U.K. Local Elections 2026
Reform UK has emerged as the dominant force in England’s local elections, seizing control of 14 councils and more than 1,400 council seats as the governing Labour Party suffered its worst local election performance in a generation, triggering immediate calls for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign.
The results confirmed a sweeping fragmentation of British politics, with no single party commanding a substantial national mandate.
Reform UK won an estimated 27% of the national equivalent vote in English local councils, ahead of the Conservatives on ~20%, Labour on ~15%, the Greens on ~13%, and the Liberal Democrats on ~14%.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice described the picture as “bleak” for the established parties, saying the results “confirmed the fragmentation of our politics.”
Labour lost control of 38 councils and shed 1,121 councillors. In London, where the party had previously dominated, it lost the boroughs of Lambeth and Lewisham to the Green Party and saw several other councils fall to no overall control. Reform UK took Havering — its first London council — while the Conservatives regained Westminster City Council, which Labour had held since 2022.
In northern England, Reform UK made substantial inroads into traditional Labour territory, taking Barnsley, Gateshead and Sunderland among others. The Conservatives lost 488 seats and control of six councils, including in Hampshire.
The Green Party recorded the largest increase in vote share of any party, gaining 287 seats and five councils. The Liberal Democrats gained 105 seats and one council, taking Stockport and Portsmouth and consolidating their hold on south-west London.
Starmer, speaking after the results, said they were “tough” but ruled out stepping down. “I’m not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos,” he told reporters. By the weekend, approximately 30 Labour MPs had publicly called for a change in leadership or a timetable for his departure. Labour MP and former minister Catherine West went further, calling on a cabinet colleague to mount a leadership challenge or warning she would stand herself.
In Scotland, the SNP retained its position as the largest party at Holyrood, winning 58 seats, though it fell short of an overall majority. Labour and Reform each won 17 seats, the Greens 15, the Conservatives 12, and the Liberal Democrats 10 — a result that positions the SNP for a record fifth consecutive term in government in Edinburgh. In Wales, Labour lost power in the Senedd after 27 years, with First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her own seat.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hailed the results as a “historic shift in British politics.” The Institute for Government cautioned, however, that the large influx of inexperienced councillors from insurgent parties would face an immediate test, with local government in England already under severe financial strain.
Coverage of the results across mainstream UK media divided along predictable ideological lines, though with notable variations in emphasis. Right-leaning titles led predominantly with Reform UK’s gains, framing the results as a revolution. The Telegraph, historically the Conservative Party’s closest press ally, was notably conflicted: its coverage acknowledged a “bloodbath” for the Tories as much as a crisis for Labour, reflecting the paper’s own unresolved tension between traditional Conservatism and the Reform insurgency on its right flank.
Left-leaning outlets framed the results primarily through the lens of Labour’s internal crisis and Starmer’s political survival, rather than leading with Reform’s advance as a story of ideological realignment. Where right-leaning papers characterised the night as a verdict on a failing government and a mandate for change, left-leaning titles were more likely to emphasise voter disillusionment, presenting Reform’s gains as a protest rather than a settled political conviction.
