Labour losses pile up in England local elections as Reform UK makes gains

Reform runaway winners in north-east, likely pushing Labour into opposition in Hartlepool, with other losses for Starmer in Chorley, Wigan, Redditch and Tamworth Full results from England, Scotland and Wales Mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions The scale of the electoral challenge facing Labour has been laid bare as the party haemorrhages councillors at the local elections and Reform makes significant gains. Keir Starmer’s party went into Thursday’s local elections expected to lose up to 1,850 councillors, with senior figures describing the contest as “tough”. Initial results overnight painted a bleak picture for the prime minister, with Labour losing councillors in its traditional northern heartlands. Reform took control of its first council at around 6am, gaining overall control of Newcastle-under-Lyme from Labour. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, described the early results as a “historic change in British politics” and said his party was “scoring stunning percentages in traditional old Labour areas”. The political scientist Prof Sir John Curtice told the BBC that while Reform was clearly winning the most votes in early counts, it had “probably not” reached 30