Britain’s two-party system has been transformed by a series of elections.
With nearly all results counted, Labour and the Conservatives have lost hundreds of English council seats to Reform UK, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.
In the Welsh Parliament, Plaid Cymru is now the largest party, ending a century of Labour dominance. Reform came second. And in Scotland’s parliament, the Scottish National Party will remain the largest party, with Labour and Reform tied in second.
Labour’s share of the national vote, as calculated by the BBC, fell to just 17 per cent, behind Reform on 26 per cent, the Greens on 18 and in line with the Conservatives. It represents the lowest combined figure the main two parties have ever recorded.
In England, the north-west provides a clear example of the troubles for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour. The sea of red that once covered Greater Manchester and its surroundings has been reduced to a few splodges, replaced by green, Reform teal and Liberal Democrat orange.
In Wigan, an industrial town outside Manchester that Labour has controlled since 1974, the party failed to secure a single seat, with Reform winning 24 of the 25 council seats up for election.
A similar story played out in Blackburn, Oldham and Burnley, with Labour all but wiped out, mostly to Reform’s benefit.
Meanwhile, Zack Polanski’s Greens won 18 of the 32 council seats up for election in Manchester, with Labour winning just six.
Many councils elect only one-third of councillors each year, blunting the scale of Labour’s losses and keeping them in power in many councils. Among the councils that Labour continues to control are Wigan and Manchester. Others have switched to no overall control (NOC), where no party has a majority.
Reform UK’s surge has been strongest in areas that voted heavily to leave the EU almost 10 years ago, according to an FT analysis of preliminary data from 105 wards.
In council wards that voted more than 70 per cent to leave the EU, Reform gained 46 percentage points on average, compared with the previous local election. In areas that voted to remain, it gained just 19 percentage points.
Labour’s fortunes in London have been less dire than elsewhere, with the party holding on to councils in Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Camden.
The Greens took control of Waltham Forest and Hackney councils from Labour, and made gains in Haringey.
The Conservatives had a good night in west London, performing well in the well-heeled boroughs of Wandsworth, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster. The Liberal Democrats consolidated their control in the south-west, winning every seat in Richmond-upon-Thames by squeezing out the Greens.
The Greens have performed best in areas with many young people. In wards where those aged 18-29 make up more than 40 per cent of the population, the Greens won 21 percentage points more votes than at the previous election.
In Oxford, the Greens were the largest party in nine of the 24 wards up for election, picking up votes in areas with high student populations.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party will remain the largest party at Holyrood, but has fallen short of a majority, winning 58 of the 129 seats available. However, there will be a pro-independence majority, of the SNP and the Scottish Greens, who won 15 seats.
Reform, which historically has performed less well in Scotland compared with England, won 17 seats. Labour also won 17 seats, ahead of the Conservatives on 12 and the Lib Dems on 10.
In Wales, a century of Labour dominance has come to an end after the party finished in third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform. For the first time since devolution in 1999, Labour has failed to win the most votes in the Senedd.
Plaid Cymru has won 43 of the Senedd’s 96 seats, Reform 34 and Labour just nine. Five years ago, Labour won 30 out of what was then a total of 60 seats.
The Welsh Labour leader and outgoing first minister Eluned Morgan was among the casualties. The six seats in her constituency of Ceredigion Penfro were split between Plaid Cymru, Reform and the Conservatives.
This story has been updated to correct the number of seats that Labour won in the Welsh Senedd in 2021.
whats funny is that the backbenchers have interpreted this as : we need MORE leftist policies. i lowkey want them to get what they want just so we can try their loony ideas and watch them fail even more spectacularly.