Election results: Reform UK, Green Party and Liberal Democrats up amid considerable losses for Labour and Conservatives

Reform UK has emerged as the big winner following yesterday's (May 7) local elections, according to results announced so far. Though many of the 136 authorities to hold polls on Thursday are yet to declare - including the Senedd in Wales and the Scottish Parliament - some notable gains for Nigel Farage's party have already become clear.

Labour has lost control of prominent councils in Wandsworth, Southampton, Hartlepool, Tameside, Redditch and Tamworth amid a surge for Reform. But Reform has not, so far, gained control of any authorities, as most councils have held votes for a third of their seats, not enough for the party to win a majority in most cases.

However, the overall picture is still devastating for Sir Keir Starmer's party, with the Prime Minister likely to face a fresh wave of criticism - and calls to resign - amid the loss of hundreds of seats. As of this morning, Reform had gained more than 300 seats, with Labour losing more than 240.

The Conservatives have also stuttered, losing more than 100 seats, while the Liberal Democrats (up 35) and the Green Party (up 26) are expecting better news as the day goes on. In the London borough of Sutton, the Lib Dems celebrated after winning 51 of 55 council seats up for grabs - a gain of 23 in Sutton, where the Tories lost all 20 of their councillors.

A party source said it was a “catastrophic result" for the Tories who were "facing a total wipeout".

However, in a slight piece of good news for Labour, pollster Sir John Curtis told the BBC their losses may not be as severe as many feared.

“It may well be now that Labour lose rather less than the 1,500 seats that perhaps some people said was potentially the tipping point for attempts to unseat Keir Starmer,” he said. “There is still a very long way to go and certainly what one has to say is this: the big picture is Reform are ahead.

“It’s clear that Reform are so far winning most votes in the elections that have been declared so far, in much the same way as they were in last year’s council elections. And they are basically being trailed by four parties that are all of them just a little bit below 20% or so, somewhere between 15 and 20%, but are actually at the moment quite difficult to disentangle.”

He added: “None of the parties are very big, let’s make that clear. Even Reform are probably not quite at 30% of the vote, so the fracturing of British politics is underlined by these results and confirmed by them.”

The Greens, he said, were struggling to convert votes into seats so far because they were getting “far too many creditable second and third places”.

But Labour MP John McDonnell said a leadership change must be “on the agenda” if Labour endures “nightmare” losses. Asked whether he believed Sir Keir Starmer had to go, the former shadow chancellor said: “We will have to see when results are in and Wales and Scotland results may be more influential than council seats in England in shaping the party’s attitude to the future. If it is the nightmare as we are worried it will be, then there should be no precipitous coup.”

He added: “The party needs to consider why we are in this situation and that discussion should be at all levels of the party and consider all the issues, including why there have been so many policy mistakes alienating our support, but the leadership question has inevitably to be on the agenda. If there is to be a leadership change, it has to be an orderly transition, not a coup.”