Labour losses pile up in England local elections as Reform UK makes gains | Local elections 2026
The extent of the electoral challenge facing Labor was revealed overnight as the party lost councilors in local elections and Reform made significant gains.
Keir Starmer’s party heads into Thursday’s local elections expected to lose up to 1,850 councillors, with senior figures describing the contest as “tough”.
Early results painted a bleak picture for the prime minister, with Labor losing councilors in traditional northern areas.
In north-east England reforms prevailed. There were 12 seats left in Hartlepool and Reform won them all. This means Labor, which has a slim majority and defends six seats, is likely to be the opposition.
Reform will not have an absolute majority because only a third of the council is elected. The party will need to make a deal with independents to take control.
Labor councilors and supporters were visibly dismayed by the count at Brierton sports centre. Jonathan Brash, the town’s Labor MP, watched as his wife Pamela Hargreaves, leader of Hartlepool council, lost her seat.
He told the Guardian he was angry and repeated his call for Keir Starmer to go.
“It was a terrible night for the Labor Party,” he said. “What I’m seeing here is incredibly good, hard-working people of Hartlepool losing their seats. “I’ve seen campaigners working day and night in this election and it’s all come to nothing and the reason has nothing to do with them.
“They work for this town, they work for this town and the truth is we need change at the top of the Labor Party.
“I think the best thing the prime minister can do now is to address the nation tomorrow and set a timetable for his departure. Then we can have an orderly transition that will ensure that all the talent within the Labor Party can survive if they so choose.”
Turnout was 31.5 percent, slightly higher than the 28 percent seen in the last local elections in 2024.
In Halton, Cheshire, Labor held two of the 17 seats it defended, with Reform UK gaining 15 councilors in the first council to complete counting on Friday.
In some areas where Nigel Farage’s party won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes last year, Reform won with more than 50 per cent of the vote.
Although Labour’s starting position means it retains control of Halton council, the shift in vote share, combined with losses elsewhere in the north-west, points to a difficult night for Starmer.
These results included losses to Reform at Chorley in Lancashire and Wigan in Greater Manchester.
Elsewhere Redditch and Tamworth also passed from Labour’s loss of overall control, while the Liberal Democrats took control of Stockport.
Wigan, represented in parliament by Starmer’s culture secretary Lisa Nandy, saw Labor lose 20 seats and Reform gain 23, but the authority remains in Labor control.
On Oxford city council, Labor lost two seats to the Greens but was expected to remain the largest party and maintain minority rule after winning 10 wards. The Greens won three seats in total after winning nine regions.
