UK elections 2026: Heavy Labour losses as Farage makes gains — live updates

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is already facing real losses as results from Britain’s biggest set of elections since 2024 pour in.

With counting still underway, Starmer’s Labour has shed more than 200 councillors in England and ceded control of seven councils, with Nigel Farage’s populist-right Reform UK the main beneficiary.

Reform has added more than 300 councillors to its total and picked up control of one council — with the left-wing Greens and centrist Liberal Democrats also making modest gains. So far it’s been a rough night for the center-right Conservatives, who have shed scores of councillors.

In play are more than 5,000 English councilors in 136 councils, including all 32 London boroughs; six mayors in England; all 129 members of the Scottish Parliament; plus all 96 members of an expanded Welsh parliament, the Senedd. 

Follow our live blog for results, reaction and analysis through the day. And here’s a full run-through of the stakes and key timings.