popularity ratings have sunk to among the worst for any British leader, and the prime minister visited one bright electoral spot for his party to say he would press on.
“I am not going to walk away,” he told reporters in Ealing, west London, where Labour retained control of the council. He said voters were more concerned about the pace of change rather than his leadership.