Starmer’s party loses local elections

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised on Saturday he would “listen to voters” after his Labor party received a historic drubbing in local and regional elections.

Disillusioned voters backed hard-right and nationalist parties in Thursday’s ballots — Starmer’s biggest electoral test since Labor ousted the Conservatives in 2024.

“The right lesson is to listen to voters,” but it “doesn’t mean tacking right or left,” Starmer, who has faced calls to resign, wrote in The Guardian newspaper.

The anti-immigrant Reform UK party made gains across England, Scotland and Wales — though Scottish and Welsh parties took the biggest share of seats in those elections.

With almost all votes tallied, the results are grim for Labor, particularly in Wales where they lost control of the devolved government for the first time since the parliament in Cardiff was established 27 years ago.

Nationalists Plaid Cymru, which wants Welsh independence in the long-term, is now the biggest party with Reform second and Labor third.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party remains the biggest party but failed to get a majority — winning six fewer seats than in 2021.

In England, Reform picked up nearly 1,500 of the 5,000 council seats available and the Greens also fared well, gaining more than 500.

Labor lost almost 1,400 council seats and ceded control of several local authorities — though results in London were not as bad as predicted.