Labour faces its worst election results since the 1970s, with the party suffering a record drop in seat share across 44 English councils and losing control of 38 local authorities. In some areas, representation has fallen to its lowest level in half a century, as voters abandon the party on both the left and the right.
England: Collapse in the heartlands and the capital
The scale of Labour’s losses in England is most stark in the “Red Wall” strongholds of the North, where Reform UK has made sweeping gains. In Wigan and Leigh, Reform won 24 out of 25 seats, ending decades of Labour dominance. Tameside saw 47 years of Labour control broken, and traditional bastions such as Sunderland and Gateshead fell out of Labour hands entirely. Across England, Reform UK now controls ten councils and has won more than 1,450 councillors, supplanting the Conservatives as the biggest rightwing force in areas like Essex and Thurrock. The party also secured its first London borough, Havering.
London itself delivered a sharp blow to Labour. Projections show the party’s vote share in the capital dropped to an estimated 32%, down 11 points from 2022. While Labour is still expected to remain the largest party on some councils, the Green Party’s vote share surged by 10 points to 22%, with the Greens winning mayoralties in Hackney, Lewisham and Waltham Forest. In Manchester, Norwich, Hastings and Birmingham — all previously safe Labour territory — the Greens took seats directly from Labour, with Birmingham’s Green vote share rising to 15%. The Green Party was the second-largest beneficiary of Labour’s losses in England, taking control of four councils and gaining councillors across urban centres.
The Conservatives also suffered heavy losses, particularly in Hampshire, where they lost control of the county council for the first time in almost 30 years, and in Suffolk, where they fell to third place behind Reform UK and the Greens. Overall, the Tories lost control of six councils. The Liberal Democrats made moderate gains across the south of England, gaining over 150 councillors and taking control of Stockport and Portsmouth.
Scotland: SNP holds as Labour fails to break through
In Scotland, Labour failed to capitalise on any discontent with the Scottish National Party. The SNP retained power with 58 seats in the Scottish Parliament election, while Labour and Reform UK each won 17 seats. Reform UK made its gains largely at the expense of the Conservatives, leaving Labour unable to translate opposition to the SNP into additional seats. The party’s failure to make significant inroads in Scotland underscores the broader fragmentation of the vote north of the border.
Wales: An existential defeat
Labour’s collapse in the Senedd was even more devastating. The party lost power for the first time since the Welsh parliament was created in 1999, with its vote share falling by more than half and pushing it into third place. Plaid Cymru emerged as the largest party with 43 seats, comfortably positioned to form a minority government. Reform UK surged into second place with 34 seats, becoming the main opposition. Labour secured only nine seats. The First Minister, Eluned Morgan, lost her own seat. This marks Labour’s worst electoral defeat in Wales since 1922. The Wales Green Party also won two seats, their leader becoming the first Green Member of the Senedd.
Broader fragmentation: Five-party politics arrives
Professor Sir John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde described the outcome as evidence that “electoral politics in Britain has become highly fragmented”. He noted: “We have never had five-party politics before. We’re in unprecedented territory and none of us know exactly where this will go.” The combined vote share for Labour and the Conservatives fell below 40% in some analyses — a historic low for the two establishment parties. Reform UK, the Greens, Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats all made gains, reflecting a protest vote driven by discontent with the government’s performance, with the cost of living identified as a primary concern for voters.
Nigel Farage called the result “a truly historic shift in British politics”. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, facing intensifying calls to resign, 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.”
The rise of Reform UK in areas with high Brexit support and the Green Party’s growing influence in progressive urban centres have reshaped the political map. The impact on policy, from retrofit and Net Zero planning to housing, is already being felt in councils controlled by Reform UK, where manifesto commitments have raised concerns about weakened climate targets. With Labour losing ground to both left and right, and the two-party duopoly crumbling, the 2026 elections have delivered one of the most bruising results in modern British political history.
